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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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How not to have loose dentures
Coordination exercises for a strong back
Heart surgery better for the aged HEALTH NOTES
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How not to have loose dentures These geriatric patients have a different set of medical and dental problems. Teeth also show signs of aging. There is age-related wear and tear of the teeth and gum diseases; some or all the teeth may be missing in old patients. A patient who has lost all his teeth and is having a denture generally has no problem with the upper denture. This conventional denture therapy is undoubtedly among the age-old forms of dental treatments. Wearing conventional dentures, which compresses tissue, contributes to bone shrinkage. As a result, dentures may become loose. Natural teeth are supported by a special type of bone (alveolar bone) in the upper and lower jaws. When teeth are lost, the alveolar bone begins to shrink. This shrinkage of bone causes the denture to loose and become instable. Upper dentures are held in place by interfacial surface tension, generally referred to as “suction” or “vacuum” and other important factors such as good base adaptation and border
seal. You can say upper dentures have a roof in your mouth for suction. A lower denture is especially difficult to keep in place because its just sits on the ridge of the lower gum, it has less stable tissue to rest upon than does an upper denture. Successful use of a lower denture may also depend on your ability to control it with your tongue and cheek muscles. Some people may not be able to develop enough muscle coordination to continually keep a lower denture in place. People just don’t like wearing lower dentures anyway because they don’t fit as tight as the upper dentures. Now what is the solution? One solution is to construct a special type of denture that goes over and attaches to something underneath. This should hold the denture from slipping, especially the lower denture, from its place. Implant-supported overdentures go on top of dental implants. These are called Click on dentures. The principal is like that of a titch button. Implant-placed overdentures lock the denture in place, providing people with the peace of mind that their dentures will not slip when they speak or eat in public. A retainer bar or retention balls are placed on the implants and special attachments are inserted into the denture to grab onto these retention devices. Dental implants are metal posts — usually titanium — that are surgically placed in your jawbone. The surgical procedure to place implants is usually performed in an outpatient setting under local anaesthesia. The number of implants used may vary. As few as two implants in the lower jaw may retain a removable lower denture adequately. In this procedure, the implants are placed in the front of the jaw — about where the canine teeth would be. If you want teeth that are permanently fixed in place, you’ll need more implants. In this situation, up to four or five implants may be used to hold the permanent denture. More implants generally mean greater comfort and stability, but at a higher expense. Advantages of dental implants for dentures:
Disadvantages of dental implants.
Two implant overdenture is the first choice of treatment for edentulous mandible . Such patients should consult a dentist who has specialisation in making dentures — a prosthodontist with specialised training in Implant. The writer is Professor and Head, Department of Dentistry, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana.
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Coordination exercises for a strong back The back comprises of bones (vertebrae) which support the body weight, the vertebral joints that guide the direction of the spine and the discs, which separate the vertebrae and also absorb shock. The muscles and ligaments are also vital as they hold the spine together and help the back to function as a single unit. For a strong and stable back, strong abdominal muscles play a crucial role. Back pain occurs when one of these structures suffers an injury due to sudden or improper movement or due to overuse. It is indeed imperative to strengthen the back and abdominal muscles through appropriate exercises so that the back is able to endure the stresses and strains during overuse or injury. Fitness regimens and exercises help keep the back healthy and stable by allowing the discs to receive adequate nutrition through fluid exchange. A healthy disc usually swells with water and then squeezes the fluid out (as in the case of sponge). This is the mode of providing nutrients to the disc. Lack of exercise leads to the disc becoming malnourished and degenerated. Low back pain is a common occurrence. Preventing low back pain entails coordination of movements apart from flexibility and strength. Coordination of movements implies smoother movements of the low back that would limit the risk of harmful stress on the low back. After recovering from low back pain the following endurance/ strengthening exercises should only be done after 10 minutes’ warm up and under proper guidance. In case any exercise causes discomfort, it should be stopped immediately. Leg lifts: Stand by the end of the table and lean the upper body with the face downward and chest flat on the table. Hold the table with the hands and lift both legs behind up to the greatest possible height. Repeat this 10 times. Trunk lifts: Lie on the table with the face downward with hips at the edge and the upper part of the body extending over the edge of the table. Ask someone to hold the legs at the calf region. With the hands behind the head, lower the upper trunk and then lift upward to the greatest possible extent. Repeat 10 times. Sit-ups: Lie on your back with the knees flexed, the feet on the floor and cross the arms across the chest. Slowly raise the upper body up to 45 degrees and return back. Repeat 15 times. Complete the sit-ups i.e. above 45 degrees of motion places greater stress on the lumbar spine and should be avoided. After completing the strength/endurance exercises, the following coordination exercises should be included: Knee-elbow touches — Start in an upright standing position, lift the right knee and touch with the left elbow by rotating the trunk. Return to the standing position. Lift the left knee and touch the left knee with the right elbow. This alternating pattern — the left elbow touching the right knee and the right elbow touching the left knee — should continue for 10-20 repetitions. Balance — Start on all fours, i.e. the hands and the knees on the ground, maintaining a straight lower back. Extend the left leg straight back and the right arm straight ahead, while remaining in the balance on the right knee and left hand. Then go back to the starting position and move the left arm ahead and the right leg back for a total of up to 15-25 repetitions. Modified sit-ups — Lie on the back with knees flexed, feet on the floor and cross the arms across the chest. Instead of sitting up straight-ahead, move forward alternately towards the left and right knee. Repeat 15-20 times. The above-mentioned exercises, if undertaken effectively, can markedly minimise the risk of low back pain. These exercises facilitate strength and coordination so that stresses and strains can be endured effectively. Thus, one can exercise more efficiently and with least fatigue. The writer is a former doctor/physiotherapist of the Indian cricket team. |
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Heart surgery better for the aged NEW YORK: Elderly patients with heart disease who undergo coronary revascularization surgery enjoy better long-term health status and quality of life than those who are managed medically with drug therapy, according to the results of a study. The high burden of heart disease in the elderly, combined with reports of poor outcomes following bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) such as balloon angioplasty, have led to some “uncertainty as to whether these procedures should be routinely offered to elderly patients,” note study investigators. “More recently, however, significantly improved outcomes associated with revascularization procedures have been noted in both a small, randomized trial and a large observational study,’’ Dr Michelle M. Graham, of the University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues point out. In the present study, they examined the heath status at four years for a group of elderly patients with cardiac disease registered in the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) initiative. — Reuters
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HEALTH NOTES NEW YORK: Late afternoon may be the least desirable time to have surgery, according to a study certain adverse effects are more common after 3 p.m. In a review of more than 90,000 surgeries performed at their medical center, Duke University researchers found that negative effects related to anesthesia, most often pain or nausea, were most common after late-afternoon procedures. For example, a patient’s odds of suffering post-operative nausea and vomiting, wound infection or some other ‘’harm’’ were three times higher if the surgery began at 3 p.m. versus 8 a.m. though few patients had such problems at either time. According to the study authors, there are a number of potential reasons for the late-afternoon slump, including doctors’ late-day fatigue and hospital shift rotations. It’s also possible that people are more susceptible to pain or nausea late in the day, perhaps from lack of food all day or the stress of waiting to go under the knife. — Reuters
Two-pronged approach for hair-pulling disorder
NEW YORK: A new study suggests that behavioral therapy plus medication is the most effective approach to treating trichotillomania, a psychiatric disorder characterized by obsessive hair pulling. “The ultimate take-home message is that the combination is better than either one alone,’’ Dr Darin D. Dougherty of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health. Trichotillomania is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and if left untreated, generally does not improve on its own, Dougherty noted in an interview. The disorder can interfere with a person’s personal relationships, and lead people to avoid social and public activities. A special type of cognitive behavioral therapy known as habit reversal training (HRT) has been shown to be effective for treating the disorder, as have drugs used for treating depression and OCD known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). — Reuters
Simple single-drug
HIV regimen
WASHINGTON: A recent study has revealed that using a single boosted proteases inhibitor instead of the standard three-drug regimen for maintenance therapy may be an effective treatment for patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and presented to the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, shows that simplified drug regimens can be safe and effective, and safely reduce side-effects in some patients. The finding is a great relief for patients as the sustained adherence to multidrug antiretroviral regimens is difficult to follow, expensive and have long-term adverse effects.— ANI
Ancient war paint can fight breast cancer
WASHINGTON: A compound glucobrassicin, traditionally associated with broccoli, that was used as war paint by Britons and Celts can be useful in fighting breast cancer. The war paint, a blue dye, is obtained from Woad, a member of the Brassicaceae family. Stefania Galletti and her team at the University of Bologna, Italy, found that the plant contains 20 times more cancer fighting chemical glucobrassicin than its relative, broccoli, which they enhanced to nearly 65 times using various treatments.— ANI
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Due to medical advances life expectancy all over the world has increased considerably. People demand better health care, and in every branch of medicine as well as dentistry this is possible because of tremendous improvement in technology. Today a 70-year-old adult has the same lifestyle as a 50-year-old adult. And they desire to fulfil a lifestyle with the greatest possible pleasure.