Optical characterization of a light guide for the polymerization of root canal fillers: preliminary results

Egberto Munin; Luis Augusto Lupato Conrado; Leandro Procopio Alves; Renato Amaro Zangaro

doi:10.1117/12.528096

28 May 2004 Optical characterization of a light guide for the polymerization of root canal fillers: preliminary results

Egberto Munin, Luis Augusto Lupato Conrado, Leandro Procopio Alves, Renato Amaro Zangaro

Proceedings Volume 5313, Lasers in Dentistry X; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.528096
Event: Biomedical Optics 2004, 2004, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

The sealing cements used in endodontics are commonly of the type activated by chemical reactions. During polymerization, mechanical contractions are not uncommon, leading to non-perfect sealing or treatment failure. Photopolymerizable cements usually presents superior performance as compared to those chemically activated. However, difficulties in carrying-up the light to difficult-to-reach regions like the dental apex preclude those material of being accepted in the dental office routine. Recently, a novel technique for the light curing of photopolymerizable cements in endodontic applications has been proposed. Such a technique makes use of a polymeric light guide to deliver the curing light to the apex region, for a single step polymerization of the canal filler. For this work, a 28 mm long polymer light-guide, has been produced. The polymer surface was roughened to produce light scattering and allow the light to escape from the guide. The light scattering profile along the body of the guide is an important property for the proposed application. We used an integrating sphere to measure the irradiation profile for the proposed endodontic device. It was found that the experimental data for the amount of light coupled into the integrating sphere as a function of the length of the cone inside the sphere fits to a double exponential model.

Citation Download Citation

Egberto Munin, Luis Augusto Lupato Conrado, Leandro Procopio Alves, and Renato Amaro Zangaro "Optical characterization of a light guide for the polymerization of root canal fillers: preliminary results", Proc. SPIE 5313, Lasers in Dentistry X, (28 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.528096

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