Dentin hypersensitivity must be one of the most frequent postoperative complaints in periodontal patients. Obliterating the open dentinal tubules or decreasing the diameter of their orifices would, therefore, be an objective of treatment for hypersensitive teeth.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser irradiation on obliteration of dentinal tubules and to determine any difference according to irradiation methods.

The 45 posterior teeth that had been extracted due to periodontal disease were initially treated with tetracycline HCl(100 mg/ml, 4 min.) to remove the smear layer after root planing. The root surfaces were then irradiated by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser(EL.EN.EN060, Italy) by different laser beam spot size and different exposure condition;

group 1: irradiated group by small spot(beam diameter=1mm, 1W, 2 sec)

group 2: irradiated group by large spot(beam diameter=10mm, 1W, 200 sec)

group 3: irradiated group by gradual increase of watt(from 0.3W to 1.0W), beam diameter=4mm

group 4: irradiated group by fixed watt(1.0 W), beam diameter= 4mm

control group: no irradiation but root planing and tetracycline HCl conditioning only.

Additionally, the specimens were retreated with tetracycline HCl(100mg/ml, 4min.) to evaluate the stability of obliteration effect by Nd:YAG laser.

Specimens were examined under the scanning electron microscope(JEOL, JSM-840A, Japan). Photomicrographs were taken at ×4,000 magnification and were analyzed statistically.

The results were as follows;

Scanning electron micrographs of root surface treated by tetracycline HCl alone(control group) showed widened, funnel-shaped dentinal tubules, while those of the root surface irradiated by various methods showed partially or completely obliterated dentinal tubules and various surface alterations, eg, flat, multiple pitted, melted and resolidified surface at the same energy density.

There was no significant difference in the obliteration effect of dentinal tubules between group 1 and group 2, and between group 3 and group 4(p>0.05).

The obliteration effect of dentinal tubules by a Nd:YAG laser irradiation was relatively stable to tetracycline HCl.

The results demonstrate that a pulsed Nd:YAG laser irradiation within 1.0W, regardless of irradiation methods, can obliterate dentinal tubules effectively.