title: Clinical application of the erbium:YAG laser for apicoectomy.
abstract: Recently, an Er:YAG laser has attracted attention because of the possibility of cutting hard tissues with extremely small thermal effects. In this article, we report 8 cases (13 teeth) of apicoectomy using Er:YAG laser. All procedures were performed without using an air turbine or an electric drill. Although the cutting speed of this laser was slightly slower than ordinary methods, its clinical application for apicoectomy has many advantages including absence of discomfort and vibration, less chance for contamination of the surgical site, and reduced risk of trauma to adjacent tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takato
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D001047:Apicoectomy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003481:Cuspid / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008437:Maxilla; D008439:Maxillary Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D011842:Radicular Cyst / Q000601:surgery