Title

Laser-activated irrigation versus ultrasonic or syringe irrigation for smear layer and debris removal: An in vitro SEM study

Authors

Nikita Ajit Mannur^1,*, Saloni Bharti², Monica Sinha³, Arisha Jain⁴ & Rishikesh Meshram⁵

Affiliation

¹Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, SJM Dental College & Hospital, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India; ²Department of Dentistry, ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Kateshar, Bihta, Bihar, India; ³Department of Prosthodontics, Dental Care Clinic Palika Health Complex, Chanakyapuri, NDMC, Delhi - 110021, India; ⁴Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Dasmesh Institute of Research and Dental Sciences, Faridkot, Punjab, India; ⁵Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Swargiya Dadasaheb Kalmegh Smruti Dental College and Hospital, Wanadongri, Hingna, Nagpur – 441110, Maharashtra, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Nikita Ajit Mannur - E-mail: nikita91@gmail.com; Phone: +91 97429 53702

Saloni Bharti - E-mail: drsalonibharti2424@gmail.com; Phone: +91 70916 55625

 Monica Sinha - E-mail: sinha.monica08@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8447920969

 Arisha Jain - E-mail: arishajain390@gmail.com; Phone: +91 7986459397

Rishikesh Meshram - E-mail: dr.rishikm@gmail.com; Phone: +91 70389 97875

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received April 1, 2026; Revised April 30, 2026; Accepted April 30, 2026, Published April 30, 2026

Abstract

Effective removal of smear layer and debris is essential for predictable endodontic disinfection, yet conventional irrigation remains insufficient, particularly in the apical third. Therefore, it is of interest to compare laser-activated irrigation (LAI), passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI) and conventional syringe irrigation (CSI) using SEM evaluation of ninety single-rooted teeth. LAI demonstrated significantly lower smear layer and debris scores across all canal thirds compared to PUI and CSI (p<0.001). Complete debris removal throughout the canal was achieved in 93.3% of LAI samples versus 73.3% for PUI and 43.3% for CSI. Thus, laser-activated irrigation produced more consistent apical cleaning, indicating superior hydrodynamic activation efficiency.

Keywords

Laser-activated irrigation (LAI), smear layer, debris removal, root canal, Er:YAG laser, endodontics, irrigation techniques

Citation

Mannur et al. Bioinformation 22(4): 2040-2044 (2026)

Edited by

A Prashanth

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.