Dental Laser Drilling: Achieving Optimum Ablation with the Latestgeneration Fidelis Laser Systems

Matjaz Lukac, Marko Marincek, Ladislav Grad
Article: J. Laser Health Academy, Vol. 2007, No.7-3 (2007)

The erbium (Er:YAG) laser has been recognized as the dental laser of choice for effective, precise and minimally-invasive ablation of hard dental tissues. Of all infrared lasers, the erbium laser wavelength of 2.94 μm has the highest absorption in water and hydroxyapatite and is thus optimal for cold ‘optical drilling' of enamel, dentin and composite fillings.
The early standard-technology erbium dental lasers failed to gain wide acceptance by the dental community because
their optical drilling speeds were slower in comparison to the mechanical bur. This changed with the introduction of the Fidelis dental lasers with the Variable Square Pulse (VSP) technology they incorporate. VSP provides very short, almost square-shaped erbium laser pulses of adjustable duration. Tests have shown that the ablation speed of the VSP-technology based Er:YAG lasers is comparable to those obtained by classical means.
The most recent technological breakthroughs that have been incorporated into the latest generation of Fidelis dental lasers (Fidelis Plus III and Fidelis^Er III) are: SSP (Super Short Pulse) mode for extremely fine and minimally-invasive laser ablation; and MAX mode for maximum optical drilling speeds - even faster that those obtained by mechanical burs. With these two additional
modes, dental lasers have finally achieved their original goal: to replace mechanical drills with more precise and less-invasive optical technology without sacrificing either ease-of-use or operating speed.

Laser Health Academy, Vol. 2007, No.7-3 (2007)