An Alternative Method to Treat Ankyloglossia.

Ankyloglossia entails short lingual frenum, impairing satisfactory tongue movement and leading to problems related to deglutition, feeding and diction. This clinical report uses laser technology, rather than traditional surgical procedure with scalpel, to perform a lingual frenulotomy on a 9-year old child diagnosed with ankyloglossia, aiming to investigate more conservative and less traumatic dental procedures. Due to the many advantages of the laser device, such as bloodless surgical field, absence of sutures, minimal swelling and post-surgical pain, the high intensity diode laser is a viable alternative technique in soft tissue surgeries.

Comparison of bond stability between dual-cure resin cements and pretreated glass-infiltrated alumina ceramics.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the bond stability of resin cements used for luting alumina-based all-ceramic dental restorations. BACKGROUND DATA: Although different pretreatments may be applied on alumina to improve bond strengths, any previous study investigated the bond stability of resin-based cements luted to laser-irradiated alumina. METHODS: 64 sintered, glass-infiltrated alumina blocks were sandblasted and randomly assigned to the following subgroups: 1. no additional treatment (NT); 2. Rocatec (Roc); 3. Nd:YAG laser (L); and 4. Nd:YAG laser plus Rocatec (LRoc). Composite samples were bonded to conditioned ceramics using two different resin based cements: a self-etching adhesive cement-Panavia F (PF) and a self-adhesive resin cement-RelyX Unicem (RXU). After 24 h, bonded specimens were cut into microtensile sticks (1 ± 0.1 mm(2)). One-half of the beams were loaded in tension until failure. The remaining one-half was immersed in 10%-NaOCl aqueous solution (NaOCl(aq)) for 12 h before testing. ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls tests were run (P < 0.05). Failure mode was recorded. Ceramic topography was SEM-analyzed. RESULTS: After 24 h, L-sticks achieved the highest MTBS despite the cement type, whereas NT-samples recorded the lowest values. After NaOCl(aq) immersion bond strengths decreased except for RXU luted to NT-alumina. PF luted to L- and LRoc-samples, and RXU luted to L-sticks attained the highest bond strength. CONCLUSIONS: Nd:YAG laser irradiation improved bond strength between alumina ceramics and resin cements (PF or RXU). Chemical challenging impaired adhesion, mainly through resin matrixes and silane coupling degradation. Laser-treated specimens remained with the highest bond strength.

Evaluation of carbon dioxide laser irradiation associated with calcium hydroxide in the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. A preliminary study.

Attempts have been made to treat dentinal hypersensitivity by sealing exposed dentinal tubules, and the carbon dioxide (CO(2)) laser has been shown to have a sealing effect on dentinal surfaces. The purpose of this study was to analyze the morphological ultra-structure and temperature change after CO(2) laser irradiation of dentin. Fourteen human third molars were selected and cleaned. An area was delimited, and the samples were randomly divided into seven groups: Group 1 (G1): control; G2, calcium hydroxide paste (CA) + CO(2) laser (L) (0.5 W/63,69 W/cm(2)); G3, CA + L (1 W/125,38 W/cm(2)); G4, CA + L (1.5 W/191,08 W/cm(2)); G5, L (0.5 W); G6, L (1 W); G7, L (1.5 W). All irradiation was performed in unfocused mode. The electron micrographs were analyzed by three observers. For temperature analysis, a thermocouple was used. Data were subjected to statistical analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test showed statistical differences between the groups (P < 0.05). For the two by two comparisons, all groups treated with calcium hydroxide paste presented significantly higher mean scores. In the groups treated by CO(2) laser only, fusion, re-crystallization, cracks and carbonization were observed. A change of 1 ± 5°C was noted in the temperature. Under the limitation of an in vitro study, and with the protocols used, we concluded that CO(2) laser is safe to use for the establishment of partial fusion and re-solidification of the dentinal surface.

Intrapupal temperature variation during Er,Cr: YSGG enamel irradiation on carries prevention.

Studies have shown the cariostatic effect of Er,Cr:YSGG (2.78 mm) laser irradiation on human enamel and have suggested its use on caries prevention. However there are still no reports on the intrapulpal temperature increase during enamel irradiation using parameters for caries prevention. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the temperature variation in the pulp chamber during human enamel irradiation with Er,Cr:YSGG laser at different energy densities. Fifteen enamel blocks obtained from third molars (3 x 3 x 3 mm) were randomly assigned to 3 groups (n=5): G1--Er,Cr:YSGG laser 0.25 W, 20 Hz, 2.84 J/cm(2), G2--Er,Cr:YSGG laser 0.50 W, 20 Hz, 5.68 J/cm(2), G3--Er,Cr:YSGG laser 0.75 W, 20 Hz, 8.52 J/cm(2). During enamel irradiation, two thermocouples were fixed in the inner surface of the specimens and a thermal conducting paste was used. One-way ANOVA did not show statistically significant difference among the experimental groups (alpha=0.05). There was intrapulpal temperature variation < or = 0.1 degrees C for all irradiation parameters. In conclusion, under the tested conditions, the use of Er,Cr:YSGG laser with parameters set for caries prevention lead to an acceptable temperature increase in the pulp chamber.

Micro-tensile bond strength between a resin cement and an aluminous ceramic treated with Nd:YAG laser, Rocatec System, or aluminum oxide sandblasting.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different surface treatments on bond strength between In-Ceram Alumina (VITA) and Panavia Fluoro Cement (Kuraray), and to verify the association between bond strength values and the percentage of remaining cement on the ceramic surface. BACKGROUND DATA: Although several conventional surface treatments have been used on aluminous ceramic, no study investigated the effect of the Nd:YAG laser. METHODS: Nine In-Ceram Alumina blocks (10 x 10 x 6 mm) received three surface treatments: group 1, Al(2)O(3) sandblasting + silane; group 2, Al(2)O(3) sandblasting + Rocatec Plus + silane; and group 3, Al(2)O(3) sandblasting + Nd:YAG Laser + silane. Resin cement was applied and light cured, followed by the application of composite. Blocks were sectioned to obtain sticks with a cross-sectional area of 1.0 mm(2). Microtensile bond strength (microTBS) was recorded in a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Scanning electron microscopy images of the fractured areas were used to calculate the amount of remaining cement on the ceramic substrate. RESULTS: All treatments yielded statistically different microTBS values (MPa): group 1, 14.38(A); group 2, 20.09(B); and group 3, 23.21(C) (ANOVAand Tukey's test, alpha = 0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficient for microTBS x percentage of remaining cement was r = 0.92 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Nd:YAG laser was the most effective surface treatment, followed by Rocatec and Al(2)O(3) sandblasting. A strong positive association was found between bond strength values and percentage of remaining cement.