Comparative Study of Pulp Vitality in Primary and Young Permanent Molars in Human Children with Pulse Oximeter and Electric Pulp Tester

Abstract

Aim and objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the pulp testing methods (pulse oximetry and electric pulp test) in primary and young permanent teeth of children.Materials and methods: The study included a total of 155 children aged 4 to 15 years. Twenty children formed control group I. Study group included all healthy, 85 primary 2nd molars in group II and 85 permanent 1st molars in group III. Fifty children needing endodontics treatment formed test group IV. The readings were recorded as true positive (TP), false positive (FP), true negative (TN), false negative (FN). Based on this, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated for each method. The results were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test.Results: On comparing pulse oximetry with electric pulp test ‘p-value’ was found to be 0.487 and 1.00 for groups 1 and 2 respectively and was statistically not significant. Whereas ‘p-value’ for groups 3 and 4 was < 0.0001 and 0.003 respectively and was statistically highly significant.Conclusion: The present study indicates that pulse oximetry can be used as a routine method for assessing the pulp vitality in primary, young permanent and mature permanent teeth.How to cite this article: Shahi P, Sood PB, Sharma A, Madan M, Shahi N, Gandhi G. Comparative Study of Pulp Vitality in Primary and Young Permanent Molars in Human Children with Pulse Oximeter and Electric Pulp Tester. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2015;8(2):94-98.

Oxygen Saturation in the Dental Pulp of Maxillary and Mandibular Molars - Part 2

“…Various studies to determine the mean of oxygen saturation in healthy dental pulps have been developed in different clinical circumstances (3)(4)(5)(11)(12)(13)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Oxygen saturation for maxillary central incisors varies from 79.31% (19) to 94% (8); maxillary lateral incisors from 78.51% (23) to 87.47% (12); canine from 79.85% (19) to 91% (20); premolars 86.2% (22); and premolars and molars that were determined as an only group, the mean was 92.2% (21).…”

A Diagnostic Insight of Dental Pulp Testing Methods in Pediatric Dentistry

“…Vitality pulp tests are used for the assessment of various parameters that characterize the vascular supply of the dental pulp, which is the true determinant of the pulp’s vitality. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), transmitted laser light (TLL), laser speckle imaging (LSI), pulse oximetry (PO), transmitted light plethysmography (TLP), and dual wavelength spectrophotometry (DWS) are pulp testing methods based on optical technology [ 45 ]. They are completely noninvasive, painless, and objective (require no subjective response from the patient) [ 46 ].…”

“…Moreover, there is a lack of evidence on how different systemic and oral pathologies may affect the pulp’s oxygen saturation levels [ 67 ] and how differing optical properties of the teeth may influence results [ 69 ]. Despite these drawbacks, PO has shown consistent good sensibility and specificity in different clinical situations [ 45 , 67 ]. It proved to be an effective tool in diagnosing different pulpal pathologies (especially pulp necrosis) [ 70 ] in primary teeth, as well as in immature and mature permanent teeth [ 45 ], and also in monitoring recently traumatized teeth, with a considerably better accuracy than sensibility tests [ 71 ].…”

“…Despite these drawbacks, PO has shown consistent good sensibility and specificity in different clinical situations [ 45 , 67 ]. It proved to be an effective tool in diagnosing different pulpal pathologies (especially pulp necrosis) [ 70 ] in primary teeth, as well as in immature and mature permanent teeth [ 45 ], and also in monitoring recently traumatized teeth, with a considerably better accuracy than sensibility tests [ 71 ].…”

“…Comparative studies led by Sharma et al and Samuel et al on PO versus CPT and EPT in primary teeth, and immature and mature permanent teeth indicate an equal accuracy between PO and CPT, and the inferiority of EPT. They suggest that PO can be used as a routine method for assessing the pulp vitality of the afore-mentioned dental categories [ 23 , 45 ]. In a similar study, Janani et al found PO to be the most accurate dental pulp test in permanent teeth in need of endodontic treatment, followed by CPT and EPT [ 79 ].…”