European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Background: Onychomycosis, a fungus that affects the nails, is typically brought on by dermatophytes, as well as nondermatophytes, moulds, and yeasts. Using a fractional CO₂ laser to treat onychomycosis results in microscopic thermal wounds in the nails, which help topical antifungal medications penetrate the nail more effectively.
Aims and Objectives: To study the efficacy of fractional CO₂ laser assisted topical antifungal therapy for onychomycosis treatment in adult north Indian population.
Material & Method: In this study, 50 clinically suspected patients with onychomycosis had their nails examined by KOH examination and culture in both males and females over the age of 18. All patients underwent fractional CO₂ laser treatment every two weeks while also receiving randomly selected topical antifungal drugs for a total of six months. Clinical findings and the Scoring Clinical Index were used to analyse the nails of all the patients for onychomycosis.
Result: All patients with KOH and culture-proven onychomycosis had clinical improvement, as determined by calculating the Scoring Clinical Index for onychomycosis following the conclusion of treatment, since there was a significant drop in the score of SCIO in all patients.
Conclusion: Fractional CO₂ Laser assisted topical antifungal therapy is effective treatment for the onychomycosis in adult north Indian population.

LASERs have been used in the field of dentistry for more than 40 years. Their wide range of application and reduced pain perception and bloodless procedure makes them readily acceptable for clinical practice. They have multiple advantages such as reduction in treatment duration, increase patient’s level of acceptance that helps orthodontists to improve on their treatment efficiency, improve smile esthetics by reducing patient discomfort. Pertaining to orthodontics, LASER application includes pain reduction, alternate to routine etching and bonding techniques, accelerating tooth movement, debonding of brackets, numbering of brackets, increase implant stability a, bracket mesh designing, reduction in rate of demineralization and soft tissue procedures namely, frenectomy, gingivectomy, exposure of impacted teeth, operculectomy, papilla flattening, etc. Like any other technique, LASERs have their own disadvantages. This review article is about the use of LASER in orthodontics, their effects on different tissue, mechanism by which it is formed and various types of commercially available LASERs and their uses clinically.