Abstract
In vitro study on extracted human teeth of the influence of Er:YAG laser power on the ablation efficiency and thermal damage has been carried out. Dependence of the diameter and depth of ablation holes in dentin and enamel was measured as a function of laser pulse energy and repetition rate. The drilling speed per pulse was found to be independent of the repetition rate in the range of 1 - 20 Hz. In the studied laser power range, and under water spray cooling, no visible damage was observed in enamel. In dentin, carbonization was observed only at very high laser powers. Experimental results show that at high laser powers thermal damage occurs more readily at higher energies per pulse than at higher repetition rates. The experiment therefore seems to indicate that dental lasers which allow higher repetition rates are better suited for laser drilling of hard dental tissue.
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