The incidence of caries depends on the amount of fluoride compounds entering the body with water and food. Fluoride ions change the composition of the enamel, making it more resistant to caries. But the fluoride surplus, on the contrary, provokes tooth decay. The problem is that excess fluoride is difficult to diagnose until the teeth change their color and morphology.
According to "News Mail.RU" , scientists from Voronezh State University (VSU), together with colleagues from the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko and scientists from the Australian organization ANSTO have developed a new technique that allows you to track the intake of fluoride when using fluoride-containing toothpaste, and to diagnose fluorosis (a deviation against the background of excess fluoride intake).
Experts studied the features of mineralization of tooth enamel at the initial stages of the development of fluorosis using Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy. In the first case, samples of teeth with healthy and damaged enamel were exposed to single-frequency laser radiation, which, due to reflection from the enamel surface, was divided into different signals with several frequencies. In the second case, the samples were irradiated with light in the infrared range, which caused vibrations of bonds in the enamel material.
The report says: "Each substance in the enamel reacts to radiation in its own way (absorbs or reflects it), so the infrared and Raman spectra contain unique information about the molecular structure and chemical composition of tooth enamel. Thus, you can quickly and easily determine compounds in it and detect pathological processes. "