Effect of CO₂ Laser Irradiation on Adhesiveness of Fissure Sealant

Abstract

Recently, the laser application for dental clinics has become more popular in various clinical cases such as the prevention of dental caries, conservative dentistry, and ware surgical, etc. A structure with a bumpy surface was presented after laser irradiation. The effect was called “laser etching”. In the dental clinical case, the enamel was strengthened after the laser irradiation followed by the fissure sealant plugging. Thus, a higher caries preventive effect could be expected for the improvement of the acid residence of the tooth. However, it was not decided to be a current state in the evaluation of the laser etching. Then, we examined the effect of CO₂ laser irradiation on the adhesive strength and observed the adhesive interface and the surface microstructure by digital microscope and SEM. We also did crystallographic analysis of the enamel after laser irradiation by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR analysis. As a result, the α-TCP formed in the enamel surface with the laser irradiation. It was found that the adhesiveness of the fissure sealant significantly decreased after the laser irradiation compared with the phosphate etching.