The Impact of CO Laser Treatment and Acidulated Phosphate Fluoride on Enamel Demineralization and Biofilm Formation.

This study evaluated the impact of CO laser treatment and acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) on enamel demineralization and biofilm formation, using and designs. Demineralized enamel slabs were distributed among 8 groups: placebo, placebo + continuous CO laser, placebo + repeated CO laser, placebo + ultrapulsed CO laser, 1.23% APF, APF + continuous CO laser, APF + repeated CO laser and APF + ultrapulsed CO laser. In the study, 15 enamel slabs from each group were subjected to a pH-cycling regimen for 14 days. In the cross over design, 11 volunteers wore palatal appliances with demineralized enamel slabs for 2 periods of 14 days each. Drops of sucrose solution were dripped onto enamel slabs 8×/day. Biofilms formed on slabs were collected and the colony-forming units (CFU) of and were determined. For both and studies, there was no significant difference between treatments (>0.05). However, all treatments increased microhardness of demineralized enamel (<0.05). After a further cariogenic challenge, with the exception of the placebo, all treatments maintained microhardness values (<0.05). Microbiological analysis showed no difference in (>0.05) or (>0.05) counts between groups. The results suggest that APF gel combined with the CO laser, regardless of the pulse emission mode used, was effective in controlling enamel demineralization, but none of the tested treatments was able to prevent bacterial colonization.