  Studies of the average crystal structure properties of human dental apatite
as a function of the tooth-age in the range of 5-87 years are reported. The
crystallinity of the dental hydroxyapatite decreases with the tooth-age. The
a-lattice constant that is associated with the carbonate content in carbonate
apatite decreases with the tooth-age in a systematic way, whereas the c-lattice
constant does not change significantly. Thermogravimetric measurements
demonstrate an increase of the carbonate content with the tooth-age. FTIR
spectroscopy reveals both, B and A-type carbonate substitutions with the B-type
greater than the A-type substitution by a factor up to ~5. An increase of the
carbonate content as a function of the tooth-age can be deduced from the ratio
of the v2 CO3 to the v1 PO4 IR modes.
