Femtosecond laser dentistry for precise and efficient cavity preparation in teeth

Ludovic Rapp; Steve Madden; Julia Brand; Laurence J Walsh; Heiko Spallek; Omar Zuaiter; Alaa Habeb; Timothy R Hirst; Andrei V Rode

doi:10.1364/BOE.463756

Femtosecond laser dentistry for precise and efficient cavity preparation in teeth

Biomed Opt Express. 2022 Aug 4;13(9):4559-4571. doi: 10.1364/BOE.463756. eCollection 2022 Sep 1.

Authors

Ludovic Rapp¹, Steve Madden¹, Julia Brand^{1

2}, Laurence J Walsh^{3

4}, Heiko Spallek⁵, Omar Zuaiter⁴, Alaa Habeb⁴, Timothy R Hirst⁴, Andrei V Rode¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Quantum Science and Technology, Research School of Physics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
² Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, Faculty of Art and Design, University of Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.
³ The University of Queensland School of Dentistry QLD 4006, Australia.
⁴ Dentroid (Emudent Technologies Pty Ltd), Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.
⁵ The University of Sydney School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, NSW 2010, Australia.

Abstract

High fluence focused femtosecond laser pulses were used to perform fast, high precision and minimally damaging cavity cutting of teeth at room temperature without using any irrigation or cooling system. The optimal ablation rates were established for both enamel and dentin, and the surfaces were assessed with optical and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and optical profilometry. No chemical change in the composition of enamel and dentin was observed. We explored temperature variations inside the dental pulp during the laser procedure and showed the maximum increase was 5.5°C, within the acceptable limit of temperature increase during conventional dental treatments.