Influence of effective number of pulses on the morphological structure of teeth and bovine femur after femtosecond laser ablation

Femtosecond lasers have been widely used in laser surgery as an instrument for contact-free tissue removal of hard dental, restorative materials, and osseous tissues, complementing conventional drilling or cutting tools. In order to obtain a laser system that provides an ablation efficiency comparab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Biomedical Optics 2012-04, Vol.17 (4), p.048001-1-048001-2
Main Authors: Nicolodelli, Gustavo, de Fa´tima Zanirato Lizarelli, Rosane, Salvador Bagnato, Vanderlei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Animals
bones
Cattle
Damage
Dental materials
dentin
Femtosecond
femtosecond lasers
Femur
Femur - radiation effects
Femur - surgery
Femur - ultrastructure
Humans
Laser ablation
Laser Therapy - instrumentation
Laser Therapy - methods
Lasers
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Molar - radiation effects
Molar - surgery
Molar - ultrastructure
Teeth
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Summary:Femtosecond lasers have been widely used in laser surgery as an instrument for contact-free tissue removal of hard dental, restorative materials, and osseous tissues, complementing conventional drilling or cutting tools. In order to obtain a laser system that provides an ablation efficiency comparable to mechanical instruments, the laser pulse rate must be maximal without causing thermal damage. The aim of this study was to compare the different morphological characteristics of the hard tissue after exposure to lasers operating in the femtosecond pulse regime. Two different kinds of samples were irradiated: dentin from human extracted teeth and bovine femur samples. Different procedures were applied, while paying special care to preserving the structures. The incubation factor was calculated to be for the bovine femur bone. These results indicate that the incubation effect is still substantial during the femtosecond laser ablation of hard tissues. The plasma-induced ablation has reduced side effects, i.e., we observe less thermal and mechanical damage when using a superficial femtosecond laser irradiation close to the threshold conditions. In the femtosecond regime, the morphology characteristics of the cavity were strongly influenced by the change of the effective number of pulses.
ISSN:1083-3668
1560-2281
DOI:10.1117/1.JBO.17.4.048001