Status of light power intensity of light curing lamps in private dentalclinics in ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

The clinical efficiency of a photo polymerization unit is crucial to obtain an optimal polymerization and a successful result. The present observational study aimed to evaluate and analyze the intensity of the luminous power of the photo polymerization lamps of private dental clinics in Cuenca City, Ecuador.The luminous intensity was evaluated using the CK12024 radiometer (measured the curing time up to2000). It was classified according to the following parameters: Low performance (<300mw/cm2),regular performance (300 – 800 mw/cm2) and high performance (>800 mw/cm2), in a time of 20seconds and 40 seconds. in “Microsoft Excel”,;to register all the necessary data: number of lamp, typeof lamp, intensity of light power in 20 seconds, intensity of light power in 40 seconds, breakage of optical fiber and residues of biomaterials in the optical fiber. If you obtained as a result that of the 58lamps evaluated, a percentage of 0.6% (n=1) of the total photo polymerization units had a low performance, a 5.2% (n=3) had a medium performance and a 93.1% (n = 54) of them had a high performance. An adequate polymerization is crucial to obtain good physical and mechanical properties and excellent clinical results. According to the results obtained within the present study, it is observed that the majority of the photo polymerization lamps used in the private offices of the City of Cuenca, have a high clinical performance.