Assessment of the functional efficacy of various light-curing units of different manufacturers

Abstract

Background: Light plays an important role in polymerizing a light-cured resin-based composite as a hard restorative material. The present study was conducted to assess the functional efficacy of various light-curing units (LCUs) available to us.Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Endodontics on 60 different LCUs of different manufacturers. Parameters such as type of light-curing unit, the curing protocol, and frequency of bulb replacement were also recorded.Results: Out of 60 LCUs, 26 were quartz–tungsten–halogen (QTH) and 34 were light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The mean intensity of QTH was 486.3 W/cm2 and of LED was 612.1 W/cm2. The difference was significant (P < 0.05). Nineteen QTH and 22 LEDs were satisfactory, while 7 QTH and 12 LEDs were unsatisfactory. The difference was nonsignificant (P > 0.05).Conclusion: The authors found that maximum satisfactory results were seen with QTH type as compared to LED type.