Nuclear microanalysis of tooth enamel from a community in the Western Cape, South Africa

Extracted teeth collected from a Black African community living in the Gugulethu suburb of Cape Town, South Africa were studied by nuclear microscopy. Analysis by PIXE (with 3.0 MeV protons) of permanent extracted incisor and molar teeth from males and females of different ages showed a homogeneous elemental profile distribution for iron, zinc and strontium, irrespective of gender and/or age. Fluorine content as determined simultaneously from the 110 keV gamma-ray yield from proton bombardment had a similar mean value (females: 1.8% by mass and males: 1.6% by mass) for both genders. However, the mean content of strontium for females (97 μg g−1) was about 40% lower than that for males (69 μg g−1). In addition, a sub-group of children showed a smaller standard deviation on the distribution of zinc and fluorine. Previous results on the trace elemental concentration of the enamel of molar teeth, showed a depletion of up to 50% by mass for strontium after 20 h of exposure in acidic solution. Although the strontium level for the African female group fits this profile it is not certain what the demineralization observed was due too.