Work

Image guided laser ablation of demineralization from root surfaces

Year: 2019

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: It is challenging to identify demineralized areas of root lesions due to cervical erosion, calculus formation, and heavy staining of dentin. We have found that root caries can be imaged with extremely high contrast at short wavelength IR (SWIR) wavelengths beyond 1500-nm. Lasers are well suited for the selective removal of caries lesions from tooth surfaces. A CO2 laser operating at a wavelength of 9.3-μm was combined with a thuliumdoped fiber laser operating at 1880-nm for the selective removal of root caries lesions from extracted teeth. Serial SWIR reflectance images at 1880-nm were used to guide the CO2 laser for image-guided laser ablation. Cross polarization optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT) was used to assess the initial depth of the lesions before removal and assess the volume of sound and demineralized tissue removed by the CO2 laser. With this image-guided approach, we believe we can achieve highly selective lesion removal and minimal damage to surrounding sound tissues.

Source: Lasers in Dentistry

DOI: 10.1117/12.2512938

Authors: Daniel Fried, Navitinder Dhillon, Kenneth Chan, Vincent Yang

Institution: University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Laser Applications in Dentistry and Medicine

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research