Biomimetic materials (biocomposites) with an organic-mineral composition related to natural dental tissues (enamel and dentin) are obtained for the first time and their structural and optical characteristics are studied. It is demonstrated by a complex of structural and spectroscopic methods that in the formation of biocomposites, the introduced organic component, bearing a number of amino acids, does not affect the structure of the inorganic component (carbonate-substituted calcium hydroxyapatite) of the sample. The carbonate-substituted calcium hydroxyapatite synthesized using a biogenic source of calcium, which forms the basis of the biocomposite, has a luminescence spectrum similar to that of apatite tooth enamel. The spectrum of the intact dentin of a human tooth has a broader luminescence band than that for the enamel spectrum. It is determined that both organic and inorganic components contribute to the dentin luminescence band. The features found in the luminescence spectra of intact tissues and in simulating biocomposites can be used to develop a procedure for effective early diagnosis of the demineralization of hard dental tissues and general dental examination.

The paper presents an investigation of the local atomic structure of nanocrystalline carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite (CHAP) contained in biomimetic composites – analogues of intact human tooth tissues. Using the XPS technique, the presence of impurity Mg and F atoms and structurally bound carbon in CHAP, at the concentrations typical of apatite enamel and dentine was determined. The XANES method was used to study the changes occurring in P L2,3 spectra of biocomposites with CHAP, depending on the percentage of the amino acid matrix. The appearance of maxima in the spectra of XANES P L2,3 near 135.7 eV for the samples with the composition of amino acid complex/hydroxyapatite – 5/95, 25/75 and the splitting of a broad peak of 146.9 eV in the spectrum of a biocomposite with a composition of 40/60 indicates at the interaction of molecular complex of amino acids with atomic environment of phosphorus. This fact can be used in the fundamental medicine for synthesizing of new biomaterials in dentistry.

The objective of this paper was to investigate whether it is possible to obtain biomimetic materials recreating the luminescent properties and molecular composition of intact dental tissues. Biomimetic materials were produced and their properties compared with native dental tissues. In addition, the overall contribution of the organic and non-organic components in the photoluminescence band was investigated. The results showed that it is possible to develop biomimetic materials with similar molecular composition and optical properties to native dental tissues for the early identification of dental caries.