New Technique against Periodontal Disease

Dentistry is the art and science of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical conditions. Periodontal disease, also called as gum disease, is caused when bacteria in plaque develops between the gums and teeth. Research has shown that gum disease may be related with other diseases, for example diabetes and heart disease.

The first sign of gum disease is blood on your toothbrush or in the toothpaste you spit out after cleaning your teeth.  Your gums may also bleed when you are eating, leaving awful taste in your mouth. Your breath may become unpleasant also.

In an exciting new study, scientists have been able to combine biological and mechanical techniques to repair and regenerate bone and gum tissue. Long-standing gum disease sometime turns into periodontal disease, affecting the tissues supporting the teeth.

To treat the condition, researchers surgically implanted a thin, film-like membrane between the inflamed gum and tooth. This membrane obstructs the infection from the gums and conveys antibiotics, medication and development components to the gum tissue.

Despite the fact that researchers have developed biodegradable membranes, these materials don't tend to work as well for redeveloping periodontal tissue.

The scientists made nano-fibrous membranes of poly (ε-caprolactone), which is a biocompatible polymer already approved for medical applications. As part of the study, researchers created a membrane which was coated with a special material that has been found to speed up bone regeneration.  They then tested this against human stem cells from the gums which had been exposed to erosion for eight weeks. 

At the point when the researchers embedded the membranes into the gums of rats with periodontal defects, then bone at the defect sites regenerated to normal levels within two months.

Session on: Pediatric Denistry

What Triple ‘P’ in Pediatrics? #

In monitoring and prediction of children's growth, the spurt in puberty is often considered too variable to be predictable. Puberty begins when the body starts producing extra amounts of hormones which leads to physical and emotional changes.

Changes include breast development, pubic hair growth, a growth spurt, and finally the start of menstrual periods in girls.

Types of Puberty Problems in Pediatrics :

• Delayed puberty means puberty hasn’t started by the age of 13
• Precocious puberty include when puberty begins too early i. e. before age 7 or 8 in girls
• Contra sexual pubertal development which means development of male characteristics in females
• Premature thelarche suggests breast development without any other signs of puberty
• Premature adrenarche include appearance of pubic hair without any other signs of puberty

Why it Happen ?

The causes may include:

• Heredity
• Hormonal disorders (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Genetic disorders
• Problems in the pituitary or thyroid glands which produce the hormones for growth and development
• Chromosome disorders which affect normal growth processes
• Eating disorders
• Chemotherapy
• Other underlying medical condition or injury

New Knowledge :

New findings and methods are now enabling to give a better picture of how children and adolescents grow, especially during puberty.

Growth reflects health and can be a diagnostic indicator which is capable of revealing both diseases and psychosocial problems.

Body Mass Index (BMI) in childhood can be linked to height gain. A high BMI early in life was observed with a greater proportion of height gain before puberty. The smallest pubertal spurt was in gathering of children with the highest BMI in childhood. These findings help to make pubertal growth more clearly predictable.

Treatment:

• Treatment depends on symptoms and the cause of the problems.
• Observation and regular check-ups
• Hormone therapy
• Surgery – for anatomical corrections
• Start counselling to help children and their families to deal with the emotional and social challenges

How to measure nicotine exposure in children?

Young children are addicted to the effects of tobacco smoke and other environmental toxicants are a major public health problem. Exposures to abstract electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), nicotine, and tobacco products among young children are increasing day by day. Approximately more than 2,500 teenagers start smoking every day and one-third of them will die prematurely of a smoking related disease.

Nicotine, found in e-cigarette vapours and tobacco products, is very addictive and increases a person’s risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. About 90% of all adult smokers started these habits when they were kids. To look cool, act older, lose weight, seem tough, or feel independent generally kids get attracted to these habits.

Risks:

·         Tobacco cigarettes are the leading cause of preventable deaths and can cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease.

·         E-cigarettes, vape pens, and hookahs (water pipes), are now become popular in recent years, are filled with tobacco, nicotine, and other harmful chemicals.

·         Chewing tobacco can lead to nicotine addiction, oral cancer, gum disease, and most important is it increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks.

How to measure:

A group of researchers has observed and found silicone wristbands to be a compelling method to measure children's exposure to second hand smoke. The wristbands, which made of silicone and resemble the kind bearing motivational messages, were placed on three groups of kids isolated by exposure type.

•        Children exposed only to smokers
•        Children exposed to non-smokers and non-e-cigarette users
•        Children exposed only to e-cigarette users

After the seven days of research, the tests revealed that silicone wristbands may turn into a valuable device for epidemiology and intervention studies of tobacco product exposure in children and adults in the future.

Role of Parents:

Parents are always role models for kids. If you smoke, quit it. If you can’t, do not smoke in front of your children. Nicotine is addictive so, provide educational materials and help your child identify personally relevant reasons to quit.

Are you wondering on your child’s reading issues?

Sometimes kids have trouble in accurate reading and fluency. Dyslexia is a disorder characterized by trouble with reading comprehension, spelling and writing. Raising a child with dyslexia is a journey.

Causes of Dyslexia:

It's a condition by born, and it often hereditary. People with dyslexia are not stupid or lazy. Most of them have average or above-average intelligence, but they work very hard to overcome their learning problems. Research has shown that dyslexia happens how the brain processes the information.

Symptoms in Children:

•          Delayed in speech development compared with other children of the same age
•          Pronunciation problem like long words properly and "jumbling" up phrases
•          Little understanding or appreciation of rhyming words
•          Visual disturbances when reading
•          Slow writing speed and poor handwriting
•          Difficulties with numbers

Other Issues associated with Dyslexia:

•  ADHD can make it difficult for affected persons to stay focused during reading and other activities. 
• Auditory processing disorder (APD) affects a child’s ability to sort through the sounds they hear.
• Dysgraphia can affect a child’s ability to spell and to form letters and numbers correctly.

Can it be diagnosed?

The only way to know for sure if your child has dyslexia is to evaluate him either at school or privately. There a few types of professionals working for kid’s dyslexia which include school psychologists, clinical psychologists and pediatric neuropsychologists.

Treatment and Research:

New research suggests that, the brain can be trained to avoid dyslexia. Since many years, many neuro-scientific studies suggest that the auditory regions of the brain synchronize with external auditory stimuli. So, the brain is naturally able to adjust the frequency of its brain waves with the oscillations or the rhythm of what it listens at each moment.

There's no known way to correct the underlying brain abnormality as dyslexia is a lifelong problem. However, early detection and evaluation can determine specific needs and appropriate treatment for success.

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