LEDs as light-curing sources were first suggested in the literature in 1995. These curing lights use one or more light-emitting diodes and produce blue light that cures the dental material. (For example, one model uses a bulb with an estimated life of 50 hours which would require annual replacement, assuming 12 minutes' use per day, 250 days per year.) Also, the time needed to fully cure the material is much more than the LED curing light. Furthermore, this light requires frequent monitoring and replacement of the actual curing light bulb because of the high temperatures that are reached. 80 W) these curing lights must be plugged into a power source that is, they are not cordless. The fan generates a sound that may disturb some patients, and the wattage of the bulb is such (e.g. This requires that the curing light have a ventilating fan installed which results in a larger curing light. This type of curing light however has certain drawbacks, the first of which is the large amounts of heat that the filament generates. It provides a blue light between 400 and 500 nm, with an intensity of 400–600 mW cm −2. This resistor is then “heated to temperatures of about 3,000 Kelvin, it becomes incandescent and emits infrared and electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light”. In order for the light to be produced, an electric current flows through a thin tungsten filament, which functions as a resistor. The tungsten halogen curing light, also known as simply "halogen curing light" is the most frequent polymerization source used in dental offices. The light is temporarily switched on by pressing the trigger. The blue light is produced by a dichroic filter and directed by a waveguide. In the halogen curing light the power supply feeds a cooling fan and a small halogen lamp attached to a reflector. While the LED curing light is a huge step forward from the initial curing light offerings, refinements and new technologies are continually being developed with the goal of quicker and more thorough curing of resin composites. While LED curing lights have been available since the 1990s, they were not widely used until the frustrations presented through ownership of plasma arc lights became unbearable. The latest advancement in technology is the LED curing light. In practice, however, while the plasma arc curing light proved to be popular, negative aspects (including, but not limited to, an expensive initial price, curing times longer than the claimed 3 seconds, and expensive maintenance) of these lights resulted in the development of other curing light technologies. It uses a high intensity light source, a fluorescent bulb containing plasma, in order to cure the resin-based composite, and claimed to cure resin composite material within 3 seconds. In 1998 the plasma arc curing light was introduced. As dental restorative materials advanced, so too did the technology used to cure these materials the focus was to improve the intensity in order to be able to cure faster and deeper. The 1990s presented great improvements in light curing devices. The halogen curing light replaced the UV curing light. The next type of curing light developed was the quartz-halogen bulb this device had longer wavelengths of the visible light spectrum and allowed for greater penetration of the curing light and light energy for resin composites.
ĭuring the early 1980s, advances in the area of visible-light curing led to the creation of a curing device using blue light. It was discontinued due to this requirement, as well as the fact that the shorter wavelengths of UV light did not penetrate deeply enough into the resin to adequately cure it. Nuva Light used ultraviolet light to cure resin composites. This led to the development of the first curing light, called Nuva Light, by Dentsply/Caulk in the 1970s.
In the early 1960s, the first light curing resin composites were developed. The two most common are halogen and LEDs. There are four basic types of dental curing light sources: tungsten halogen, light-emitting diodes (LED), plasma arcs, and lasers. This light is delivered over a range of wavelengths and varies for each type of device. The light used falls under the visible blue light spectrum. It can be used on several different dental materials that are curable by light. Light curing of a dental filling materialĪ dental curing light is a piece of dental equipment that is used for polymerization of light-cure resin-based composites.
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