Cold plasma: Northern lights in the dental office: A brief review

Abstract

Plasma is often called the "fourth state of matter." Its plentiful supply in the nature coupled with its potential antibacterial properties made it a widely used disinfectant in medical sciences. Research on this gas has highlighted its ability to provide pain-free disinfection of even pits and fissures of the occlusal surface of the tooth. This heralded the development of newer devices, such as plasma needle and plasma pen, that are being increasingly used in the field of dental sciences. Increased on-demand esthetic procedures, such as bleaching, are currently in vogue. The ability of free radicals to activate bleaching agents has prompted their use in the esthetic dentistry. Plasma also has the potential to alter surface energy of a substrate prompting its use in different areas of dentistry from restoration of teeth to their replacement with implants.

Keywords

• Nonthermal atmospheric plasma
• plasma arc curing (PAC)
• plasma needle
• prions