The purpose of this study was to establish and evaluate new possibilities for rehabilitation of patients with obturator prosthesis who had undergone partial or total maxillectomy because of tumour ablation surgery. Eleven patients with maxillary defects were reconstructed with a computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing designed prosthesis. Missing retention was gained by inserting implants in the remaining bone, so that an expansion of the surgical defect to gain further retention could be avoided. All patients were treated successfully according to the previously described treatment plan. The Obturator Functioning Scale (OFS) of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre was applied to evaluate the functional quality of the obturator prosthesis and patient's satisfaction. It showed good results in all fields of functional outcome and social acceptance.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different working modes (pulsed and micropulsed) and power settings of a standardized 980-nm diode laser on collateral thermal soft-tissue damage. A total of 108 bovine liver samples were cut with a diode laser at various settings in pulsed and micropulsed mode and histologically assessed to determine the area and depth of carbonization, necrosis and reversible tissue damage, as well as incision depth and width. Incision depth and width and the area and depth of carbonization, necrosis and reversible damage were correlated strongly with cutting speed. The area and depth of reversible damage were correlated with average power. The micropulsed mode produced a smaller zone of carbonization and necrosis and a smaller incision width. Setting the laser parameters in accordance with the absorption characteristics of the tissue reduced collateral thermal tissue damage while maintaining an acceptable cutting ability. Reducing collateral thermal damage from diode laser incisions is clinically relevant for promoting wound healing.

Direct-writing techniques are adequate tools for rapid prototyping of diverse materials, since they avoid the usage of moulds or masks. Among them, laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) has become a promising tool for rapid prototyping of microdevices due to the high focusing power of lasers, which provides a high resolution, and also to their non-contact and orifice-free nature, which avoids clogging and thus allows working with a wide range of materials. This makes LIFT an appropriate tool for biosensors preparation. In this article, immunoglobulin (IgG) microarrays were prepared through LIFT varying the laser pulse energy. It was found that there exists a minimum energy threshold, E min , below which no material is deposited. Moreover, an analysis of the droplets volumes revealed a linear dependence of this parameter with the laser pulse energy, what allowed finding the existence of an energy density threshold, which is considered to be the threshold to generate an impulsion on the liquid film that only results in droplet ejection when the total energy overcomes E min . Finally, the bioactivity of the transferred proteins was tested, showing no loss of their activity along the whole laser pulse energy range.

Under the limitations of this study, Nd:YAG laser irradiation at 1 W, alone or combined with NM, is a superior method for producing DOO, and may lead to an effective treatment modality for CDH.

This in vitro study compares two 810-nm and 940-nm diode lasers on bacterial kill in root canals of extracted human teeth and shows the clinical relevance of different treatment modalities. Ninety root canals of single-rooted human teeth were prepared up to ISO 70, steam sterilized, and assigned to two test groups (810 nm, 940 nm) and one control group. Following an initiatory experiment in which access opening of root canals and surrounding cavity were excluded from irradiation in the main experiment, 60 teeth were inoculated with 2 μl of either Escherichia coli or Enterococcus faecalis suspension. Laser irradiation was performed, additionally including access opening of root canals and surrounding cavity in the laser treatment. Excluding access opening of root canals and surrounding cavity from the laser treatment, the diode laser achieved an average bacterial reduction of Escherichia coli of 76.06% (810 nm) and 68.15% (940 nm), while including access cavities showed an average bacterial reduction of Escherichia coli of 97.84% (810 nm) and 98.83% (940 nm) and an average bacterial reduction of Enterococcus faecalis of 98.8% (810 nm) and 98.66% (940 nm). Diode laser wavelengths are effective in endodontic therapy. It seems to be clinically relevant that additional irradiation of the access cavity produces significantly better bactericidal results.

The goal of this study was to show the modifications in the ultrastructure of the dentin surface morphology following different surface treatments. The stability of the adhesive compound with dentin after laser preparation compared with conventional preparation using different bonding agents was evaluated. An Er,Cr:YSGG laser and 36% phosphoric acid in combination with various bonding systems were used. A total of 100 caries-free human third molars were used in this study. Immediately after surgical removal teeth were cut using a band saw and 1-mm thick dentin slices were created starting at a distance of 4 mm from the cusp plane to ensure complete removal of the enamel. The discs were polished with silicon carbide paper into rectangular shapes to a size of 6 × 4 mm (±0,2 mm).The discs as well as the remaining teeth stumps were stored in 0.9% NaCl at room temperature. The specimens were divided into three main groups (group I laser group, group II etch group, group III laser and etch group) and each group was subdivided into three subgroups which were allocated to the different bonding systems (subgroup A Excite, subgroup B Scotchbond, subgroup C Syntac). Each disc and the corresponding tooth stump were treated in the same way. After preparation the bonding composite material was applied according to the manufacturers' guidelines in a hollow tube of 2 mm diameter to the disc as well as to the corresponding tooth stump. Shear bond strength testing and environmental scanning electron microscopy were used to assess the morphology and stability of the resin-dentin interface. The self-etching bonding system showed the highest and the most constant shear values in all three main groups, thus enabling etching with phosphoric acid after laser preparation to be avoided. Thus we conclude that laser preparation creates a surface texture that allows prediction of the quality of the restoration without the risk of negative influences during the following treatment steps. This can easily and repeatedly be achieved.