Premium
An automatic robotic system for three‐dimensional tooth crown preparation using a picosecond laser
Author(s) -
Wang Lei,
Wang Dangxiao,
Zhang Yuru,
Ma Lei,
Sun Yuchun,
Lv Peijun
Publication year - 2014
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.22274
Subject(s) - dentin , crown (dentistry) , ablation , materials science , laser , wax , laser ablation , dental restoration , smear layer , focus (optics) , dentistry , computer science , biomedical engineering , optics , composite material , engineering , medicine , physics , aerospace engineering
Background Laser techniques have been introduced into dentistry to overcome the drawbacks of traditional treatment methods. The existing methods in dental clinical operations for tooth crown preparation have several drawbacks which affect the long‐term success of the dental treatment. Objective To develop an improved robotic system to manipulate the laser beam to achieve safe and accurate three‐dimensional (3D) tooth ablation, and thus to realize automatic tooth crown preparation in clinical operations. Method We present an automatic laser ablation system for tooth crown preparation in dental restorative operations. The system, combining robotics and laser technology, is developed to control the laser focus in three‐dimensional motion aiming for high speed and accuracy crown preparation. The system consists of an end‐effector, a real‐time monitor and a tooth fixture. A layer‐by‐layer ablation method is developed to control the laser focus during the crown preparation. Experiments are carried out with picosecond laser on wax resin and teeth. Results The accuracy of the system is satisfying, achieving the average linear errors of 0.06 mm for wax resin and 0.05 mm for dentin. The angle errors are 4.33° for wax resin and 0.5° for dentin. The depth errors for wax resin and dentin are both within 0.1 mm. The ablation time is 1.5 hours for wax resin and 3.5 hours for dentin. Conclusions The ablation experimental results show that the movement range and the resolution of the robotic system can meet the requirements of typical dental operations for tooth crown preparation. Also, the errors of tooth shape and preparation angle are able to satisfy the requirements of clinical crown preparation. Although the experimental results illustrate the potential of using picosecond lasers for 3D tooth crown preparation, many research issues still need to be studied before the system can be applied to clinical operations. Lasers Surg. Med. 46:573–581, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.