Threshold and efficiency analysis in Er:YAG laser ablation of hard dental tissue

Boris Majaron; Matjaz Lukac; Dusan Sustercic; Nenad Funduk; Uros Skaleric

doi:10.1117/12.260676

3 December 1996 Threshold and efficiency analysis in Er:YAG laser ablation of hard dental tissue

Boris Majaron, Matjaz Lukac, Dusan Sustercic, Nenad Funduk, Uros Skaleric

Proceedings Volume 2922, Laser Applications in Medicine and Dentistry; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.260676
Event: BiOS Europe '96, 1996, Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Influence of pulselength on mid-IR laser ablation of hard dental tissue was studied experimentally by applying free- generated Er:YAG laser pulses with pulselengths from 50 microsecond(s) to 1 ms and different energies to dentin slices in vitro with no spray cooling. The results show that for pulselengths between 50 and 300 micrometers , dentin ablation turns up abruptly at a well defined fluence value of approximately 4 J/cm², which is independent of the pulselength. Similarly, volumes of the resulting craters as a function of laser fluence at these pulselengths follow nearly the same curve, which corresponds well to a model of laser beam screening by the ejected debris. However, with 1 ms long laser pulses, the ablation tunes up at laser fluences above 4 J/cm² only gradually, reaching differential ablation efficiency similar as in previous cases at fluence values several times higher than the ablation threshold value. An estimate of this 'second threshold' fluence and the pulselengths at which it should in general be observed are derived from a simple model of heat diffusion and ablation front dynamics.

Citation Download Citation

Boris Majaron, Matjaz Lukac, Dusan Sustercic, Nenad Funduk, and Uros Skaleric "Threshold and efficiency analysis in Er:YAG laser ablation of hard dental tissue", Proc. SPIE 2922, Laser Applications in Medicine and Dentistry, (3 December 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.260676

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