Enface optical coherence tomography investigation of apical microleakage after laser-assisted endodontic treatment

The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential of en face optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the detection of apical microleakage after 980nm and 1,064nm laser-assisted endodontic treatment. Ninety, human, single-rooted teeth with one straight root canal and closed apices were used. All roots were prepared biomechanically to the working length at an apical size 30 and 0.06 taper. The teeth were divided into three equal groups of 30 samples each, according to the treatment to be applied to the root canal. GroupI received 980nm diode laser (3W, 0.01s on time, 0.01s off time, 5s per procedure, four procedures); groupII received neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser (1.5W, 15Hz, 5s per procedure, four procedures). In groupIII the root canals were approached conventionally only. In all groups the root canal filling was performed with AH Plus endodontic sealer and gutta-percha points. An enface OCT prototype was used for the investigation of apical microleakage. According to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and enface OCT, the number of defects in the laser groups was significantly lower (P