BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of an erbium, chromium-doped yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG laser [ERCL]) on 1) the surface structure and biocompatibility of titanium implants and 2) the removal of plaque biofilms and reestablishment of the biocompatibility of contaminated titanium surfaces. METHODS: Intraoral splints were used to collect an in vivo supragingival biofilm on sand-blasted and acid-etched titanium disks for 24 hours. ERCL was used at an energy output of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 W for the irradiation of 1) non-contaminated (20 and 25 Hz) and 2) plaque-contaminated (25 Hz) titanium disks. Unworn and untreated non-irradiated, sterile titanium disks served as untreated controls (UC). Specimens were incubated with SaOs-2 osteoblasts for 6 days. Treatment time, residual plaque biofilm (RPB) areas (%), mitochondrial cell activity (MA) (counts per second), and cell morphology/surface changes (scanning electron microscopy [SEM]) were assessed. RESULTS: 1) ERCL using either 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, or 2.5 W at both 20 and 25 Hz resulted in comparable mean MA values as measured in the UC group. A monolayer of flattened SaOs-2 cells showing complete cytoplasmatic extensions and lamellopodia was observed in both ERCL and UC groups. 2) Mean RPB areas decreased significantly with increasing energy settings (53.8 +/- 2.2 at 0.5 W to 9.8 +/- 6.2 at 2.5 W). However, mean MA values were significantly higher in the UC group. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of the present study, it was concluded that even though ERCL exhibited a high efficiency to remove plaque biofilms in an energy-dependent manner, it failed to reestablish the biocompatibility of contaminated titanium surfaces.
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Schwarz et al. (2006) studied this question.
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