In recent years, the laser-based ablation of damaged or undesired tooth material has emerged as a highly promising technique for improving dental cavity preparation. While X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are generally used to characterize the constituents of ablated surfaces, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) can also be employed for monitoring the changes induced by the femtosecond laser ablation process. In the present study, FT-IR spectroscopy has been adopted to characterize the changes induced in extracted human teeth. The laser ablation was performed in ambient air by using a femtosecond laser source at different fluences in the range of 0.7–1.5 J/cm2 to produce regular lines on various samples. Micro-ATR spectroscopy was employed to examine the laser-processed tooth disks. The spectra acquired from different samples reveal the contributions of the various dental components and provide insight into the effect of laser processing under different conditions.
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Monitoring Femtosecond Laser Ablation Processes on Human Teeth Using FT-IR Spectroscopy
Published:
07 November 2025
by MDPI
in The 12th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications
session Physical Sensors
https://doi.org/10.3390/ECSA-12-26505
(registering DOI)
Abstract:
Keywords: femtosecond laser; ablation; dentin; enamel; FT-IR spectroscopy
