Study on Interactions of Continuous Low Power CO2 Laser with Malaysian Molar Teeth

Recent studies have shown that CO(2) lasers can successfully be used at low-energy densities in dentistry. The CO(2) laser is effective for a dental hard tissue since it strongly absorbs light in certain regions of the infrared spectrum because of the carbonate and hydroxyl groups in the structure. In this study, nineteen samples of molars extracted human teeth were irradiated with low power CO(2) laser. Laser power of 3W, 6W, 9W, 12W, 15W and 18W, with exposure time of 5 s and 10 s, and distance between laser aperture and sample of 4cm were used. Laser power above 18W is seen to damage the teeth. The teeth compositions were analyzed using the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). High laser power caused higher reflectance of the beam because the increased in temperature increasing the rate of chemical reaction, hence, the products after the irradiation This situation can be explained by the Arrhenius equation [1].