Influence of scaler tip design on root surface roughness, tooth substance loss and patients' pain perception: an in vitro and a randomised clinical trial

Nur Ayman Abdul Hayei; Noor Azlin Yahya; Syarida Hasnur Safii; Roslan Saub; Rathna Devi Vaithilingam; Nor Adinar Baharuddin

doi:10.1186/s12903-021-01540-0

Influence of scaler tip design on root surface roughness, tooth substance loss and patients' pain perception: an in vitro and a randomised clinical trial

BMC Oral Health. 2021 Mar 31;21(1):169. doi: 10.1186/s12903-021-01540-0.

Authors

Nur Ayman Abdul Hayei^{1

2}, Noor Azlin Yahya¹, Syarida Hasnur Safii¹, Roslan Saub³, Rathna Devi Vaithilingam¹, Nor Adinar Baharuddin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
² Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Pandan Indah, 56100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
³ Department of Community Oral Health and Clinical Prevention, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. noradinar@um.edu.my.

Abstract

Background: The influence of scaler tip design on root surface roughness, tooth substance loss and patients' pain perception is investigated.

Methods: This article was divided into the following parts: Part 1 Surface roughness and substance loss: an in vitro study, which involves intact extracted teeth sectioned and treated using a piezoelectric ultrasonic device (PM200 EMS Piezon, Switzerland) with a conventional scaler tip (FS-407) and a Perio Slim (PS) scaler tip (Perio Slim DS-016A). All sectioned samples for tooth surface roughness (n = 20) and tooth substance loss (n = 46) analyses were measured and compared using a 3D surface texture analyser and scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively, at baseline and following scaling. Part 2 Pain Perception: a clinical study, which was a split mouth study design including 30 participants with gingivitis and/or mild chronic periodontitis; treated with supra-gingival scaling from teeth #13 to #23. Subjects were randomised to group A or group B. Group A was treated first with PS scaler tips, whereas group B was treated first with conventional scaler tips. Pain perception was recorded using the visual analogue scale (VAS).

Results: In vitro study: both scaler tips caused significant reduction in root substance roughness after scaling (p < 0.05), but no significant difference between the two scaler tips (p > 0.05) was observed. The PS scaler tip caused statistically significantly less root substance loss (p < 0.05) when the initial thickness of the tooth was < 1000 µm. Clinical study: the participants reported significantly lesser pain score during scaling using the PS scaler tip (median: 3) than when using the conventional scaler tip (median: 5) (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: In the in vitro study, using a slim scaler tip design causes less tooth substance loss compared to a wider scaler tip design. In the clinical study, less pain was observed compared than a wide (conventional) scaler tip design.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04623723.

Keywords: Pain perception; Scaler tip design; Tooth substance loss; Tooth surface roughness; Ultrasonic scaler.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Dental Scaling*
Equipment Design
Humans
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Pain Perception
Switzerland
Tooth Root
Ultrasonic Therapy*

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04623723