Calcium analysis of gamma sterilized human dentin submmited to Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation

Abstract

Studies report that gamma radiation changes the oral cavity of patients submitted to radiotherapy. These changes include xerostomia, resulting in an unsaturation of calciumand phosphate in the oral cavity. However, human enamel samples isolated from the altered oral environmentwhen irradiatedwithgamma radiation at doses of up to 25kGy (much higher than radiotherapy doses) were shown to have undergone no changes in molecular hardness or micro surface. After approval of the Research Ethics Committee, 20 human dentin samples were evaluated before and after irradiation, split randomly into control group (n = 10) and irradiated group (n = 10) treated with 25.0 kGy at the Co60 multipurpose irradiator and irradiated with Er,Cr:YSGG laser in the parameters: 8.5 J/cm2 in the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), % surface Microhardness loss and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). At the end, acidic biopsies were performed to quantify the concentration of calcium present in the samples. In the results of FTIR analysis differences were found only in the bands of organic content and in the inorganic content, difference were not found between before and after irradiations. The EDS and % Surface Microhardness loss analysis corroborates these findings, as well as no significant loss of the Calcium content before and after their radiation with Co60 at 25 kGy and with the Er,Cr:YSGG laser. These findings lead us to a new hypothesis of behavior of the hydroxyapatite crystal submitted to the gamma irradiation.