Teeth as a dosimeter biological aspect

Introduction
Radicals are created when the tooth enamel is radiated with an ionizing material and these
radicals can be detected with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. Detecting,
identifying, and quantifying free radicals became possible with EPR spectroscopy. Since EPR
spectroscopy was able to measure radicals induced by radiation, it also became possible to
measure the absorbed radiation dose [1]. EPR measures stable radicals in human calcified tissues
like tooth enamel. The signal from being exposed to the ionizing radiation is stored in the tooth
or the bone even after many years [2].
History of EPR dosimetry method
During the latter half of the 20th century, the release of the radioactive material due to the
improper use and removal of radiation source led to the overexposure of radiation to people.
Around 400 radiation accidents have been registered from 1944 to 2000 with confirmed
overexposure of radiation to 3000 people [2-1]. Other than these accidents, atomic bomb at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, radioactive waste water into the Techa River, and the nuclear accident
at Chernobyl exposed tens of thousands of people to radiation [2-2]. These accidents in the past
proved that accidents are unavoidable and there should be a preparation for the future accidents.
Protocols and regulations to keep the radiation protection dose limit are present but another
dosimetry for dose assessment was desired to guarantee that the limits will not be exceeded.
Therefore, ICRU assesses and evaluates different methods of radiation dose reconstruction
including the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry method to find the best and most
effective method for dosimetry [2-14].
Bones and teeth contain hydroxyapatite (Ca10 (PO4)6(OH)2) which is applicable as a probe for
diagnosing radiation exposure. Since EPR can measure free radicals precisely [SECTION 2].
It has been more than three decades since the tooth enamel has been used to detect radiation dose
of a person in vivo [2-23]. Enamel is highly concentrated with hydroxyapatite [2-24] and
carbonate impurities are incorporated into the hydroxyapatite crystals during their formation.
These incorporated carbonate impurities are then converted into carbon dioxide (CO2-) radicals
as the ionizing radiation is absorbed [2-25]. As a result, the absorbed dose will increase the
number of the radicals and the absorbed dose can be measured with the intensity of the EPR
absorption. EPR has been used in many cases in the past to measure the absorbed dose for dose
reconstruction. Some of the populations where the EPR absorption was used are the survivors of
the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki [2-26] and the people living near the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor [2-31]. EPR dosimetry has also been used on a population from an
uncontaminated area in Russia to find the absorbed dose from natural background radiation [236].
Two tissue layers of teeth used to measure absorbed dose are the enamel and dentine. Another
important fact about enamel is that it is formed completely in the childhood and once it is
formed, it does not change or get replaced. Also, it has been determined that CO2- radicals in the

enamel has a lifetime of 10^7 years at 25C [2-42]. Thus, radiation-induced radicals will be
stored and cumulated in the enamel ever since it is formed in the childhood. Therefore, EPR
dosimetry with tooth enamel is applicable for dose reconstruction either many years after the
exposure or after many years of exposure. Different from enamel, dentine stores dose from the
intake of radionuclide strontium [2-29]. Strontium and calcium are on the same period in the
periodic chart explaining why two elements behave similarly. Therefore, ingested strontium often
gets stored in the dentine and bones. However, it is very complicated to achieve dose
reconstruction using bone-seeking radionuclides like strontium [2-46]. The results of two
international comparisons on EPR tooth dosimetry [[40,43]] showed that the EPR dosimetry is
even capable of giving an accurate dose absorption measurement for a case many years after the
exposure. However, EPR dosimetry is not a reliable method and requires more investigations.