Blood flow measurements in human oral tissues with laser Doppler flowmetry

: In our examination the non-invasive laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) was used to determine the blood flow in the tooth pulp (PBF) and in the gingiva (GBF) in humans. Perfusion values were collected by the means of LDF probe adjusted manually or by manipulator assisted fixation. Significantly lower GBF rate was detected by hand-held probe as compared to that obtained by manipulator assisted fixation (p 0.9). The coefficient of variation determined for GBF was higher (0.32 +/- 0.09) in case of manual procedure than at manipulator assisted (0.13 +/- 0.02) fixation mode. In contrary, the value of variation coefficient of PBF data obtained by hand-held probe was lower as compared to that calculated from data of manipulator fixation (0.16 +/- 0.08 v. 0.22 +/- 0.1; p < 0.05). These data indicate that while the manual fixation for measuring PBF seems to be satisfactory, for the accurate determination of GBF rate application of manipulator is essential.