Measurement of the subgingival temperature in relation to clinical parameters with plaque culturing in health and disease: A clinico- microbiological study

Aim of present study was to assess correlation between clinical parameters and microbiota with subgingival temperature.

30 patients with adult periodontitis and 30 having clinically healthy gingiva were included in study. Participants were classified as Study Group: characterized by active sites with Probing Depth (PD) of >4mm and Control Group: PD of <3mm. Measurement of subgingival temperature by thermistor temperature probe and plaque collection was done in the maxillary and mandibular posteriors.

Upon comparing all the clinical and microbiological parameters between the control and study group, the standard deviation of study group showed a significant increase when compared to control group. It was seen that with increase in PD, gingival index, plaque index and the mean colony count, there was an increase in subgingival temperature.

Present study supports the hypothesis that subgingival temperature measurement can potentially serve as a fast screening process for presence of inflammatory activity in periodontal pockets.