| PubMed ID | Author / Year | Patient Group | Study type (level of evidence) |
| 15702708 | Winzap-Kalin/ 2005 | Patients with traumatic injury to maxillary incisors | Case Control Study |
| Key results | “In 47.8% of the traumatized teeth and in 55.3% of the control group the three LDF measurements corresponded with the sensitivity testing using CO2 and with the clinical and radiological findings. In 31.9% of the traumatized teeth and in 7.9% of the control group the LDF-measurements differed from the CO2-measurements, but were in agreement with the other clinical and radiographic findings. The information obtained by laser Doppler flowmetry is of additional importance for the treatment planning.” | ||
| 15125592 | Strobl/ 2004 | Patients with trauma to single maxillary incisor | Case Control Study |
| Key results | “In 15 trauma patients, a single maxillary incisor treated by repositioning and splinting was investigated by LDF to assess local PBF values. Perfusion units were taken in four sessions, on the day of splint removel, and 12, 24 and 36 weeks after splint removal. Analysis of the tooth fracture type-related PBF measurements revealed root fractures to be associated with a significant decrease (P < 0.05) and uncomplicated crown fractures to be associated with a significant increase in PBF values (P < 0.05), while complicated crown fractures showed no significant difference between the session-related values (P > 0.05).” “The main findings of this study suggest splint therapy of root fractures of the central maxillary incisor to be associated with a short- and long-term decrease in pulpal blood flow values. The Laser Doppler Flowmetry may become useful in the detection of transient ischaemic episodes and the identification of teeth at risk for adverse sequelae such as avascular necrosis and tissue loss.” | ||
| 10825841 | Evans/ 1999 | Patients with trauma to anterior teeth; both vital and non-vital | Case Control Study |
| Key results | This paper also concluded that the technique sensitivity and specificity were 1.0 based on the analysis of the recordings; claiming that none of the other standard pulpal diagnostic methods tested were as reliable. “This was usually due to low sensitivities, which ranged between 0.92 for sensibility testing with ethyl chloride down to 0.36 for periapical radiolucency and 0.16 for a history of pain. Laser Doppler flowmetry was found to be a reliable method of assessing the pulpal status of traumatised anterior teeth, although it is technique-sensitive and time-consuming to use.” | ||
The Evidence
| Basic Science Rationale (Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
| None available |
| Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT (FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
| by Christopher Adams & Andrea Le (San Antonio) on 11/30/2017 A PubMed search on LDF as useful diagnostic tool was performed in November 2017. Several more recent, albeit tangentially related articles have been published: a case study concerning LDF in monitoring healing post-dental trauma, Liao/2017 PMID: 28527847, and a study on the sensitivity and specificity of oxygen tension measurements using LDF, Maga/2016 PMID: 28101516. Both articles corroborated the CAT's findings and support the use of LDF in clinical practice. |