[Microdiffraction measurements of natural tooth by high resolution X-ray diffraction equipment].

The main mineral component of natural tooth was determined as calcium apatite many years ago; most of them exist in the form of hydroxyapatite with different crystallites. If a tooth decayed, the crystalline of hydroxyapatite would be changed and decomposed. In our experiment, a natural tooth with caries was measured by high resolution XRD equipment: X'pert Pro. Three spots which included normal enamel, normal dentin and caries tissue were analyzed. The results showed that tooth was a kind of biological mixed crystal composed of many crystal phases, the main crystal phase was hydroxyapatite. From normal enamel to normal dentin and to caries tissue, the length of the a-axis of hydroxyapatite crystallite increased, the length of the c-axis of hydroxyapatite crystallite remained unchanged. The crystal sizes were: normal enamel D002 = 27.600 nm; normal dentin D002 = 16.561 nm; caries tissue D002 = 13.163 nm. Crystallinity: normal enamel>normal dentin>caries tissue. According to our experiment, tooth could be conveniently studied by high resolution microdiffracion XRD equipment.