Investigation of some parameters influencing the sensitivity of human tooth enamel to gamma radiation using electron paramagnetic resonance

Abstract

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has been successfully used as a physical technique for gamma radiation dose reconstruction using calcified tissues. To minimize potential discrepancies between EPR readings in future studies, the effects of cavity response factor, tooth position and donor gender on the estimated gamma radiation dose were studied. It was found that the EPR response per sample mass used for assessment of doses in teeth outside of the 70-100 mg range should be corrected by a factor which is a function of the sample mass. In the EPR measurements, the difference in sensitivity of different tooth positions to γ-radiation was taken into consideration. It was determined that among all the premolars and molars tooth positions, the relative standard deviation of sensitivity was 6.5%, with the wisdom teeth and the first molars having the highest and lowest sensitivity to γ-radiation, respectively. The current results reveal no effect of the donor gender on the sensitivity to γ-radiation.