Review Article Effects of blue-light irradiation during dental treatment
Summary
In dentistry, blue light is widely used for tooth bleaching and restoration procedures involving composite resin. In addition, many dentists use magnification loupes
to enable them to provide more accurate dental treatment. Therefore,
the use of light is indispensable in dental treatment. However, light
can cause various toxicities, and thermal injuries caused by light
irradiation are regarded as particularly important. In recent years, the
eye damage and non-thermal injuries caused by blue light, the so-called
“blue light hazard”, have gained attention. Unfortunately, much of the
research in this field has just begun, but our recent findings
demonstrated that blue-light irradiation generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induces oxidative stress in oral tissue. However, they also showed that such oxidative stress is inhibited by antioxidants.
There have not been any reports that suggested that the ROS-induced
phototoxicity associated with blue-light irradiation causes direct
clinical damage, but some disorders are caused by the accumulation of
ROS. Therefore, it is presumed that it is necessary to suppress the
accumulation of oxidative stressors in oral tissues during treatment. In
the future, we have to promote discussion about the suppression of
phototoxicity in dentistry, including concerning the use of antioxidants
to protect against phototoxic damage.
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