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

Pulse oximetry as a dental pulp test: A scoping review to identify barriers hindering the use of oximeters in clinical practice

Background and Objective

Although medical pulse oximeters are considered effective for endodontic diagnoses, the method remains uncommon in current dental practice. The aim of the present scoping review was to investigate clinical factors that exert a negative impact on the use of pulse oximeters in dental practice.

Methods

This study followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines and the protocol was prospectively registered in the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3GQCE). A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases was performed in December 2022 for articles published in English or Spanish. All types of clinical studies were included, except comments, letters to the editor, and abstracts. Two independent investigators analyzed 45 full-text articles. Data extraction included general characteristics, oxygen saturation levels, and limiting factors/barriers to the use of oximeters as pulp testers.

Results

The search of the databases yielded 1,300 records and 38 were included (quantitative data extraction was performed for 35 and three articles were systematic reviews). Publications were highest in number between 2016 and 2017, with an evident reduction occurring after 2021. The oxygen saturation level for sound/vital maxillary anterior teeth was 84.99% (overall mean). The main limiting factors/barriers were i) the difficulty in maintaining the two light-emitting diodes parallel during pulp tests, ii) infrared light diffraction by enamel/dentin/gingiva, and iii) the diversity of patient ages in studies.

Conclusion

This scoping review encountered noteworthy findings associated with the impracticability of using medical pulse oximeters as dental pulp testers. The recent decrease in the frequency of published studies compared to approximately seven years ago may imply a negative trend in the use of the method.

Indexing of Iranian Publications in Well-known Endodontic Textbooks: A Scientometric Analysis

Introduction:

Quoting an article in well-known textbooks is held as a credit for that paper. The numbers of Iranian publications mentioned in endodontic textbooks have increased during recent years. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the number of Iranian articles quoted in eminent endodontic textbooks.

Methods and Materials:

Three known textbooks (Ingle’s Endodontics, Seltzer and Bender’s Dental Pulp and Cohen’s Pathways of the Pulp) were chosen and all the editions of the textbooks since 2000 were investigated for quoted Iranian publications. Only Iranian authors with affiliations from a domestic university were chosen. All references at the end of each chapter were read by hand searching, and results were noted. The trend and percentage of Iranian publications in different editions of the textbooks were also calculated. The number of citations of these publications in Google Scholar and Scopus databases were also obtained.

Results:

The number of Iranian publications in all well-known textbooks have notably increased since 2000. The number and percentage of Iranian publications in the latest edition of Cohen’s Pathways of the Pulp was higher compared to other textbooks as well as the previous edition of the same text.

Conclusion:

Number and percentage of Iranian publications in the field of endodontics in all three textbooks have remarkably increased since 2000.

Lasers for the Treatment of Dentin Hypersensitivity

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the efficacy of lasers in reducing dentin hypersensitivity (DH) as compared with placebo or no treatment. Seven electronic databases and a manual search resulted in 2,538 unique publications. After selection, 13 studies were included in the meta-analysis. A CONSORT-based quality assessment revealed that 3 and 10 studies were at low and high risk of bias, respectively. A random-effects model with the generic inverse variance standardized mean difference (SMD) was used because of expected heterogeneity. Meta-analyses of the baseline-end of follow-up changes in pain revealed no differences for Er,Cr:YSSG vs. placebo (SMD = 2.49; 95% CI, -0.25 to 5.22; p = .07) but did reveal differences in favor of lasers for Er:YAG vs. placebo (SMD, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.25 to 4.05; p = .0002), Nd:YAG vs. placebo (SMD, 3.59; 95% CI, 0.49 to 6.69; p = .02), and GaAlAs vs. placebo (SMD, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.93 to 4.87; p < .00001). High and significant heterogeneity was found for all comparisons. In conclusion, Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and GaAlAs lasers appear to be efficacious in reducing DH. However, given the high heterogeneity of the included studies, future randomized controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm these results.

Comparative assessment of the sealing ability of Nd:YAG laser versus a new desensitizing agent in human dentinal tubules: a pilot study

Dentinal hypersensitivity is a painful condition that occurs following periodontal treatment. Many treatment alternatives have been considered for this problem, including treatments with laser and dentinal adhesives. This study compared the sealing ability of Nd:YAG laser versus a new resin in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs. Ten human premolars were sectioned yielding 30 specimens of each premolar, which were randomly divided into three groups. The laser group was irradiated by Nd:YAG laser (1 W, 10 Hz, 60 s), the resin group was treated with the new Seal & Protect resin according to the manufacturer's instructions, and the third group served as the control group and did not receive any interventions. After preparation and gold coating of the samples, they were photographed by SEM at two magnifications (1500× and 4000×). The number and diameter (μm) of the dentinal tubules were recorded in selected fields, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests were used to determine significant differences between groups. The ANOVA results revealed significant differences in both the mean number (P < 0.001) and diameter (P < 0.05) among the three groups. Further statistical analysis showed a significant difference between the laser group and the resin group in both outcome measures (P < 0.05). Thus, both Nd:YAG laser and the new resin reduced the number and diameter of open dentinal tubules, a result that also explains the desensitization mechanism of these interventions. We further conclude that application of the new resin is more effective than Nd:YAG laser in minimizing the number and diameter of exposed dentinal tubules.

Effects of erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet and neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser hypersensitivity treatment parameters on the bond strength of self-etch adhesives

This in vitro study evaluated the shear bond strength (SBS) of two self-etch adhesives to coronal and root dentin treated with erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) or neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers for dentin hypersensitivity. The coronal and root dentin surfaces of 60 extracted human cuspids were divided into three groups (n = 20): (1) control (without treatment); (2) treated with Er:YAG; (3) treated with Nd:YAG laser and a one-step (S3) or two-step self-etch adhesive (SE). A nano-composite was applied and SBS tests were performed. The mean SBS values were calculated, failure modes were determined, and data were subjected to statistical analysis (P = 0.05). Control/SE exhibited higher values than did control/S3 and Nd:YAG/S3 on coronal dentin (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the SE and S3 groups in root dentin (P > 0.05). Comparisons of two dentin substrates did not show any difference except control/SE (P < 0.05). The failure modes were mainly adhesive. The SBSs of self-etch adhesives to Er:YAG or Nd:YAG laser-treated surfaces were comparable with control for both coronal and root dentin.