Selective ablation of dental enamel and dentin using femtosecond laser pulses

摘要

The study of the interaction of intense laser light with matter, as well as transient response of atoms and molecules is very appropriated because of the laser energy concentration in a femtosecond optical pulses. The fundamental problem to be solved is to find tools and techniques which allow us to observe and manipulate on a femtosecond time scale the photonics events on and into the matter. Six third human extracted molars were exposed to a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire Q-switched and mode locked laser (Libra-S, Coherent, Palo Alto, CA, USA), emitting pulses with 70 fs width, radiation wavelength of 801 nm, at a constant pulse repetition rate of 1 KHz. The laser was operated at different power levels (70 to 400 mW) with constant exposition time of 10 seconds, at focused and defocused mode. Enamel and dentin surfaces were evaluated concerned ablation rate and morphological aspects under scanning electron microscopic. The results in this present experiment suggest that at the focused mode and under higher average power, enamel tissues present microcavities with higher depth and very precise edges, but, while dentin shows a larger melt-flushing, lower depth and melting and solidification aspect. In conclusion, it is possible to choose hard or soft ablation, under lower and higher average power, respectively, revealing different aspects of dental enamel and dentin, depending on the average power, fluence and distance from the focal point of the ultra-short pulse laser on the tooth surface.