Amalgam ablation with the Er:YAG laser

Any laser that will be used by dentist to replace the dental drill (handpiece) must remove dental hard tissues safely. These lasers must also have the ability to ablate the restorative dental materials which are present in the teeth being treated. Prior to any laser being used to treat humans a thorough knowledge of the effects of the laser treatment on dental materials must be understood. Cores of dental amalgam were created and sliced into thin wafers for this experiment. Ablation efficiency and thermal changes were evaluated with and without water. It appears as if the Er:YAG laser can effectively ablate amalgam dental material with and without water. The water prevents the temperature from increasing much above baseline and does not reduce efficiency of ablation.