Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Gingival Crevicular Fluid – A Diagnostic Marker to Assess Human Orthodontic Tooth Movement
Nilendu Sekhar Dhar, A. Arif Yezdani and R. Venu Murali

Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Bharath University, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Narayanapuram, Pallikaranai, Chennai-600100, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: arifyezdani@yahoo.com

Abstract: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether alkaline phosphatase activity in Gingival Crevicular Fluid (GCF), could serve as a diagnostic marker to assess orthodontic tooth movement. Ten patients (3 males and 7 females; mean age, 23 years) were selected and were strapped up with Pre-Adjusted Edgewise Appliance (MBT 0.022 X 0.028-inch slot) and aligning and leveling was completed prior to distalization of maxillary canines. The maxillary canine on the right side was used as the experimental tooth and was considered to be the distalized canine (DC) whereas the contralateral canine (CC) was not subjected to distal force and was used as the control tooth. The GCF was harvested from the mesial and the distal tooth sites of the DC and the CC immediately before appliance activation, 1 hour after, and weekly thereafter for a period of 4 weeks. The results were expressed as total ALP activity (U/L) determined spectrophotometrically at 300C at 405 nm. Repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s HSD Post-Hoc test and Mann-Whitney U-test was done for comparison of enzyme activity among the pre-determined intervals and the SPSS computer program version 21 was used to carry out the statistical evaluation. The ALP activity in the GCF was elevated in DC as compared with CC in the 2nd and  4th week confirming the fact that the enzyme activity in DCs was greater than in the CCs, more so in the mesial (tension) than in the distal (compression) sites. The increased ALP activity in the GCF in the mesial sites of DCs reflects the biologic activity in the periodontium during orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) and could therefore serve as a diagnostic marker for monitoring OTM in clinical practice.

Keywords: alkaline phosphatase; gingival crevicular fluid; orthodontic tooth movement

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