Laser-assisted diagnosis of symptomatic cracks in teeth with cracked tooth: A 4-year in-vivo follow-up study

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a near-infrared diode laser could be used as an adjunct to help identify and localise symptomatic cracks in patients with cracked tooth. An 810-nm diode laser at 1 W continuous wave energy with a 200 micro-fibre tip was used to scan the offending tooth. Crack identified during the laser scan was removed, restored and reviewed after four weeks and after 4 years. The laser was able to significantly (P = 0.0001) identify suspected cracked teeth from non-cracked control teeth. Of the twelve patients examined, ten participants experienced discomfort as the laser passed over a crack line. At 4-week and 4-year recall, a majority of the ten treated patients responded positively to the management of crack. This study showed that diode laser could be an adjunctive tool for early detection and management of symptomatic cracks with the possibility of improving long-term survival.