Determination of ablation threshold of dental hard tissues irradiated with Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG lasers

We evaluate the ablation thresholds of Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG laser for enamel and dentin.A total of 140 dental slices is evenly divided into two groups:the dentin group and the enamel group.Dental tissues are irradiated with either an Er:YAG laser or an Er,Cr:YSGG laser with pulse widths in the order of 100 μs.The laser fluence is increased gradually until the ablation crater is formed.The laser ablation threshold is calculated using probit analysis.The ablation thresholds of the Er:YAG laser for dentin and enamel range from 2.88 to 3.36 J/cm2 and from 2.94 to 3.8 J/cm2,respectively,and the ablation thresholds of the Er,Cr:YSGG laser for dentin and enamel range from 2.92 to 4.2 J/cm2 and from 4.93 to 5.66 J/cm2,respectively.