title: Basic physics of laser interaction with vital tissue.
abstract: It is essential for any practitioner who uses lasers in their clinical practice to understand the basic physics of lasers. It is this knowledge that allows for an educated assessment of the clinical outcomes that lasers produce in our patients. It is also this understanding that provides a scientific basis for the visual feedback the clinician uses to vary parameters as needed to get the desired clinical results. It is the intent of this paper to discuss the very basic reasons why lasers affect tissues the way they do, and to synthesize the plethora of information dental practitioners are seeing regularly in dental journals.
authors.affiliation: General Practice Residency, Department of Dentistry, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: Harvey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wigdor
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D003729:Dental Care; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D007834:Lasers / Q000145:classification; D008027:Light; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013816:Thermodynamics