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Erschienen in:
01.12.2024 | Original Article
Clinical and radiographic assessment of diode laser 940 nm assisted direct pulp capping on dentin bridge formation versus the conventional method
Erschienen in: Lasers in Dental Science | Ausgabe 1/2024
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Purpose
To compare the radiographic and clinical effect of diode laser–assisted direct pulp capping (DPC) on the formation of dentin bridge versus the conventional method without the application of laser.
Methods
A total of 32 asymptomatic patients with deep cavities in vital permanent molars of age ranging between 18 and 45 years were chosen from the dental clinics of Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine in Misr International University. All patients were randomly divided into two equal groups: conventional DPC group using MTA without diode laser and a laser-assisted DPC group using diode laser and then MTA application. Radiographs and preoperative clinical assessment were done before the intervention followed by the patients’ management. Follow-up with clinical and radiographic evaluation was done after 3, 6, and 12 months. Digital periapical X-rays and digital software Digora 2.5 were used to analyze the images and measure dentin bridge thickness during the follow-up periods. Both radiographic and clinical data were collected, tabulated, and analyzed statistically to compare the successes of both groups.
Results
Clinical assessment results have shown clinical success of 14 cases. Radiographically regarding the changes in dentin thickness, there was no significant difference between the two groups after 3 and 6 months (P-value = 0.629), while after 12 months, the laser group showed statistically significantly higher median dentin thickness than conventional (P-value = 0.046). While comparing the median of the overall dentin thickness in both groups, there was no statistically significant difference in 3, 6, and 12 months in both groups (P-values were 0.748, 0.945, and 0.232 respectively).
Conclusions
Within the limitations of this study, the following could be concluded: (1) on short-term follow-ups, both methods were equally effective in maintaining pulp vitality and stimulating dentin bridge formation both clinically and radiographically; (2) in longer-term follow-ups, diode laser intervention has improved the prognosis of DPC through its biostimulation effect on dentin bridge formation, hemostasis, and field sterilization.