Er,Cr:YSGG Pulsed laser applied to medical dentistry

Abstract

An erbium, chromium: yttrium, scandium, gallium, garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) pulsed laser, operating at 2780 μ m wavelength, 300 mJ maximum pulse energy, 140 μ s pulse duration and 20 Hz repetition rate, was employed to irradiate human teeth. The photon energy is transmitted to the tooth through an optical fiber with a sapphire tip, which is dipped in an adjustable air/water atomizer spray. Extracted teeth were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath, stored in saline solution, and dried and weighed before each laser treatment. The laser irradiation was performed for 10 s using a 600 μ m focused beam. Each sample was irradiated varying the air/water ratio of the integrated nebulizer spray. After the treatment, the samples were again weighed and produced craters were analyzed with a profilometric system. The crater volume permitted to evaluate the laser ablation yield. Teeth treated with an air/water spray ratio of 95–80% resulted in greatest average quantity of tissue ablation. This investigation confirmed the high efficiency of the Er,Cr:YSGG laser in the ablation of dental hard tissues showing the fundamental role of the water spray, which plays a fundamental role in the quantitative and qualitative modifications of the hard tissue treated, as it will be discussed in detail.