Assessment of inhibition of mineral loss from human tooth enamel by carbon dioxide laser and 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: The efficacy of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) laser irradiation combined with fluoride in inhibiting enamel demineralization has been demonstrated by several laboratory investigations. However, there are very few reports about the in situ or in vivo caries preventive effect of CO 2 laser combined with topical fluoride on dental enamel. Hence, an in situ study was designed and carried out to assess inhibition of mineral loss from human tooth enamel by CO 2 laser and 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF). Material and Methods: Impressions of upper and lower arch of the volunteers were made in alginate impression material. Study models were poured, duplicated, and duly labeled. On the working model, appliances were fabricated in acrylic resin to fit the upper dental arch of the volunteers. Four enamel slabs (one from each group) were fitted on the palatal surface of the appliance as close as possible to posterior teeth. Surfaces of slabs were kept below the outer surface of acrylic. The analysis was done using SPSS version 15 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) Windows software program. Results: Statistically significant increase in inhibition of mineral loss of enamel slabs when treated individually or in a combination of low power CO 2 laser and 1.23% APF solution. The application of 1.23% APF solution after low power CO 2 laser treatment showed maximum inhibition of mineral loss. Conclusion: The combined use of this specific laser treatment plus fluoride was more successful than either laser treatment or fluoride alone in the inhibition of mineral loss in the mouth. The results of this study also suggest that the combination of low power laser treatment with fluoride therapy may be effective as a caries inhibition treatment.

Effects of Two Remineralizing agents in Combination with Er:YAG and CO2 Laser Irradiation on Microhardness of Demineralized Enamel: A Preliminary In Vitro Study

“…Silva et al [ 34 ] assessed the effect of some products containing fluoride (i.e., titanium tetrafluoride and stannous fluoride) alone and in combination with CO 2 laser on enamel erosion [ 34 ]. Another study revealed that beneficial effects were obtained when acidulated phosphate fluoride was used along with CO 2 laser irradiation [ 35 ]. Evidence shows that CO 2 laser irradiation may block the dentinal tubules by dentin melted due to high temperature at the irradiation site.…”

Clinical and ex-vivo effect of LASERs on prevention of early-enamel caries: systematic review & meta-analyses

“…Another three ex-vivo studies [20][21][22][23] that used CO 2 laser were included. The data included in the metaanalysis were considered continuous.…”

“…Two studies [14,24] performed enamel surface profilometry. Also, three studies performed Polarized light microscopy to evaluate enamel lesion depth in um but one of these studies tested one specimen as qualitative assessment only [20,21,23].…”

“…Four studies of eight (50%) used output power of less than 1 Watt following the Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) protocol [2,18,19,23]. Other studies [20,23] used output power ranging from 1-5 W, whereas one study used medium power of 2 W [22]. Regarding duration of laser application, majority of the included studies used short application time from 9-30 s (Table 2).…”

Evaluation of diode laser along with 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride gel on dentinal tubule occlusion: An in vitro study

“…This agent has been successfully used in preventive dentistry for a number of years for the prevention of dental caries and dental erosion. [ 15 16 ]…”