Determination of dose rates from natural radionuclides in dental materials [An article from: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Different types of materials used for dental prosthetics restoration, including feldspathic ceramics, glass ceramics, zirconia-based ceramics, alumina-based ceramics, and resin-based materials, were investigated with regard to content of natural radionuclides by means of thermoluminescence beta dosimetry and gamma spectrometry. The gross beta dose rate from feldspathic and glass ceramics was about ten times higher than the background measurement, whereas resin-based materials generated negligible beta dose rate, similarly to natural tooth samples. The specific activity of uranium and thorium was significantly below the levels found in the period when addition of uranium to dental porcelain materials was still permitted. The high-beta dose levels observed in feldspathic porcelains and glass ceramics are thus mainly ascribable to ^4^0K, naturally present in these specimens. Although the measured values are below the recommended limits, results indicate that patients with prostheses are subject to higher dose levels than other members of the population. Alumina- and zirconia-based ceramics might be a promising alternative, as they have generally lower beta dose rates than the conventional porcelain materials. However, the dosimetry results, which imply the presence of inhomogeneously distributed clusters of radionuclides in the sample matrix, and the still unsuitable structural properties call for further optimization of these materials.