Controlling In Vivo, Human Pulp Temperature Rise Caused by LED Curing Light Exposure

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vivo effectiveness of air spray to reduce pulp temperature rise during exposure of intact premolars to light emitted by a high-power LED light-curing unit (LCU).

After local Ethics Committee approval (#255945), intact, upper first premolars requiring extraction for orthodontic reasons from five volunteers received infiltrative and intraligamental anesthesia. The teeth (n=9) were isolated using rubber dam, and a minute pulp exposure was attained. The sterile probe from a wireless, NIST-traceable, temperature acquisition system was inserted directly into the coronal pulp chamber. Real-time pulp temperature (PT) (°C) was continuously monitored, while the buccal surface was exposed to a polywave LED LCU (Bluephase 20i, Ivoclar Vivadent) for 30 seconds with simultaneous application of a lingually directed air spray (30s-H/AIR) or without (30s-H), with a seven-minute span between each exposure. Peak PT values were subjected to one-way, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and PT change from baseline (ΔT) during exposure was subjected to paired Student's t-test (α=0.05).

Peak PT values of the 30s-H group were significantly higher than those of 30s-H/AIR group and those from baseline temperature (p<0.001), whereas peak PT values in the 30s-H/AIR group were significantly lower than the baseline temperature (p=0.003). The 30s-H/AIR group showed significantly lower ΔT values than did the 30s-H group (p<0.001).

Applying air flow simultaneously with LED exposure prevents in vivo pulp temperature rise.