Relationship between mineral composition and hardness of the human dental treated with short pulsed Nd:YAG laser in caries prevention

Abstract

Various laser systems have been used in treatment of hard tissue with efficiency and safety. The action of the Nd:YAG laser in caries prevention has been reported for many research groups. Caries is a bacterial disease that affects a significant part of world population, causes minerals reduction and may lead to a total loss of the dental tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of short pulses Nd:YAG laser in caries prevention. The dependency between physico-chemical parameters like hardness and the mineral composition of dental enamel is outlined. Thirty human enamel samples were divided into two groups. The laser used emits radiation wavelength of 1.064 nm, energy of 73 mJ per pulse and 10 ns of pulse width. X-Ray Fluorescence, SEM and Vickers microhardness techniques were used. Obtained results are consistent with other studies and indicated greater Ca/P ratio in lased groups in comparison to the unlased group. The present study suggests that the use of the Q-Switched- d:YAG laser in enamel surfaces contributes to increase the hardness and decrease the mineral loss by bacterial acid attack.