Dental plaque removal by cavitational activity during ultrasonic scaling

Abstract

Photomicrographs of the surfaces of recently extracted teeth stained with erythrosin dye were obtained. The stained surfaces were treated with an ultrasonic scaler using two different types of scaling tips driven by the same instrument operated at a medium power setting. Small areas of stained plaque removal occurred when the stationary scaling tip was operated without water cooling. Additional areas of removal were observed where a water coolant was present, which were larger than those produced by the non-water cooled tip. These additional areas were influenced by the type of scaling tip used, it's orientation to the tooth surface and it's displacement amplitude. Cavitational activity in the cooling water supply of the ultrasonic scaler is able to remove dental plaque from tooth surfaces and may be a useful adjunct to the mechanical action of the instrument.

Microbiological Effect of Essential Oils in Combination with Subgingival Ultrasonic Instrumentation and Mouth Rinsing in Chronic Periodontitis Patients

“…It is probable due to subgingival plaque removal and bacterial cell disruption achieved by the vibrating chipping action of the tip, cavitational activity, and acoustic microstreaming of SUI. In the EO group, it is assumed that these mechanisms improve the bactericidal effect of EO, leading to a greater reduction in subgingival microflora [28, 29]. Further, more frequent mouth wash in this protocol could partly influence the reductions.…”

Periodontal healing after non‐surgical therapy with a new ultrasonic device: a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…The coolant establishes an indirect coupling of ultrasonic energy to the periodontal tissues (principle of lithotripsy systems; Tolley & Downey 1999). The root surface is supposed to be cleaned by hydrodynamic forces such as cavitation or acoustic microstreaming (Walmsley et al 1988, 1990, Khambay & Walmsley 1999). While root debridement by conventional ultrasonic scalers is achieved by chipping of the instrument tip against the root surface, the indirect energy transmission by the hydroxapatite suspension of the Vector ™ seems to be more gentle to the root surface (Kishida et al 2004, Rupf et al 2005, Braun et al 2005a, Schwarz et al 2006) and causes less discomfort (i.e.…”

Subgingival debridement of root surfaces with a micro‐brush: macroscopic and ultrastructural assessment

“…Previous studies investigating scaling and root planing have utilised dyes such as toluidine blue (Waerhaug 1975, Stambaugh et al 1981, Reinhardt et al 1985), malachite green (Schwarz et al 1993), methylene blue (Rabbani et al 1981, Eschler & Rapley 1991, Wylam et al 1993, Anderson et al 1996) and gentian violet (Poole et al 1984, Eaton et al 1985). In addition, a number of studies have used erythrosine to indicate the thoroughness of root surface debridement (Thornton & Garnick 1982, Eakle et al 1986, Walmsley et al 1988, Nosal et al 1988, Verdonschot et al 1990, Boyd et al 1992, Braun & Ciancio 1992). However, none of these studies have gone beyond macroscopic observations to analyse the nature of the stained material.…”