THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERIODONTAL PROBE USING A LASER DOPPLER VELOCIMETER CAPILLARY PERFUSION MONITOR TO PROVIDE A QUANTITATIVE MEANS OF RELATING PERIODONTAL DISEASE ACTIVITY TO BLOOD FLOW AND PERFUSION IN THE POCKET OF THE

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERIODONTAL PROBE USING A LASER DOPPLER VELOCIMETER CAPILLARY PERFUSION MONITOR TO PROVIDE A QUANTITATIVE MEANS OF RELATING PERIODONTAL DISEASE ACTIVITY TO BLOOD FLOW AND PERFUSION IN THE POCKET OF THE DISEASED GINGIVA. CURRENT METHODS SUCH AS MEASUREMENTS OF POCKET DEPTH, ATTACHMENT LEVEL, AND EVIDENCE OF BLEEDING ON PROBING, ARE UNRELIABLE AND ARE NOT CORRELATED STRONGLY WITH DISEASE ACTIVITY. AN URGENT RESEARCH NEED IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE ACCURATE AND RELIABLE METHODS OF ASSESSING PERIODONTAL DISEASE ACTIVITY. A NON-INVASIVE METHOD WHICH CAN BE USED TO TEST THE EFFICACY OF EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS IN RELATIVELY SHORT TIME INTERVALS IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE. THE EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO CONSTRUCT A PROTOTYPE NONINVASIVE PROBE AND TO OBTAIN PRELIMINARY DATA REGARDING EASE OF USE, SENSITIVITY, AND PRELIMINARY NUMERICAL DATA ON AN ANIMAL MODEL. THE PROBE WILL BE TESTED BY A DENTAL RESEARCHER WHO WILL ASSIST IN THE EVALUATION AND PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE PHASE II EFFORT. THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION IS THAT THE PROBE COULD BE USED BY DENTAL RESEARCHERS AND LATER BY CLINICIANS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY WHEN THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LASER DOPPLER PROBE MEASUREMENTS AND PERIODONTAL DISEASE ACTIVITY HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED.