In-vitro efficacy of Er: YAG & Er,Cr: YSGG laser-activated irrigation with photon-induced photoacoustic streaming (PIPS) irrigation for smear layer removal: a scanning electron microscopy study

To microscopically examine the effect of Er: YAG and Er, Cr: YSGG lasers agitation techniques on smear layer removing-capacity of NaOCl intracanal at the apical, middle, and coronal regions of root canal walls.

Thirty freshly extracted human single-canal anterior dentitions were chosen for this study. After the root canals mechanically prepared to size X4, 0.06 taper byrotary files of ProTaper Next^® system, they were randomly categorized into three equal groups (10 teeth each); syringe/needle- and Er: YAG and Er, Cr: YSGG laser-activated groups. Lasers were operated at subablative level. For microscopic assessment, samples were longitudinally hemi-sectioned. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were utilized to statistically analyze the collected data.

Laser-activated groups presented significant lower smear layer score values than that of syringe/needle activated group.

Erbium laser-activated irrigation technique has a favorable impact on agitation NaOCl root canal irrigant enhancing the cleaning procedure of root canal system.