Potential role of Er:YAG laser and fluoride in the dental enamel remineralization: a Raman spectroscopy preliminary <i>ex vivo</i> study

Abstract

Background and aims: Dental caries are a widespread oral disease and a serious public health problem, starting by teeth demineralization, which is a loss of minerals such as calcium and phosphate. Modern caries treatment is aimed at preventing the disease progression by teeth remineralization which is a supply of minerals to the enamel. The most popular remineralization method is the treatment of teeth with fluoride. Er:YAG laser has also gained research attention as a method for improving the uptake of fluoride and phosphate by introducing chemical and morphological changes into the structure of enamel but, while some researchers described it as effective, others found no significant effect from its application. This work aimed to further study the effect of Er:YAG laser, alone or combined with fluoride, to dental enamel. Materials and Methods: Twenty upper central human incisors, extracted for periodontal reasons, were used in the study. Samples were demineralized by acetic acid and divided into four groups: a) control, b) fluoride + Er:YAG laser, c) Er:YAG laser alone and d) fluoride alone. The remineralization rate of teeth was estimated by Raman Spectroscopy. Results: In comparison with the control group, the phosphate peak’s intensity increased notably for the teeth treated by fluoride, but decreased slightly for the teeth treated with Er:YAG laser and with a combination of the laser and fluoride. Conclusions: With the limits of this study, due to the limited samples number, Er:YAG laser, alone and combined with fluoride, seems to be not effective, at the parameters used, for the enamel remineralization.