Gingival and labial vestibular temperature in young individuals.

The objective ofthis investigation was to test a small thermistor for oral use and to study temperature variation in non-inflamed oral mucosa Gingival and labial vestibular or sulcus temperatures were measured in 30 young dental undergraduate students with teeth with a gingival index score of 1 or less. Four sites of measurement. mesial, labial, distal and lingual, were made around the six selected teeth and at 2-mm intervals extending down the buccal or labial sulcus into the sulcus itself. For each subject the gingival temperature was subtracted from the sublingual temperature to obtain a temperature differential and the gingival temperature differential was greater in the maxilla than in the mandible. The method used in this study was reproducible. Temperature increased from the gingival margin to the labial sulcus, and there was an increase in temperature from incisor to molar in both jaws, and the maxillary sites were cooler than those in the mandible. An irregular variation in temperature differential was seen between mesial. labial, distal and lingual measurement sites.