Abstract

In the past years, lasers have become a special tool in dentistry. To study the effects of laser apicoectomy compared to the conventional surgical treatment, freshly-extracted single-root teeth were used, submitted to traditional endodontic treatment and divided into four groups: Group I, conventional apicoectomy using diamond burs; Group II, the same treatment as Group I, however, with a 15 second orthophosphoric acid application; Group III Er:YAG laser cut (10 Hz - 400 mJ); and finally, Group IV Er:YAG laser cut (10 Hz - 400 mJ) and surface treatment with Nd:YAG laser (10 Hz - 2 W). The samples were submitted to 2,5% blue methylene dye solution, at 25° C and 37° C for 36 h and 18 h, respectively, and analyzed under optical microscope. The results show that Group II had the higher permeability of all the groups and Group IV had the lower one, due to the successful Nd:YAG laser surface treatment.

© 2001 OSA/SPIE