The erbium laser: the "Star Wars" of dentistry.

Dentistry has a new weapon in the fight against tooth decay. This ‘light saber’ of dentistry is the erbium laser. The dental laser is the latest modern innovation for the 21st Century. Erbium lasers have proven safe and effective for the removal of tooth decay and cavity preparation, in addition to many soft tissue and hard tissue surgical procedures. The FDA approved the erbium laser for marketing in the United States in 1997. It offers an alternative to the highspeed drill, eliminating fear and patient discomfort for both adults and children. The laser is revolutionising dental care – just as it has in many other areas of our lives. With the erbium laser, the dentist can provide a new method of dental care that can often be performed without local anaesthesia (Figure 1). Most patients find laser procedures remarkably comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that in many cases no anesthesia is required (Figure 2). People who have experienced laser treatment for cavity preparation report feeling nothing more than the touch of the handpiece and an occasional slight sensation of warmth. Teenage patients report a ‘tingling’ feeling. Unfortunately, conventional drilling must still be used for the removal of previous metal restorations. The erbium laser has been used to prepare crowns and veneers without the aid of conventional rotary instruments (Nash, 2002). The dental laser often eliminates the unpleasant after-effects associated with many dental procedures – soreness, bleeding, inflammation, sutures and numbness. It also creates no known after-effects of its own. ‘The advantage of laser surgery is the minimisation of intra-operative haemorrhage and a decrease in post-operative pain symptoms. Carbon dioxide and Nd:YAG lasers have been used effectively for soft tissue oral surgery procedures. Argon lasers have also been used in oral surgical procedures. One of the main advantages of laser surgery conventional excision with scalpel is the reported lessening of post-operative pain and the ability to excise or ablate with less bleeding’ (Rizoiu et al, 1996) (Figure 3).