Laser-induced effects on tooth structure VI. X-ray diffraction study of dental enamel exposed to a CO2 laser

Abstract

The investigation was carried out in order to study crystallographic alterations in lased dental enamel. By means of X-ray diffraction studies it was proved that laser-induced effects produced recrystallization and growth of crystallite size in the hydroxyapatite crystals of dental enamel. In the X-ray diffraction pattern of an enamel sample after CO₂ laser irradiation a foreign peak for hydroxyapatite structure was seen. Consistently, there should be a small amount of α-calcium orthophosphate in lased enamel, α-calcium orthophosphate is the high-temperature form of the apatite phase of tricalcium phosphate.