Autoclaving and battery capacity influence on laser fluorescence measurements

To evaluate the influence of probe tip autoclaving and depleted alkaline batteries on laser fluorescence (LF-DIAGNOdent) device performance.

One-hundred-and-twenty occlusal sites were analyzed with an LF device in nine conditions: No autoclaved probe and probe after 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 autoclaving cycles. Subsequently, the performance of the device was analyzed with: New batteries, batteries with 1.49/1.39 V, 1.38/1.37 V, 1.36/1.34 V, 1.33/1.32 V, and lower than 1.32 V. LF values, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the ROC curve were compared.

In the probe study, sensitivity was lower after 50 sterilizing cycles, though specificity was higher than the assessment performed using a new tip. In the batteries study, specificity was higher for depleted batteries, but LF performance did not differ significantly among the groups.

Batteries do not significantly influence device performance, but consecutive sterilization of probes in autoclave alters readings, downgrading its performance.