TOOTH CIRCULATION:  Measurement Methods

A. Standard Methods: mainly unusable because of tooth circulation anatomy - direct Fick, indicator dilution, electromagnetic flowmeter, pulsed Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter

B. Invasive Methods: unsuitable for human clinical use

1. Radioactive microspheres -- inject small labeled spheres that pass through large blood vessels but lodge in capillaries

2. Washout of labeled material -- place "flow limited" labeled material next to exposed pulp surface

3. Microcinematography -- expose pulp surface, take high-speed frames, measure cell velocity

C. Noninvasive Methods: can be used with human subjects

1. Laser-Doppler flowmeter -- using fiber optics, illuminate tooth with monochromatic light, determine frequency shift of reflected light

Problem of assessing pulp vitality

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