Evaluation of alkaline phosphatase as skeletal maturity indicator in gingival crevicular fluid

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was a comparison of the mean alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) at distinct phases of skeletal maturity with the use of a hand-wrist radiograph and to analyze if GCF ALP levels can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for evaluation of skeletal maturity in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. Materials and methods: In this study, a standardized volume of 5 μL was collected from the subjects in the preadolescent, adolescent, and postadolescent phases from the mesial and distal embrasures of maxillary and mandibular central incisors after which a hand-wrist radiograph was obtained. Eppendorf tubes with buffer solution were used to transfer GCF to the laboratory for estimation of ALP level. Results: The data collected were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U test to obtain the ALP levels. Gingival crevicular fluid ALP levels were significantly higher in the adolescent stage. The site-wise comparison in the three groups show that there is a statistically insignificant difference between maxilla and mandible or between males and females. Conclusion: It was concluded that the mean ALP levels were significantly increased in the adolescent phase in contrast with the pre-and post-adolescent stages. Gingival crevicular fluid ALP can be considered a promising diagnostic tool as a non-invasive biomarker of an adolescence growth spurt.