Selective Ablation of Pit and Fissure Caries from Occlusal Surfaces using λ=355-nm Laser Pulses and Air-abrasion Demonstrated using PS-OCT and Near-IR Imaging

摘要

Several past studies have suggested that lasers with and without added chromophores can be used for the selective removal of dental caries from stained pit and fissures in preparation for composite sealant placement with minimal damage to sound, unstained tooth structure. Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a new nondestructive imaging technology that can be used to acquire images of caries lesions in occlusal surfaces. PS-OCT is ideally suited to measure the caries depth and severity before and after selective removal from occlusal surfaces. In this study, λ=355-nm laser pulses of 5-ns duration at irradiation intensities ranging from 0.5 - 1.3 J/cm~2 were scanned across tooth surfaces to selectively remove decayed enamel with and without the addition of India ink. PS-OCT images were acquired before and after removal. The laser removal was also compared to air abrasion in order to compare selectivity of these two conservative caries removal technologies.