Evaluation of Light Scattering Among Dental Tissues and Nano-Filled Composite

Objectives: Objective:This study used LASERs with a spectrophotometer to compare the light propagation; absorption (A), transmittance (T), and scattering anisotropy coefficient (g) in dental tissues and nano-filled resin-based composites. This study used three distinct incremental build-up techniques.
Methods: Method: 20 human, un-erupted, extracted third molars were used. The samples were randomized into four experimental groups. The Control Group: sound samples with no prep; the Technique 1 group (T1): one shade, B1B; the Technique 2 group (T2): two-shades, Dentin and Enamel; and the Technique 3 group (T3): three shades, Dentin, Transparent, and Enamel. Each specimen was irradiated by three LASERs. A voltmeter recorded the light-output signal, and from this raw data, the following optical constants (A, T, g) were calculated.
Results: Results: ANOVA, followed by a post hoc Tukey’s test (p < 0.05), revealed that absorption and transmittance in dental tissues were significantly different when comparing the three build-up technique groups. There was also no significant difference among the three lasers for T2 and T3. There was also no significant effect of the types of experiments on the value of scattering anisotropy factor g for blue laser among the four experimental groups.
Conclusions: Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, none of the build-up techniques were able to reproduce the dental tissues optical properties, and T2 and T3 resulted in a similar pattern of light propagation.