The caries resistance of human teeth is determined by the spatial arrangement of hydroxyapatite microcrystals in the enamel.
Teeth from different people differ in their susceptibility to caries. The beginning and the development of tooth decay depend on the presence of bacterial plaque and on the structure of the tooth enamel. But it has not been established whether the organic or the inorganic component of the enamel (which is comprised principally of hydroxyapatite microcrystals organized in a firm matrix), is responsible for most of the resistance of teeth to caries. We report here that the electron spin resonance (ESR) lines of the (CO3)3 defect of samples of enamel prepared from caries-resistant teeth differ significantly from the corresponding spectra of the caries-sensitive samples. We have traced these differences to the hydroxyapatite microcrystalline alignment in the tooth enamel, and found that this alignment is specific to individuals and is therefore probably nutritionally or genetically determined.