Infrared investigation of hard human teeth tissues exposed to various doses of ionizing radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl accident

Infrared spectroscopy (IR) was applied to study changes in solid teeth tissues of persons exposed to low (0.12–0.20 Gy) and high (0.5–1.7 Gy) doses of ionizing radiation during their work in the Chernobyl zone after the accident. Changes in the inorganic and organic matrix of teeth were noted for both high and low radiation doses. The obtained results demonstrated that high doses of radiation lead to imbalance between phosphate–carbonate phases level (because of increasing of CO 3 2− content) and accumulation of soluble phosphates in the mineral part of the teeth. These changes have an effect on dental matrix strength. Low doses of radiation do not induce appreciable negative changes in the mineral part of all tooth tissues but lead to changes in organic matrix of teeth (in collagen). The present results demonstrated that pathological effect of radiation touches upon all dental tissue and obviously all bone systems of irradiated people.