Improvement of Root Canal Disinfection Protocol Using Er;Cr:YSGG Laser: Theoretical Study of Temperature Distribution in Human Dentin

There has been a great deal of interest regarding the use of Er;Cr;YSGG laser heating to disinfect human root canal, prior to a root canal procedure. Current disinfection procedures rely on irrigant solutions, such as sodium hypochlorite, which are applied to the canal prior to filling. However, prior experimentation has shown that bacteria are capable of penetrating into the dentin tubules as far as 800 μm, measured laterally from the root canal surface [Haapasalo and Orstavik 1987; Kakoli et al., 2009]. Further studies have proven that irrigants are incapable of destroying bacteria within deep dentin tubules, despite their ability to kill approximately 98% of the bacteria within the canal.