Evaluation of light output from light-curing units used in a public oral health service in Brazil.

Authors

Laryssa Silva da Cunha, Airin Karelys Avendaño Rondon, Maryuri Del Carmen Macias Bautista, Ianca Daniele Oliveira de Jesus, Guilherme Mendonça Benoni, Gisele Rodrigues da Silva, Richard Bengt Price, Carlos José Soares

Published in

Brazilian dental journal. Volume 37. Pages e257001. Epub Aug 24, 2026.

Abstract

This observational field study aimed to evaluate the radiant power (mW), emission spectra (mW/cm²/nm), irradiance (mW/cm²), and the light tip integrity of 40 light-curing units (LCUs) used in 16 public oral health service units in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The radiant power and emission spectrum were measured using a spectrometer attached to an integrating sphere. Irradiance profiles were obtained using a Beam Profiler. The tips were photographed and classified in 4 categories: A. undamaged, B. contaminated by resin residue, C. damaged, and D. contaminated and damaged. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA (α = 0.05), and the emission spectra and beam profiles were analyzed descriptively. The LCUs tested were single-peak light-emitting diode units, and 85% of the LCUs had damaged light tips. The radiant power values were significantly different between the LCUs (P < 0.001) and ranged between 94.2 and 588.2 mW. The irradiance ranged from 255.8 to 1597.8 mW/cm². The LCU tip diameter ranged from 6.1 to 8.3 mm. Two-dimensional beam profiles show that the light distribution was not homogeneous across the tips, and an irradiance peak was often observed at the center of the LCUs with smaller tips. Only 15% of the LCU were undamaged, reflecting substantial variability in radiant power and irradiance delivered. Although no statistically significant differences were observed among tip condition categories, these conditions showed a trend toward reduced and inhomogeneous light output.

PMID:
42659411
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.