Autoclaving and battery capacity influence on laser fluorescence measurements.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of probe tip autoclaving and depleted alkaline batteries on laser fluorescence (LF-DIAGNOdent) device performance.


METHODS
One-hundred-and-twenty occlusal sites were analyzed with an LF device in nine conditions: No autoclaved probe and probe after 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 autoclaving cycles. Subsequently, the performance of the device was analyzed with: New batteries, batteries with 1.49/1.39 V, 1.38/1.37 V, 1.36/1.34 V, 1.33/1.32 V, and lower than 1.32 V. LF values, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the ROC curve were compared.


RESULTS
In the probe study, sensitivity was lower after 50 sterilizing cycles, though specificity was higher than the assessment performed using a new tip. In the batteries study, specificity was higher for depleted batteries, but LF performance did not differ significantly among the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Batteries do not significantly influence device performance, but consecutive sterilization of probes in autoclave alters readings, downgrading its performance.
Rocha-Cabral
Renata Maciel
RM
Centro de Lasers e Aplicações, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear, São Paulo, Brazil.
Mendes
Fausto Medeiros
FM
Miura
Fabiana
F
Ribeiro
Adriana Da Costa
Ada C
Braga
Mariana Minatel
MM
Zezell
Denise Maria
DM
D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003732:Dental Caries Activity Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003762:Dental Instruments; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013242:Sterilization; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology