Effect of Er,Cr:YSGG laser with a side-firing tip on decontamination of titanium disc surface: an in vitro and in vivo study

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of an erbium, chromium:yttrium–scandium–gallium–garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser with side-firing tip in decontamination of titanium (Ti) disc. Methods In the first test series, 29 Ti-discs were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and treated as follows: positive control (no treatment); Perioflow; Laser A (0.75 W, 100 Hz), Laser B (1.5 W, 30 Hz); Laser C (no radiation, 60% water); and Laser D (no radiation, 50% water). For bacterial quantification, colony forming units (CFU, vital cells only) and quantitative PCR (qPCR, vital and devital cells) were performed. In a second test series, 92 Ti-discs were used, contaminated with in vivo-grown biofilm and treated as follows: positive control (no treatment); Perioflow; Laser E (1.5 W, 30 Hz), and Laser F (no radiation, 50% water). Considering the different and unknown culture conditions, quantification of bacteria was performed by broad-spectrum bacterial qPCR only. Based on the assumption that all cells of an organism contain an equivalent complement of genetic information, genome equivalent (GE) determination ensured the detection of the different intact and semi-intact genomes, regardless of type of bacterial species and vitality, circumvent the inherent bias of cultures. Results The GE values were significantly reduced by all interventions in both test series, compared to the positive control group ( p < 0.001). In the first test series with S. aureus as model organism, Perioflow yielded a lower GE than the Laser groups A–D (all p < 0.025). The number of CFUs was significantly reduced in the intervention groups compared to the positive control ( p < 0.001), except for Laser A ( p = 0.157) and Laser D ( p = 0.393). In the second test series, none of the pairwise comparisons of the intervention conditions showed a significant difference (Perioflow vs. Laser E: p = 0.732; Perioflow vs. Laser F: p = 0.590; Laser E vs. Laser F: p = 0.379). Conclusion The Er,Cr:YSGG laser with side-firing tip and Perioflow were equally capable of effectively decontaminating a Ti-disc surface. It is assumed that the bacterial reduction was largely due to the mechanical effect of the air and water stream. Graphical Abstract