Intrapulpar temperature during continuous CO2 laser irradiation in human molars: an in vitro study

To establish safety parameters, we in vitro studied the increase in intrapulpal temperature caused by the use of a cw CO2 laser. A thermistor was implanted in the inner part of the pulpal chamber of 25 human lower third molars to measure the intrapulpal temperature produced by laser powers between 2-10 W and exposure times of 0.5-25.0 s. The Pearson linear correlation factor applied to the measured values showed there is a direct relationship between the independent variable and the applied power. A variance analysis produced the linear regression equation: T = 1.10 + (0.127)E where T is the temperature and E the energy. The results showed that, with a power of 4 W and maximum exposure time of 2:5 s (10 J) and a power density of 12,738.85 W cm-2, there will be no damaging reactions affecting the pulpal tissues.