In vitro evaluation of laser vs. handpiece for tooth preparation

Abstract

Background: The erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Er:YAG) laser has been revealed to effectively ablate dental hard tissues, and its utilisation to caries eradication and cavity preparation is envisaged. Nevertheless, only a limited research has been performed on the Er:YAG laser's capacity to treat caries. Aim and Objectives: The efficiency of caries elimination with an Er:YAG laser in vitro was equated to that of traditional mechanical therapy in this study. Methodology: The investigation made use of teeth that had suffered from root caries. The Er:YAG laser was used to treat half of each tooth, while the other half was either removed with a conventional bur or left untouched as a control. Each therapy was evaluated in terms of how long it took to remove cavities, histological examinations of decalcified serial sections, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses and the density of the dentin. Result: A longer treatment time was required for the Er:YAG laser to completely eradicate carious dentin because of its precise irradiation strategy. However, the Er:YAG laser was effective in removing diseased and softening carious dentin with little heat injury to neighbouring intact dentin, much as the bur treatment. It was also shown that the Er:YAG laser treatment had a lower amount of vibration than other methods. The SEM study of the lased dentin surface revealed characteristic micro-irregularities. Conclusion: The Er:YAG laser system appears to be a potential novel technical option for caries therapy, based on our findings.

Research on causes, treatment, prevention of dental caries

“…Laser treatment can effectively melt carious tissue and significantly reduce the risks of infection, swelling, inflammation, and bleeding, thereby promoting better healing of soft tissues. The technique is minimally invasive and has low levels of noise, allowing patients to experience mild discomfort and vomiting reflex [17]. Consequently, children typically do not exhibit fearful emotions and are more cooperative with medical staff during laser treatment.…”

LASER as a tool for surface modification of dental biomaterials: A review

“…In the last decade, lasers have gained diverse applications in dentistry including detection and removal of dental caries [ [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] ] as well as testing the pulp vitality [ [15] , [16] , [17] ]. Lasers have also proven to be an efficient tool for performing fast, high precision and minimally damaging cavity cutting of teeth [ 18 , 19 ]. Tooth bleaching using lasers has also gained popularity in recent years [ [20] , [21] , [22] ].…”