To attain high strength optical glass fibers, the glass preforms, from which the fibers are drawn, must generally be free of surface imperfections such as bubbles, and air lines. It has been discovered that these imperfections can be removed quickly and cleanly by contacting the preform surface with a substantial portion of the electrically conducting plasma region (the plasma fireball) extending from a plasma torch. Significantly, the surface material is substantially removed by vaporization, due to the extremely high plasma temperature (>9000.degree. C. at the plasma center) of the isothermal plasma torch. Though the temperatures in the tail of the plasma fireball are substantially less than at the plasma center, the temperatures are generally still several thousand degrees centigrade. These tail temperatures typically are sufficiently high to cause vaporization of most refractory dielectrics making the inventive method applicable to the fabrication of a wide variety of articles comprising refractory dielectric bodies.Advantageously, selective etching, according to one aspect of the inventive method, is used to remove fiber preform eccentricity and to fabricate optical fiber preforms with non-circular cross-sections for such applications as fiber sensors. Selective etching can result by controlling the plasma fireball location, the rotation of the silica preform, and/or the travel of the fireball across the preform. Significantly, the fireball location is controlled, among other ways, by injecting into the torch an additional gas that has a high ionization threshold or by inserting a probe along the axis of the torch. In either case, a substantial portion of the plasma fireball is advantageously "pushed" outside the torch for ease of contact with the silica preform surface, or any other refractory dielectric being processed.