Adhesion of composite resins to enamel irradiated by the Er:YAG laser: application of the ultrasonic scaler on irradiated surface.

Abstract

The clinical use of the Er:YAG laser in cavity preparation has become widespread. With respect to cavities prepared with the Er:YAG laser, restorations using composite resins and glass ionomer cements are common. The bond strength of current resin bonding systems to ground enamel is 14-30 MPa, whereas the strength to Er:YAG laser-irradiated enamel, regardless of the use or non-use of phosphoric acid etching is less than 10 MPa. In this investigation, an ultrasonic scaler was tested as a technique to increase the bond strength of composite resins to the Er:YAG irradiated enamel surface. The application of the ultrasonic scaler significantly increased bond strength. The tensile bond strength in the groups treated with the ultrasonic scaler exhibited approximately twice the strength observed in groups treated with laser irradiation alone.