Application of Er,Cr:YSGG laser versus photopolymerization after silver diamine fluoride in primary teeth

Examine the effect of dental curing light and laser treatments applied after Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) on dentin hardness in carious primary molars. This in-vitro study consisted of 30 extracted primary molars with caries extending into dentin without pulpal involvement. The collected teeth were randomly divided into three groups: group 1: received SDF then Sub-ablative low-energy of Er,Cr:YSGG laser, group 2: received SDF followed by application of curing light for 40 s, group 3: had SDF treatment only. In all groups, 38% Ag (NH3)2F SDF was used. Vickers hardness test was performed on sound dentin below carious lesion. Kruskal-Wallis Test was used to determine the mean difference in dentin hardness of the groups at 5% Significance level using SPSS software. Surface hardness of sound dentin below the carious lesion was statistically significantly higher in the laser + SDF group (891.24 ± 37.33 kgf/mm²) versus the two other groups (Light cure + SDF = 266.65 ± 90.81 kgf/mm² and SDF only = 117.91 ± 19.19 kgf/mm²) with p-value ≤ 0.001. Although Photopolymerization of SDF increases the surface hardness of sound dentin below the carious lesion, applying laser after SDF has the highest surface hardness due to the laser's sub-ablation of dentin.