Smoothing and strengthening the ablated dentin surface by Er,Cr:YSGG laser employing silver diamine fluoride

AIM. Preventing bacterial adhesion and eventual secondary caries requires maintaining a smooth dentin surface. The aim of this study is to reduction of dentin surface roughness (Ra) using Er,Cr:YSGG Laser with or without Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF).

MATERIALS AND METHODS. In order to simulate beginning demineralisation, 65 dentin specimens were prepared and put through a pH-cycling model. After that, the specimens were split into four treatment groups (each with 13 participants) and a control group (also with 13 participants) at random: (1) Laser alone, (2) SDF alone, (3) Laser followed by SDF (Laser + SDF), and (4) SDF followed by Laser (SDF + Laser). Three phases were used to quantify Ra: baseline, pH-cycling, and treatment.in addition, Scanning Electron Microscopy was used to characterize the surface morphology of dentin specimens. Least Significant Difference (LSD) post-hoc analysis was performed after One-Way ANOVA and Paired Samples t-tests and Independent Samples t-tests were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS. The SDF + Laser, Laser, and SDF groups all produced statistically significant increase in surface roughness as compared to their pre-treatment values, according to the Paired Samples t-test. On the other hand, there was a slight and insignificant shift in the Laser + SDF group (p = 0.861). The LSD-test and One-Way ANOVA revealed a highly significant difference (p < 0.0001) between the treated groups’ final roughness levels. At 0.60 ± 0.018 µm, the Laser + SDF group had the lowest final roughness, whereas at 0.68 ± 0.019 µm, the SDF + Laser group had the highest.

CONCLUSION. The demineralized dentin surface’s roughness was considerably increase by all treatment methods, except Laser followed by SDF protocol where the smoothest surface was created. This is the best order for maintaining the integrity of the dentin surface.

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