We have been evaluating the use of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser for ablating hard dental tissue. For this application we apply dye-drops of an IR absorptive fluid on the enamel, then irradiate with a laser pulse from the laser. By using ink- jet technology to deliver the dye-drops, we can attain micron- and millisecond-scale precision in drop delivery, with a 'burst' of drops preceding each laser pulse. To gain better understanding of the ablation process we have used a high- speed CCD camera system with 1 microsecond(s) exposure and 1 microsecond(s) inter-exposure-interval capability. Fast photography of the ablation process showed the following typical events. (i) The laser induced plasma plume erupts immediately after pulse onset, expands to maximum within 50 microsecond(s) , and lasts up to 200 microsecond(s) . (ii) Ejected particles flying away from the site of laser pulse/dye-drop impact are detected within 30 microsecond(s) of laser pulse onset, and continue up to 10 ms. These particles attain velocities up to 50 m/s with lower velocities from lower pulse power. (iii) The plasma plume has a peak height that increases with increasing laser fluence, ranging up to 10 mm for a fluence of 242 J/cm2 on enamel. From this study, the dye-assisted ablation mechanisms are inferred to be plasma-mediated and explosion- mediated tissue removal.