Changes in pulpal blood flow during orthodontic tooth movement studied by doppler ultrasound

Objective: This study was to change of pulp blood flow among maxillary and mandibular anterior tooth with mild crowding and adjacent teeth using Ultrasound Doppler graphy. Methods: The change of pulp blood flow was measured three times using Ultrasound Doppler graphy; before the attachment of brackets, after 3 week, and after 6 week. The sample consists of 15 year old eighteen patients. Results: Before the attachment of brackets, after 3 weeks, and after 6 weeks, there were no significant differences in the change of pulp blood flow in each part (maxilla and mandible) and each tooth according to period. In addition, to compare internal dangerousness of loss of the pulp vitality, when pulp blood flow is compared in each tooth before orthodontic treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in maxillary lateral incisor and mandibular canine but it showed low values in all measurement items (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Results of this study can be not only methodological preliminary data in further study such as tooth movement type of Ultrasound Doppler graphy and particular study considered the patient age, but also reference materials for the loss of pulp vitality in orthodontic treatment.