Comparison between Laser and Sodium Hypochlorite in the Disinfection during Root Canal Treatment

Abstract

Introduction: Various laser techniques have been considered as alternative methods for root canal disinfection and are suggested to more effectively affect bacteria located deep in the dentine than traditional chemo-mechanical methods. This review aimed to investigate the role of dental lasers in the disinfection of root canals during endodontic treatment.
Methods: A search was conducted using PubMed and Medline using combinations of specific keywords. The results of this search were limited to English-language articles. Lastly, the reference lists from published articles were checked. Moreover, we included studies that utilized various wavelengths ranging from 600 to 2940 nm of the electromagnetic spectrum which included LED, halogen lamps Nd:YAG Er, Cr:YSGG Er:YAG and quartz tungsten halogen with blue light laser.
Results: The initial search process yielded 254 publications. Nine were included in the systematic review and were assessed. The main reason for the low-quality assessment was that no study reported a rationale for sample size: none presented a power analysis. None of the assessed studies reported blinding during the operative procedure or outcome analysis. As described later, heterogeneity in performance was extensive.
Conclusions: Results showed that although dental laser precisely reduces canal bacterial count, sodium hypochlorite was more effective. Laser light can affect bacteria further than 1mm in dentin, hence results showed that this laser is effective for sealing dentinal tubules and eliminating bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Enterococcus Faecalis. So it is recommended to use this laser with the rinsing solution for canal disinfection.