Laser ablation of dental materials using a microsecond Nd:YAG laser

The action of microsecond laser pulses with a wavelength of 1064 nm on dental tissues (enamel and dentin) and various dental materials used for tooth replacement and filling (ceramics, metal alloys, and composites) is studied. It is demonstrated that the ablation thresholds of all of the dental materials are significantly lower than the threshold laser fluences for the dental tissue (E _thr = 200–300 J/cm²). At the laser fluences that do not allow ablation and damage of the dental tissues, the dental materials are effectively removed at a rate of no greater than 40 μm per pulse. It is shown that the laser ablation of the materials under study involves two processes (evaporation and volume explosion) depending on the optical density. The results obtained indicate that the laser radiation with a wavelength of 1064 nm and the microsecond pulse duration is promising for dental applications, since it allows effective cleaning of the tooth surface from various dental materials in the absence of the damages of dental tissues.