HEALTH

PGI faculty to be trained in advanced system of teeth implants
By Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The arrival of a good system of implants to replace missing teeth has been much awaited in the region, but patients from this region can now look forward to a better alternative for getting artificial teeth. The Department of Oral Health Sciences, PGIMER, will shortly make a beginning in implantology using the Branework system of Implants, which is being used in most of the advanced countries.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune today, Dr H.S. Coonar, emeritus consultant, Oral Surgery, UK, pointed out that in spite of the best efforts, loss of teeth was common. The causes of loss might vary from dental caries, periodontal disease (prorrhea), oral cancer to trauma. The replacement of these teeth was not important only from the point of view of dentistry, but also of aesthetics, particularly when it affected front teeth, he said.

Till now, methods to provide artificial teeth had been removal of acrylic dentures, cast metal partial dentures or a fixed bridge in case of one or more teeth. Some people encountered varied problems such as poor retention, especially with lower dentures, and the need to remove these every now and then, and also change of taste and difficulty in speech. According to Dr Coonar, persons who were health conscious and could afford root implants, were keen on better alternatives to conventional techniques.

Dr R. Welfare, Consultant in Restorative Surgery, Eastman Dental Hospital, London, explained that oral implantology involved a technique on insertion of implants into the bone on the support of which the teeth were built. In case of root implants, titanium screws are surgically inserted into the jaw bones after a small surgical procedure under local anaesthesia. These fixtures, over a period of 3 to 6 months, fuse with the bone. After 4 to 6 months, the implants are uncovered and abutment posts are attached. These provide the support for the tooth or teeth to be placed on them. These implants fuse with the jaw bones from which they derive support.

Dr Welfare said these implants stimulated roots of natural teeth on which crowns or multiple teeth were placed to replacethe missing teeth. The implant supported teeth function quite akin to natural teeth, and unlike the conventional full or partial removable dentures, these teeth were immovable and need not be taken out, he added. Since the palate is not covered with any material, it ensures better speech and taste.

According to Dr Welfare, the number of persons going in for implants in place of dentures and bridges in the UK had been increasing. Even young children born without teeth or having missing teeth, were opting for this technique. It requires 6 to 8 sittings spread over six months or more, but the cost of implants is exhorbitant. Oone implant in the UK costs 600 pounds. But advantages offered by the implant system overweigh expenses.

Dr Welfare's wife, Rosina, who had two implants, said, "Though it is tough getting this treatment done and the process is lengthy, it sure is worth it, for it is more lasting and durable." Still one needs to look after them by ensuring better oral hygiene.

According to Prof H.S. Chawla, Head of the Department of Oral Sciences, PGI, a two-day CME programme on oral implantology will be held by Dr Coonar and Dr Welfare. They will impart training to the faculty members of this institute. During the programme, which begins tomorrow, focus will be on patient preparation, presurgery, implant insertion and post operation care. Discussions on various cases will also be conducted. This in-house training will help train the faculty in this technique, who in turn can train others.

Dr Chawla said efforts to develop an indigenous system of implants were at an advanced stage and this would bring down its cost. The dental implants are made of biocompatible materials, which do not induce foreign body reaction.

Advances in oral surgery discussed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A wide range of topics related to advances in oral and maxillofacial surgery were discussed at the four-day 25th annual national conference (AOMSI), which concluded here today.

Maxillofacial surgery has come a long way in the last 20 years in India. From dento-alveolar pathology, trauma and deformity in the 70s and early 80s, the scope of this speciality has steadily progressed to include the head and the neck. This was stated by Dr A.K. Ghosh, while delivering the Col Madan Memorial Lecture on Our Speciality Marches On here today. He discussed some of the recent advances like the cleft surgery within 48 hours of birth distraction osteogenesis and microvascular reconstruction.

In his keynote address, Prof R. Pradhan, Professor of the faculty of Dental Sciences in Lucknow said in recent years, there had been an immense amount of research on bone grafting. He said the focus was shifting from autograft to vascularised grafts, owing to greater advancement and ready availability of icrovascular surgery. Through a presentation, he explained various procedures involved in bone grafts and methods of harvesting these in.

Dr G.E. Ghali of the Louisiana State University Medical Centre at Shreveport in the USA delivered a lecture on Current Concepts of Craniofacial Surgery. He said raniosynostosis refers to premature closure of one or more cranial sutures before or shortly after birth. "As a result, abnormal cranial growth occurs and facial development is almost adversely affected. The response to early surgery in isolated craniosynostosis is good with the brain growth directing further skull and facial growth conversely," he said.

Later, Dr Saidul Islam gave a video presentation on microvascular reconstruction of the oral and maxillofacial region. He said the advancement of microvascular tissue transfer technique had revolutionised the recosntructive capabilities of challenging defects, resulting from the surgical removal of tumour.

A poster competition, giving a photographic overview of surgical procedures, their results and conclusions, invited 24 entries from all over the country, showing case studies of human bites, ankylosis etc. These were evaluated by judges and the results were to be announed at the banquet. An exhibition of surgical equipment and material was also put up by leading dental and pharmaceutical companies.

Meanwhile, Dr Varghese Mani took over the charge of the President of the association from Dr Deepak Kulkarni.

In his silver jubilee lecture on Tumours of the Salivary Gland, Dr J.N. Khanna, Professor of Jaslok Hospital and Research in Mumbai, said tumours of the salivary glands had undergone repeated classifications and change in the nomenclture of these, owing to the improving understanding of the biological behaviour of these tumours, which had affected the management of these lesions. He said the tumours of the salivary gland presented varied amount of lesions, benign and malignant, demanding proper diagnosis in order to establish long-time cure.

All alone with disease and disorder
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — With no voluntary social organisation coming forward in aid of the old woman, suffering from psychiatric problems, the doctors at the General Hospital, Panchkula, have no choice other than to retain the patient on humanitarian grounds.

However, the staff and doctors of this hospital are in a fix due to the woman, who has driven away all the other patients from the general ward, forcing them to spend days and nights in the corridors. She also refuses to vacate the bed in the ward.

Ms Vinay Kumari Aggarwal, a 55-year-old woman, who suffers from ‘chronic delusional disorder’, as an outcome of neuro- chemical problems, is an Auxillary Nurse Midwife (ANM) of the Health Department, presently not on duty . The staff of the hospital say she has been seen wandering hopelessly in the corridors and the wards for the last two years.

A couple of months ago her situation was observed as critical by the doctors, following which she was kept in the general ward. The ailing lady has reportedly no relatives and withers all alone with her pain. “The old woman is not admitted on record with the hospital as, firstly, she does not have an attendant with her, and, secondly, it is not permissible under the Medical Health Act of 1987” said Dr Prabath Sood, who’s treating the patient.

A stage has come wherein she has become a pain in the neck for not only the staff but also for the patients. She has been reportedly violent at times. The unhygienic conditions she spreads in the ward has made it miserable for the other patients.

Reacting impulsively at times, she howls and curses at the doctors and nurses who try administering medicines to her. The corners of the ward stink as they are being used by her to perform the daily routine. Bed-wetting is not an unusual site there. The woman, who got married at the age of 10, has been reportedly deserted by her husband who had married again.

The other patients in the ward find it miserable to be there and hence are forced to spend days and nights in the corridors of the hospital in the cold. She is surviving at the mercy of other patients and staff members for her daily meals as she has no money.

However, the doctors in the hospital do not see her as a culprit, but a victim of circumstances. The Chief Medical Officer of the district, Mr H.C. Nagpal, said that the department had approached most of the old-age homes and destitute centres in the region for adopting the needy woman. However, he said, all of these had refused to accept her on the pretext that she required intensive medical care which they could hardly provide.

The treating doctor explained that she was being engulfed with allied physical ailments, including arthritis due to neuro- chemical disorder. However, he said, her ailment was curable. Sources reveal that she has an elder brother who resides in the township, but has refused to take care of his ailing sister.

SPORT

Amarjit helps LIC enter semis
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A superb performance by Amarjit Kumar who scored unbeaten 72 runs in 58 deliveries, including 12 fours, and got three wickets for 21 runs, helped the Life Insurance Corporation of India team beat the Haryana State Industrial Corporation team by ten wickets today in the Inter-Financial Bank Employees Cricket Tournament being played here at DAV College, Sector 10. Amarjit was also declared the man of the match.

In another match, the Oriental Insurance Company Limited team defeated the Central Bank of India team by 80 runs and along with the LIC team, reached the semi-finals.

Brief scores: HSIDC — 120 runs all out (Narinder 33, Ashwani Sharma 3 for 17, Amarjit Kumar 3 for 21, Gundeep Malhotra 3 for 21); LIC XI — 124 runs for no loss in 20 overs (Amarjit Kumar 72 n.o., Kuldeep Kaul 45 n.o.).

Second match: OIC — 170 runs for seven wickets in 25 overs (Dinesh Gupta 40, Sandeep 35, Sanjay Bhatia 3 for 26, T.S. Sohal 3 for 35); Central Bank — 90 all out (T.S. Sohal 22, R.N. Puri 20, Hemant Puri 2 for 16, Dinesh 2 for 13, Sandeep 2 for 13).

Cricket matches: Youth Cricket Club beat Videocon Cricket Club by two wickets, while ICC XI beat Eagle CC by 94 runs today in the B.S. Duggal Memorial Cricket Tournament being played here at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 27.

Brief scores: Videocon CC — 132 runs all out in 25 overs (Kamalpreet 42, Pankaj 20, Rajan 2 for 33); Youth CC — 133 for eight (Sunil 44, Anil 16, Pawan 4 for 17, Anurag 2 for 17, Rajat 2 for 17).

ICC XI — 213 for six in 25 overs (Inderjit Singh 59, Jatinder 29, Gurinder Gogi 2 for 29); Eagle CC — 119 all out (Gurinder Gogi 26, Satnam 3 for 36, Surinder 2 for 22).

GCC win: Godrej Cricket Club beat Ropar Blues XI by 85 runs in the second Mani Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Power Colony cricket grounds near Ropar today. Vinod Binta made 44 runs and got five wickets for just 14 runs for the GCC. He was helped by Madan Lal who scored 52 runs and took two wickets for 11 runs. Both were involved in a partnership of 72 runs which enabled the GCC reach a total of 174.

In another match of the day, Khalsa Cricket Club beat Evergreen XI by 52 runs.

Brief scores: GCC — 174 for six in 20 overs (Madan Lal 52, Vinod Binta 44, Vaneet Chawla 36, Amit Bhardwaj 28, Omveer 2 for 31, Chandermohan 2 for 34); Ropar Blues XI — 89 all out (Omveer 26, Munish 24, Ajit 16, Vinod Binta 5 for 14, Naresh Dhingra 2 for 16, Madan Lal 2 for 11).

Khalsa CC — 195 for eight in 20 overs (Ravi 57, Lalit 34, Rakesh 2 for 38, Mohan 2 for 41); Evergreen XI — 143 all out (Rajinder 54, Rajiv 36, Anil 3 for 23, Gurdeep 2 for 21).

Shweta, Ripudamanwin chess titles
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — Shweta and Ripudaman emerged champions in girls' and boys' sections, respectively, in the Chandigarh State Chess Championships for under-18 players, concluded here today at Sports Complex, Sector 42.

Jatinder Kaur was runners-up in the girls' section and Rohit in the boys' section. Mr Baij Nath Prasad gave away the prizes.

The results of today's matches and the points at the end of the final round were as follows: Ripudaman (4.5 points) drew with Shweta (3.5 points); Chetan Vikas (3 points) lost to Nitin (4 points); Ranjit Singh (3 points) lost to Rohit (4 points); Anmol Razdan (2 points) lost to Jatinder Kaur (3.5 points); Gaurav Jaswal (2.5 points) drew with Abhimanyu Rawal (2.5 points); Ravi Gupta (2 points) beat Mohit Arora (1.5 points); Nikhil Chopra (1 point) lost to Jasdeep Dhillon (2 points); Simranjeet Kaur (1 point) drew with Hemant Moudgil (0.5 point).

CHANDIGARH CALLING

Chandigarh Marathon on February 6

THE National Adventure Club is all set to introduce and institutionalise a new event — Chandigarh Marathon — from this year. The first edition of the marathon will be held on February 6, the last day of the sixth National Adventure Festival.

The festival, introduced in 1995, features various adventure activities, including mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing, aero sports like sky diving, para sailing, parachuting, para jumping, river rafting, hot air ballooning and other such things.

Though the participants of these festivals, after taking part in the inaugural ceremony, move to other destinations in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the organisers want to stick to Chandigarh as it is a "special city".

Further, says the President of the National Adventure Club, Mr Ram S. Varma, at perhaps no other place are facilities for various adventure sports available at such a close proximity.

The National Adventure Festival, like other major events of the city, including Rose Festival (recently changed to Festival of Gardens), Chandigarh Carnival and Annual Chrysanthemum show, has been more or less institutionalised.

"So will be Chandigarh Marathon," says Mr Varma. Next year, he maintains, the club will get the route ratified and approved by the IAAF, the international body controlling track and field, irrespective of the exorbitant cost of approval.

Some of the major cities have been organising marathons. These include Paris, London, Boston, Pune and New Delhi. Some of the top long distance runners or marathoners are expected to participate in the inaugural edition for which the prize money is also attractive.

New party: Yet another political front, though different from the rest, came into existence last week. A group of people with socialist and progressive leanings, aptitudes, attitudes and backgrounds met under the chairmanship of Mr Rattan Singh Baghi, an old socialist and freedom fighter, and decided to organise a platform under the name of "Rashtriya Asmita Manch".

The main purpose of the manch will be to raise a strong voice for introduction and usage of various Indian languages at all levels in all walks of life by compelling State governments to start using their own state languages in all official activities.

Fighting rampant corruption in public offices is the other main objective of the new manch, which also promises to generate powerful public opinion against the growing menace of terrorism.

Other objectives of manch include an aggressive and pugnacious fight against growing American imperialism besides bringing all old socialists together on one front.

Battle ground: With the term of the SAS Nagar municipal council ending on January 21, and the Local Government Department, Punjab, remaining silent on the issue of holding elections to the council, the post of the President of the council has become a battle ground for the former President, Mr H.S.Billa, and the acting President, Mr Amrik Singh Mohali, with each trying to retain it.

The issue of retaining the seat even for a day has become a prestige issue for Mr Billa, who says that he has been a victim of political vendetta.

Memorable visit: The 38 students from Baramulla and Kupwara districts of Jammu and Kashmir who had visited the city recently during an ''Aman Yatra'' organised by the Army received a unique present from the 140 Air Defence Regiment. Everyone was given a small clock emblazoned with the unit's emblem and motto to remind them of their expedition to the region.

The unit, which had just celebrated its golden jubilee, had arranged for their two-day stay in Chandigarh and had provided all board and lodging facilities, besides taking them to a circus and local army units for familiarisation with the services.

K.L. Saigal: The 53rd death anniversary of immortal K.L. Saigal, popularly known as the "Tansen of 20th century," will be observed on Tuesday (January 18) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Government Museum Auditorium, Sector 10, Chandigarh. An audio cassette of Bengali songs of K.L. Saigal specially produced by the oldest recording company — Hindustan — will be released. Another new attraction at this function will be Bengali children, men and women singing Saigal's songs. Last year the Environment Society of India (ESI) released a packet of two audio-cassettes of devotional songs of K.L. Saigal".

Red letter days: With the UT Administration announcing a number of holidays in the recent past an official of the Education Department remarked: "The time has now come to mark the working days as red letter days instead of holidays, because most certainly working days would slowly become much lesser than the number of holidays!"

School CD-ROM: There is certainly no dearth of "good" schools in the city and even in the satellite towns. So what better time for the schools to compete with each other than at the time of school admissions? More and more schools are coming up with very interesting and innovative methods to attract the parents and their wards.

Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Panchkula, has chosen a novel way of answering all the queries of the parents. The registration forms for classes nursery and KG would be available along with CD-ROMS, which would provide an insight of the school with video clippings, animation, snap shots and voiceovers. In fact, the CD-ROM is definitely worth a "dekho" with even a special feature of a 360 degree panorama view of the school!

Artists' workshop: The Society for Development of Films and Arts (SODEFA) had held an artists' workshop, including 38 eminent and upcoming artists of the region, some months back for the cause of Kargil. This month these paintings were presented to the Western Command, Chandimandir, "for the motivation of the army personnel" and would now be displayed at the Western Command itself.

Wanted: piano: The Alliance Francaise, Sector 36, recently announced a piano concert by the famous French composer-pianoist, Marc Vella, to be held in the month of February. So what's the hitch? Well, right now the search is on for a grand piano, which according to reports is becoming quite difficult to acquire. Well, music lovers (especially those with grand pianos), are you listening?

Tourism quiz: Indian Tourism quiz contests being organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India as part of Explore India, for the millennium year were inaugurated on October 10 by Director-General Tourism and Advisor, Chandigarh Administration. These contests, which have till date been organised in Northern India will now be on Monday, January 17 move to the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh before coming back to Delhi for the semi-finals and finals. A team of five members will be leaving Chandigarh on January 17 with a Fiat Siena as the official car. In all more than 75,000 students will witness the tourism quiz contests in different colleges and universities and will be proud of India's cultural heritage.

According to Dr Gulshan Sharma, Director of Institute of Tourism and Future Management Trends (ITFT), which is the professional institute for organising these contests, the idea behind these contests is to rejuvenate the younger generation in the new millennium with the values and ethos of Indian philosophy and cultural heritage.

Chandigarh once again holds the flag of initiative in promotion of tourism in India.