Laser Doppler Flowmetry Evaluation of the Microcirculation in Dentistry

This chapter presents the most important features of laser Doppler (LD) techniques: LD flowmetry (LDF) and LD imaging (LDI), together with examples of their clinical applications in dentistry. LDF gives a constant estimation of blood flow at a specified point, whereas LDI gives a ‘snapshot’ of perfusion at a given point. These methods are non-invasive laser-based techniques for monitoring gingival and pulpal blood flow and could be used as a diagnostic tool. In paediatric dentistry and odontology, LDF proved to be an atraumatic real-time method used for determining the tooth vitality by monitoring the pulp microcirculation in traumatized teeth, fractured teeth and teeth undergoing different conservative treatments (e.g. bleaching, dental preparation for prosthetic restorations, etc.). In periodontology, recent studies showed the ability of LDF to evaluate the health of gingival tissue in different types of periodontal diseases. By using LDF, it is also possible to evaluate the outcome after different periodontal treatments. The laser Doppler line scanning can be used for recording the gingival healing process after a surgical procedure in the anterior area of the oral cavity

Imaging of oral pathological tissue using optical coherence tomography

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) constitutes 90% of oral cancer. Early detection is a cornerstone to improve survival. Interaction of light with tissues may highlight changes in tissue structure and metabolism. We propose optical coherence tomography (OCT), as a non-invasive diagnosis method, being a new high-resolution optical technique that permits tri-dimensional (3-D), real-time imaging of near surface abnormalities in complex tissues. In this study half of the excisional biopsy was directed to the pathologist and the other half was assigned for OCT investigation. Histopathology validated the results. Areas of OSCC of the buccal mucosa were identified in the OCT images. The elements obserced included extensive epithelial down-growth, the disruption of the basement membrane, with areas of erosion, an epithelial layer that was highly variable in thickness and invasion into the sub-epithelial layers. Therefore, OCT appears to be a highly promising imaging modality