We present a finite element model to investigate the dynamic thermal and mechanical response of ceramic materials to pulsed infrared radiation. The model was applied to the specific problem of determining the influence of the pulse duration on the stress levels reached in human dental enamel irradiated by a CO2 laser at 10.6 mu m with pulse durations between 0.1 and 100 mu s and sub-ablative fluence. Our results indicate that short pulses with durations much larger than the characteristic acoustic relaxation time of the material can still cause high stress transients at the irradiated site, and indicate that pulse durations of the order of 10 mu s may be more adequate both for enamel surface modification and for ablation than pulse durations up to 1 mu s. The model presented here can easily be modified to investigate the dynamic response of ceramic materials to mid-infrared radiation and help determine optimal pulse durations for specific procedures. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.