Factors Affecting the Energy Delivered to Simulated Class I and Class V Preparations(6)

Figure 3: Plot of irradiance vs. time for the individual operators delivering the highest irradiance (a) and the lowest irradiance (b) during simulated curing of the Class V preparation. Again, there was substantial real-time variation in the irradiance delivered by these 2 operators. Both the Bluephase G2 unit and the VALO unit in standard mode deliver continuous output. The VALO unit in plasma mode, designated in the figure as "VALO (P)," delivers light for 3 seconds and then shuts off. For display purposes only, the pause time on the VALO unit in plasma mode was adjusted to fit with the 10-second overall curing time on these charts. For this mode, each operator was instructed to leave the unit off for about 3 seconds before initiating another 3-second curing cycle. The Demi curing light delivers light pulses every second.