Biomaterial Database

Lasers in dentistry. 1992

D M Clarkson

Radiotherapy Centre, Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, UK.

Lasers, which are constantly evolving, can be customized to meet dental requirements and could become a very useful tool for dental practitioners. The article provides an introduction to the instruments, which includes a description of how they work and discusses their applications in dentistry.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007834	Lasers	An optical source that emits photons in a coherent beam. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) is brought about using devices that transform light of varying frequencies into a single intense, nearly nondivergent beam of monochromatic radiation. Lasers operate in the infrared, visible, ultraviolet, or X-ray regions of the spectrum.	Masers,Continuous Wave Lasers,Pulsed Lasers,Q-Switched Lasers,Continuous Wave Laser,Laser,Laser, Continuous Wave,Laser, Pulsed,Laser, Q-Switched,Lasers, Continuous Wave,Lasers, Pulsed,Lasers, Q-Switched,Maser,Pulsed Laser,Q Switched Lasers,Q-Switched Laser
D003731	Dental Caries	Localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation. If left unchecked, the cavity may penetrate the enamel and dentin and reach the pulp.	Caries, Dental,Carious Lesions,Dental Cavities,Dental Cavity,Dental Decay,Dental White Spots,Carious Dentin,Decay, Dental,Dental White Spot,White Spot, Dental,White Spots, Dental,Carious Dentins,Carious Lesion,Cavities, Dental,Cavity, Dental,Dentin, Carious,Dentins, Carious,Lesion, Carious,Lesions, Carious,Spot, Dental White,Spots, Dental White
D003814	Dentistry, Operative	That phase of clinical dentistry concerned with the restoration of parts of existing teeth that are defective through disease, trauma, or abnormal development, to the state of normal function, health, and esthetics, including preventive, diagnostic, biological, mechanical, and therapeutic techniques, as well as material and instrument science and application. (Jablonski's Dictionary of Dentistry, 2d ed, p237)	Operative Dentistry
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013515	Surgery, Oral	A dental specialty concerned with the diagnosis and surgical treatment of disease, injuries, and defects of the human oral and maxillofacial region.	Exodontics,Surgery, Maxillofacial,Maxillofacial Surgery,Oral Surgery
D053685	Laser Therapy	The use of photothermal effects of LASERS to coagulate, incise, vaporize, resect, dissect, or resurface tissue.	Laser Knife,Laser Scalpel,Surgery, Laser,Vaporization, Laser,Laser Ablation,Laser Knives,Laser Photoablation of Tissue,Laser Surgery,Laser Tissue Ablation,Nonablative Laser Treatment,Pulsed Laser Tissue Ablation,Ablation, Laser,Ablation, Laser Tissue,Knife, Laser,Knifes, Laser,Knive, Laser,Knives, Laser,Laser Knifes,Laser Knive,Laser Scalpels,Laser Surgeries,Laser Therapies,Laser Treatment, Nonablative,Laser Treatments, Nonablative,Laser Vaporization,Nonablative Laser Treatments,Scalpel, Laser,Scalpels, Laser,Surgeries, Laser,Therapies, Laser,Therapy, Laser,Tissue Ablation, Laser