title: A clinical study of pulsed Nd: YAG laser-induced pulpal analgesia.
abstract: The pulsed Nd: YAG laser is advocated as an alternative means of providing analgesia during routine dental procedures. Since the evidence to support this claim is mainly anecdotal, a clinical trial was carried out using an electric pulp tester (EPT) to measure the extent and duration of any analgesic effect induced by pulsed Nd: YAG laser treatment. A double-blind crossover experiment involving laser and sham treatments was used on 21 subjects. A small (3.6 arbitrary units) but statistically significant increase was observed in the mean responses measured 5 min after laser treatment with 113 mJ pulses at 15 pulses s-1 (pps) for 3 min. The pain thresholds returned to baseline values after 60 min. No statistically significant changes in threshold were found with the sham treatment. The order in which laser and sham treatment was received made no difference to the results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physics, University of Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Whitters
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Creanor
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moseley
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Gilmour
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strang
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orchardson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003791:Dental Pulp Test; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009354:Neodymium; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000528:radiation effects*
chemical_list: D009354:Neodymium