Evaluation of light-curing units tips used in the clinic of a dental school

Diogo de Azevedo Miranda, Paloma Martins de-Oliveira, Nathália Ferreira Ganimi, Larissa Altomare Carvalho Ribeiro Marques, Flávio Henrique Baggio Aguiar

Introduction: Composite resins are operatordependent materials and hence LED-dependent. There are many types of LEDs available on the market, so knowledge of emitted irradiance and equipment components is critical to maintaining the quality of adhesive restorations. The lightconducting tip, depending on the curing light, may be transparent or dark and may change the radiance of the device when in contact with impurities, when cracked and / or fractured. Objective: To evaluate the curing tips used in the clinic of a dental school, as well as to measure the irradiance emitted before and after their replacement. Method: 20 light curing units were analyzed by a calibrated evaluator who verified the presence of fractures (yes or no), debris (yes or no) of resinous materials remnants and reflection capacity (cracks). The irradiance of each device was measured before and after the tip change. Results: After analyzing the data, the paired t test was applied, comparing the irradiance after changing the tip with the initial irradiance. The analyzes were performed with a significance level of 5%. There was a significant increase in irradiance (p <0.05) after replacing all tips of the devices. It can still be observed that 30% of the tips had debris, 30% cracks, 30% fractures and 10% had debris and cracks. Conclusion: The presence of debris, cracks and fractures caused the irradiance emitted by the devices to decrease drastically and their replacement made the devices could be safely used again.

Keywords: Polymerization. Luminescent Measurements. Curing Lights Dental.

How to cite: Miranda DA, de-Oliveira PM, Ganimi NF, Marques LACR, Aguiar FHB. Evaluation of light-curing units tips used in the clinic of a dental school. J Clin Dent Res. 2020 May-Aug;17(2):156-67.

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