CARIES PREVENTION BY CO2-LASER TREATMENT - DEPENDENCY ON THE NUMBER OF PULSES USED

The aim of this study was to assess the caries-preventive potential of various carbon dioxide laser conditions and to explore the effect of the number of laser pulses used. The authors irradiated unerupted huma n molars at two wavelengths-10.6 or 9.6 micrometers-and at 1, 5, 25 or 100 pulses. All teeth were then subjected to pH cycling simulating th e conditions for caries progression. Pulsed CO2 laser-preventive treat ment inhibited carieslike lesion progression by up to 87 percent. This effect was dependent on the number of pulses used, but there was no c orrelation between caries resistance and enamel surface morphological changes.