Effects of Er:YAG laser on enamel bonding of composite materials

Abstract

Cylinders of microfil light-cured composite resin were bonded to the labial enamel surface of bovine incisor teeth which had previously been subjected to different laser treatments. One part of the tooth surfaces were laser treated in a defocused way only, another part with a different overlaying pattern of focused laser pulses. Specimens were thermocycled and the adhesion of the composites were determined by tensile strength tests. The best results were obtained by laser conditioning of the enamel surface in a defocused way with an overlaying fine pattern of focused single shots. The tensile strength reached 92.5% of the acid etched bonding.