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Experimental studies of the application of the Er:YAG laser on dental hard substances: I. Measurement of the ablation rate
Author(s) -
Hibst Raimund,
Keller Ulrich
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.1900090405
Subject(s) - enamel paint , dentin , laser , ablation , dentistry , hard tissue , materials science , biomedical engineering , laser ablation , optics , composite material , medicine , physics
Abstract Up to now lasers have not achieved any practical importance in dentistry for drilling teeth because of considerable damage to the surrounding tissue. We studied the application of pulsed 2.94 μm Er:YAG laser radiation in vitro on extracted teeth to remove enamel, dentin, and carious lesions. The depth and diameter of laser‐drilled holes were measured as a function of pulse number and radiant exposure. The tissue removal is very effective both for dentin and enamel.