Evaluation of Nd:YAG laser on partial oxygen saturation of pulpal blood in anterior hypersensitive teeth

Dentine hypersensitivity has of long been known to be a common clinical problem in dental practices. Lasers have recently come to play a prominent role in the treatment of this disorder. They might, however, cause dental pulp damage. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Nd:yttrium–aluminum–garnet (YAG) laser on partial oxygen saturation of pulpal blood in sensitive anterior teeth. In this clinical trial, 65 hypersensitive teeth were selected and randomly allocated to two groups. The study group involved Nd:YAG laser treatment, while no treatment was employed for the control group. Using a pulse oximetry system, evaluations were preformed of the partial oxygen saturation in the pulpal blood before, immediately after, 1 week after, and 1 month after the treatment. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software and repeated-measures analysis of variance and paired-samples t tests. The mean partial oxygen saturation of the blood was found to be 85.4% in the study group, which was not significantly different from that of the control group. No significant differences were observed in the control group between the means obtained from pretreatment and post-treatment intervals (P > 0.05). The Post-treatment partial oxygen saturation mean rose to 89.3% (P = 0.001) and remained constant throughout the following week after it. However, no significant differences were found between the pretreatment partial oxygen saturation mean and the same measurement 1 month after treatment (P = 0.702). Nd:YAG laser therapy for dentine desensitization of anterior teeth caused no persistent changes in the partial oxygen saturation of pulpal blood. It may, therefore, be concluded that the diffusion of heat induced by the Nd:YAG laser into the pulp within the limit of the desensitization parameters cause no irreversible damages in the dental pulp.