Efficacy of argon laser irradiation in removing intracanal debris

Endodontic instrumentation, irrigation, or intracanal medication are unable to totally remove intracanal debris. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of argon laser irradiation in removing debris from the root canal system. After cleaning and shaping, 12 single rooted teeth were randomly divided into two groups of six teeth each. The first group, which served as the control, was not lased. In the second group, a 300 microns argon laser fiber optic was introduced into the root canal of each tooth, to its working length. Fifteen pulses of 100 msec each with an energy of 2 watts were delivered for 5 seconds at the apex. The lasing procedure was repeated at 1 mm intervals along the root canal, and the fiber tip was retrieved from the apex to the orifice. Computerized scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the amount of debris in the lased group was significantly lower than that in the control (p = 0.0001). On the basis of these results, it appeared that intracanal argon laser irradiation was an efficient mean of removing intracanal debris.