Guilherme José Pimentel Lopes de Oliveir
Felipe Eduardo Pinotti
Heglécia da Luz Carvalho
Cássio Rocha Scardueli
Rosemary Adriana Chiérici Marcantonio

Abstract Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different levels of external irrigation during irradiation with an erbium, chromium: yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser on the roughness and wear of dental tissue during scaling procedures.Methods: Twenty-Five uniradicular bovine teeth had the proximal surfaces planed and divided into ۳ regions: upper, middle and lower. The upper region was treated with hand instruments, the middle region was not treated and served as a control, and the lower region was treated by the Er,Cr:YSGG laser. The teeth were randomly divided into five groups according to the different proportions of external irrigation used during the laser irradiation: G۱: ۱۰%; G۲: ۲۰%; G۳: ۳۰%; G۴: ۴۰% and G۵: ۵۰%. The samples were analyzed for roughness and wear on the root surface irradiated with the laser.Results: There were no differences in the surface roughness and wear parameters between the groups irradiated with the laser, but the laser irradiation produced a rougher surface of the dentin than treatment with hand scaling.Conclusion: Changes in the external irrigation level did not influence the wear and roughness of root surfaces treated with an Er,Cr:YSGG laser Keywords: Dental scaling Laser Roughness Tooth wear.