Efficacy of Er:YAG Laser in Decontamination of Dental Implants: An In-Vitro Study

The aim of this study is to compare the amount of residual biofilm on titanium discs after decontamination with Er:YAG laser and carbon fiber curette. In the first phase of the study, custom mouth guards that holds multiple titanium discs will be fabricated. Experimental subjects will be instructed to wear this mouth guard for 72 hours, during which time a natural bacterial biofilm will form on the disc surfaces. The second phase of the study will be performed ex vivo after collecting the discs from the subjects. Discs retrieved from each mouth guard will be randomized over the 4 treatment groups, so that each subject will contribute two discs to each treatment group: 1) Er:YAG laser, 2) carbon fiber curette, 3) combination of carbon fiber curette and Er:YAG laser, and 4) no treatment (control). The biofilm will be stained and the residual biofilm will be visualized under fluorescence microscopy. Statistical methods will be used to determine the significance of each treatment modality. The primary outcome of the study is the percent area of the titanium disc covered by biofilm.