Human tooth enamel contains hydroxyapatite, which exhibits thermoluminescence (TL) when exposed to ionizing radiation. This document presents results of a study investigating the TL response of human tooth samples exposed to beta particle irradiation. The results show that the tooth enamel emits TL at high enough temperatures to ensure signal stability, and that TL increases with irradiation doses from 1 to 100 Gy. Samples did not suffer damage when heated to 300°C during TL readouts.

1. Abstract Human tooth is formed by dental pulp, dentin, cement, and enamel. Dental enamel contains high concentration of hydroxyapatite, that exhibits thermoluminescence (TL) if exposed to ionizing radiation. In this work, we present results obtained in the first stage of a research project focused to show that the thermoluminescence of human tooth can be useful in criminalistic, environmental and public health studies, as well as for retrospective dosimetry. In this way, as starting point, we have investigated the thermoluminescence response of samples obtained from human tooth exposed to beta particle irradiation. Our results show that the characteristic glow curves present TL emission at high enough temperatures that assures thermal stability of TL signal, and the TL increases as dose increases for doses from 1 up to 100 Gy, which was the dose interval used, and that are of interest in clinical applications. Samples do not suffer damage due to heating if the TL readouts are performed from room temperature up to 300 °C. Keywords: thermoluminescence, human teeth, dosimetry. Glow curves from a piece of a human tooth exposed to different doses of beta particle irradiation, obtained using a 5 °C/s heating rate, from room temperature up to 300 °C. Integrated Thermoluminescence as a function of beta particle irradiation dose, from a piece of a human tooth exposed to different doses of beta particle irradiation, obtained using a 5 °C/s heating rate, from room temperature up to 300 °C. Thermoluminescence of human teeth exposed to beta particle irradiation A. De la Isla 1 , R. Bernal 2 , C. Cruz-Vázquez 3 , and V. M. Castaño 4 1 Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Clavel 200, Col. Prados de la Capilla, Querétaro, Querétaro, México. 2 Departamento de Investigación en Física, Universidad de Sonora, Apartado Postal 5-088, Hermosillo, Sonora, México. 3 Departamento de Investigación en Polímeros y Materiales, Universidad de Sonora, Apartado Postal 130, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 México. 4 Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 1-1010, Querétaro, Querétaro 76000 México @ E-mail :