Evaluation of pulp vitality of maxillary canines after alveolar cleft bone graft by pulse oximetry, electric pulp testing (EPT) and cold test

Knowledge about pulp status is necessary before any dental intervention. Teeth associated with alveolar cleft are believed to have a different blood supply and innervation. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the pulp vitality of bilateral maxillary canines in a group of patients with unilateral alveolar cleft after alveolar bone graft surgery by pulse oximetry, electric pulp testing (EPT) and cold test.

In this random descriptive cross-sectional study, after evaluation of maxillary canines in almost 70 patients with unilateral alveolar cleft who had undergone secondary bone graft surgery, 20 patients were selected by applying the inclusion criteria. Pulp vitality of the teeth was evaluated by pulse oximetry, EPT and cold test. Data were analyzed with t-test, and Mann-Whitney and chi-squared tests (α=0.05).

The mean pulp blood flow saturation in maxillary canines was 85.04±4.65 on the cleft side and 87.78±4.01 on the normal side and the difference was significant (p value = 0.05). In the cold test investigation on maxillary canines, 13 subjects (65%) had ++ and 7 (35%) had + responses on the cleft side; on the normal side 7 subjects (35%) had ++ and 13 (65%) had + responses, with no significant differences between the two sides (p value = 0.06). Mean responses to EPT were 5.6 and 5.8 on the cleft and normal sides, respectively, with no statistically significant differences (p value = 0.62).

Based on the results of this study, pulse oximetry might be more reliable than electric pulp testing and cold test in the evaluation of pulp vitality in patients with alveolar cleft.