Abstract We used DosiVox to evaluate the impact of cement thickness on the dose effectively absorbed by the enamel layer. Until now, the thickness of the dental tissues adjacent to the enamel layer was not considered by any of the most widely used combined US-ESR dating programs (DATA and USESR). Instead, if adjacent tissues are present, their thickness is by default assumed to be sufficient to fulfill the infinite matrix conditions. Our result suggest that such an assumption may represent in first instance a fair approximation of the reality, as even with a thickness of only 1 mm, the cement contributes to at least 98% of the beta dose rate coming from the outer side of the enamel layer. However, when cement is < 1 mm thick, DATA or USESR would overestimate the external beta dose rate and the value should be corrected accordingly by considering the relative contribution of the sediment. The impact of this correction on the total dose rate may vary, as it is directly dependent on the radioactivity of the cement itself, as well as of the sediment or dentine. Our results show that a very thin cement layer (0.1 mm-thick) can significantly contribute to the beta dose rate and should therefore not be neglected. Consequently, based on these results, we recommend the systematic measurement of the thickness of the dental tissues adjacent to the enamel layer during sample preparation, in order to proceed to beta dose rate corrections if necessary. Although this work has been especially focused on the case of fossil teeth showing cement, the conclusions stand for any other geometry involving different dental tissues adjacent to the enamel layer dated by ESR.

中文翻译：

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牙齿化石的ESR测年：在外部β剂量率评估中应在多大程度上考虑相邻组织的厚度？

摘要 我们使用 DosiVox 来评估水泥厚度对釉质层有效吸收剂量的影响。到目前为止，任何最广泛使用的联合 US-ESR 测年程序（DATA 和 USESR）都没有考虑与牙釉质层相邻的牙组织的厚度。相反，如果存在相邻组织，则默认情况下假定它们的厚度足以满足无限矩阵条件。我们的结果表明，这样的假设首先可能代表了对现实的公平近似，因为即使只有 1 毫米的厚度，水泥对来自牙釉质外侧的 β 剂量率的贡献率至少为 98%层。但是，当水泥厚度 < 1 mm 时，DATA 或 USESR 会高估外部 Beta 剂量率，因此应通过考虑沉积物的相对贡献来相应地修正该值。这种校正对总剂量率的影响可能会有所不同，因为它直接取决于水泥本身以及沉积物或牙本质的放射性。我们的结果表明，非常薄的水泥层（0.1 毫米厚）可以显着影响 β 剂量率，因此不应被忽视。因此，根据这些结果，我们建议在样品制备过程中系统地测量与牙釉质层相邻的牙组织的厚度，以便在必要时进行 β 剂量率校正。虽然这项工作特别关注显示水泥的化石牙齿的情况，