## 3 Results
### Elemental Weight Concentration Analysis  
The wt.% analysis revealed significant changes in the elemental composition of constituent C, O, nitrogen (N), and constituent metals between control groups and _f_-laser irradiated samples across all three types of materials studied. These results are collated and presented in Table 2, which details the types of samples and the corresponding number of _f_-laser irradiation pulses. All laser treatments showed significantly reduced oxygen and increased carbon content in all three ceramic materials. Aluminum and silicon were both reduced significantly in LD and in VITA En.  
There was a dose-response trend evident with a higher number of pulses, resulting in increased ablation and more marked changes in elemental composition (Figure 4). Of  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Pulse Number/ Scanning Speed** & **Carbon** & **Oxygen** & **Aluminum** & **Silicon** \\ \hline Zirconia & & & & \\
100/200 & 23.3 (4.8) [b] & 22.9 (1.3) [a] & 0.5 (0.1) [a] & 0.6 (0.2) [a] \\
220/100 & 29.9 (7.6) [c] & 22.5 (0.9) [a] & 0.5 (0.2) [a] & 0.7 (0.7) [a] \\
440/50 & 31.7 (3.2) [c] & 22.7 (1.6) [a] & 0.7 (0.2) [a] & 0.7 (0.7) [a] \\ Untreated & 11.6 (2.4) [a] & 25.0 (1.2) [b] & 0.5 (0.1) [a] & 0.5 (0.5) [a] \\ \hline Lithium disilicate & & & & \\
100/200 & 39.7 (3.0) [c] & 31.3 (2.0) [a] & 0.6 (0.2) [a] & 8.2 (1.0) [b] \\
220/100 & 34.3 (3.2) [b] & 32.2 (1.9) [a] & 0.7 (0.2) [a] & 7.7 (0.9) [a] \\
440/50 & 33.5 (2.7) [b] & 31.6 (1.7) [a] & 0.8 (0.3) [a] & 5.7 (0.8) [a] \\ Untreated & 5.5 (0.6) [a] & 48.7 (1.8) [b] & 2.4 (0.4) [b] & 30.3 (1.1) [c] \\ \hline VITA ENAMIC\({}^{\circledR}\) & & & & \\
100/200 & 25.3 (5.1) [b] & 39.7 (2.0) [a] & 7.1 (0.2) [a] & 17.9 (0.1) [c] \\
220/100 & 23.2 (2.8) [b] & 39.5 (2.1) [a] & 7.4 (0.1) [a] & 12.3 (0.1) [b] \\
440/50 & 22.1 (3.9) [b] & 38.8 (2.0) [a] & 8.3 (0.1) [a] & 11.5 (0.1) [a] \\ Untreated & 5.4 (0.8) [a] & 48.1 (1.4) [b] & 13.0 (0.1) [b] & 20.9 (0.2) [d] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Element** & **Element** & **Aluminum** & **Weight** \\
**Number** & **Smol** & **Name** & **Conc.** & **Conc.** \\
6 & & & & \\
7.6 & & & & \\
8 & O & Oxygen & 40.54 & 37.27 \\
11 & Na & Sodium & 4.781 & 5.706 \\
12 & Mg & Magnesium & 0.238 & 0.300 \\
13 & Al & Aluminum & 5.59 & 8.609 \\
14 & Si & Silicon & 10.427 & 16.817 \\
15 & P & Phosphorus & 0.563 & 1.001 \\
19 & K & Potassium & 2.452 & 5.506 \\
22 & Ti & Titanium & 0.201 & 0.501 \\
40 & Zr & Zirconium & 0.096 & 0.501 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: EDS data showing elemental composition in weight percent for three distinct sample groups, namely zirconia, lithium disilicate composite material, and VITA ENAMIC\({}^{\circledR}\) hybrid material irradiated at 20 J/cm\({}^{2}\) fluence and varying pulse number/scanning speeds.  
Figure 3: Chemical composition of VITA ENAMIC\({}^{\circledR}\) hybrid ceramic for selected key elements. (**A**) Prior to _f_-laser irradiation, and (**B**) following laser irradiation using a 20 J/cm\({}^{2}\) fluence and 440 pulses.  
the three materials examined, LD showed the highest changes and zirconia the least at the same laser processing conditions.