LASERS CERTIFICATION Exam Questions AND Correct Answers
_________ reported in 1965 that a ruby laser could vaporize enamel. -
✔✔Stern and Sognnaes
Alexandrite laser function: - ✔✔shows promise in the selective removal of
calculus from the tooth or root surface without ablating tooth structure
Amplification - ✔✔Released photons can go on to stimulate more atoms in the
crystal, thus producing more photons
Are CO2 lasers used for hard or soft tissue? - ✔✔Soft tissue
Are Diode lasers soft or hard tissue? - ✔✔soft tissue
Are Erium lasers used in soft or hard tissue? - ✔✔Both soft and hard tissue
Between diode lasers, Nd:YAG, and erbium, which have the highest tissue
penetration?
which have the greatest potential for tissue damage? - ✔✔-Diode and Nd:YAG
have higher tissue penetration and greater potential for tissue damage
Define Chromophore: - ✔✔Light-Absorbing compounds or molecules normally
occurring in tissues that are attractors of specific wavelengths
Define Duty Cycle: - ✔✔% of time that the laser is emitting laser energy vs. the
thermal relaxation time within a single pulse
,Define Fluorescence: - ✔✔Determines the size of the carious lesion to diagnose
and manage early carious lesions
Define Peak Power: - ✔✔power level in each individual laser pulse, however it is
not visible to the operator
Define Photobiomodulation: - ✔✔The laser's ability to speed heal, increase
circulation, reduce edema and minimize pain.
Used to reduce postoperative discomfort and to treat recurrent herpes and
apthous stomatitis.
Define Photochemical: - ✔✔Occur when photon energy causes a chemical
reaction
Define Photodisruptive/photoacoustic: - ✔✔-short pulsed bursts of laser light
with short high power interact with water in the tissue causing rapid thermal
expansion of the water molecules.
-Used in hard tissue procedures (example: erbium lasers)
-no thermal damage because we have thermal relaxation
Define Photothermal: - ✔✔-Occurs when the chromophores absorb the laser
energy and heat is generated to perform work.
-Most soft tissue procedures use this
-can cause thermal damage
, Define Thermal relaxation - ✔✔ability of the target tissue to absorb heat
produced by laser interaction
Describe how erbium lasers treat periodontal disease - ✔✔-SRP
-pocket decontamination
-replace scalpels when incisions are needed
Describe how Nd-YAG treats periodontal disease - ✔✔-affinity for pigment
allows for selective debridement of diseased sulcular epithelium
-bactericidal
-biostimulative
-fibrin stimuation
Describe Peak Power in the 3 types:
1) Continuous
2) Gated
3) Free running pulsed - ✔✔1) the peak power equals the average power
displayed
2) Average power is half of peak power
3) Low Average power, very high peak power
Describe PIPS - ✔✔-photon induced photoacoustic streaming
-extremely high peak power and affinity for water of the Er:YAG laser with
specially shaped radial firing tips are placed in irrigant solutions sends a
powerful wave of ACOUSTIC energy throughout the root canal system.
-little thermal effect
_________ reported in 1965 that a ruby laser could vaporize enamel. -
✔✔Stern and Sognnaes
Alexandrite laser function: - ✔✔shows promise in the selective removal of
calculus from the tooth or root surface without ablating tooth structure
Amplification - ✔✔Released photons can go on to stimulate more atoms in the
crystal, thus producing more photons
Are CO2 lasers used for hard or soft tissue? - ✔✔Soft tissue
Are Diode lasers soft or hard tissue? - ✔✔soft tissue
Are Erium lasers used in soft or hard tissue? - ✔✔Both soft and hard tissue
Between diode lasers, Nd:YAG, and erbium, which have the highest tissue
penetration?
which have the greatest potential for tissue damage? - ✔✔-Diode and Nd:YAG
have higher tissue penetration and greater potential for tissue damage
Define Chromophore: - ✔✔Light-Absorbing compounds or molecules normally
occurring in tissues that are attractors of specific wavelengths
Define Duty Cycle: - ✔✔% of time that the laser is emitting laser energy vs. the
thermal relaxation time within a single pulse
,Define Fluorescence: - ✔✔Determines the size of the carious lesion to diagnose
and manage early carious lesions
Define Peak Power: - ✔✔power level in each individual laser pulse, however it is
not visible to the operator
Define Photobiomodulation: - ✔✔The laser's ability to speed heal, increase
circulation, reduce edema and minimize pain.
Used to reduce postoperative discomfort and to treat recurrent herpes and
apthous stomatitis.
Define Photochemical: - ✔✔Occur when photon energy causes a chemical
reaction
Define Photodisruptive/photoacoustic: - ✔✔-short pulsed bursts of laser light
with short high power interact with water in the tissue causing rapid thermal
expansion of the water molecules.
-Used in hard tissue procedures (example: erbium lasers)
-no thermal damage because we have thermal relaxation
Define Photothermal: - ✔✔-Occurs when the chromophores absorb the laser
energy and heat is generated to perform work.
-Most soft tissue procedures use this
-can cause thermal damage
, Define Thermal relaxation - ✔✔ability of the target tissue to absorb heat
produced by laser interaction
Describe how erbium lasers treat periodontal disease - ✔✔-SRP
-pocket decontamination
-replace scalpels when incisions are needed
Describe how Nd-YAG treats periodontal disease - ✔✔-affinity for pigment
allows for selective debridement of diseased sulcular epithelium
-bactericidal
-biostimulative
-fibrin stimuation
Describe Peak Power in the 3 types:
1) Continuous
2) Gated
3) Free running pulsed - ✔✔1) the peak power equals the average power
displayed
2) Average power is half of peak power
3) Low Average power, very high peak power
Describe PIPS - ✔✔-photon induced photoacoustic streaming
-extremely high peak power and affinity for water of the Er:YAG laser with
specially shaped radial firing tips are placed in irrigant solutions sends a
powerful wave of ACOUSTIC energy throughout the root canal system.
-little thermal effect
