Dental Care: How Safe are X-rays of the Teeth?

A test involving X-rays of the teeth and mouth. X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation (like light) that are of higher energy, however, and can penetrate the body to form an image on film. Structures that are dense (such as teeth) will appear white, air will be black, and other structures (including the bone and dentin) will be shades of gray.

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Dental Care: Nutrition for Good Dental Care

Nutrition means intake, absorption, storage and utilization of the food by the tissues. An adequate food taken does not ensure adequate nutrition. In oral-cavity if you have gum trouble, toothache and ulcer in the mouth, this will limit the intake of food. Of course if you have loss of appetite due to illness or medical problems then this will also restrict ingestion of food. There is more than nutrition alone, the total caloric intake must be composed of certain proportion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. There are 8 amino acids and a few unsaturated fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by the body. So they must be present in food to be gulped.

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Dental Care: Dental Treatment of Geriatric (Old) Patients and HIV Patients

Dental Treatment of Geriatric (Old) Patients

Aging is the process by which a person grows old, irrespective of the tune required. It includes the complex interactions of biologic, psychologic and sociologic processes over time. The historically accepted chronologic landmark of old age is 65 years. The geriatric literature refers to the following categories, functionally dependent elderly (with illness or impairment), frail and institutionalized elderly, young old—65 to 70 years of age (healthy and vigorous), Old—75 to 85 years of age and old—85 years of age and above.

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Dental Care: Myths and Legends in Dentistry

Curious Beliefs

It is strange how the teeth seem to figure in myths and legends throughout history. They occupy some deep area of anxiety in our subconscious as well as causing many of us concern in our working hours. People often have dreams in which the loss or damage of teeth occurs.There seems to be a profound fear of tooth loss which, in more primitive times, arose from the difficulty in masticating food without teeth. In modern times the fear is probably more a cosmetic one.

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Eye Care: Parts and Functions of the Eyes

1. Retinal blood vessel,
2. Choroid: Blood vessels within this layer supply the eye with essential nutrients,
3. Retina: This innermost layer of the eyeball contains nerve fibers and light-sensitive cells,
4. Optic disk : This area, where the optic nerve leaves the eye, lacks light-sensitive cells and is also known as the ‘blind spot’,
5. Optic nerve: Nerve impulses travel along the optic nerve from the retina to the brain,
6. Eye muscle: Six muscles surround the eye, allowing it to rotate in any direction,
7. Fovea: The fovea, at the centre of the macula, is packed with light- sensitive cells and is the most sensitive part of the retina,
8. Vitreous humour: The back part of the eye is filled with a jelly-like substance called vitreous humour,
9. Lens : The elastic lens can change shape to focus light rays from both near and distant object, 10. Sclera : The tough sclera is the white of the eye, forming the outer coat of the eyeball,
11. Conjuctiva: This thin, transparent membrane covers the white of the eye andforms the lining of the eyelids,
12. Aqueous humour: This watery fluid, produced by the ciliary body, fills front chamber of the eye, which is between the lens and the cornea,
13. Cornea: This transparent cornea at the front of the eye plays an important role in focusing light rays,
14. Pupil: Light enters the back part of the eye through the pupil, the opening in the centre of the coloured iris,
15. Iris: The coloured iris of the eye contains muscles that control the size of the pupil,
16. Suspensory ligament: The fibers of the suspensory ligament attach the lens to the ciliary body,
17. Ciliary body: The ciliary body controls lens thickness to focus light correctly; it also secretes aqueous humour,
18. Skull bone: The bony orbit of the skull protects the eyeball.

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Eye Care: Harmful Factors Affecting the Eyes

Main causes, that impair eye-sight, can be summed up as follows:

EXPOSURE TO STRONG AND GLARING LIGHTS

Persons working in factories, blast furnaces, chemical units, mines, pesticides and insecticides, drug manufacturing units, glass factories, steel plants, using electrodes with bare eyes are some of the places where eye sight is liable to be impaired due to lack of proper protection and preventive measures. There is a high rate of eye diseases caused to such workers who work in the above mentioned industrial units.

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