Factors affecting puberty gingivitis in Polish girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Objectives: Age at menarche and hormonal disturbances have been linked to the occurrence and severity of adolescentidiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Concomitantly, an increase in the production of sex hormones during puberty may result in steroidhormones-related gingivitis. Thus, the study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors affecting puberty gingivitis,including menarcheal status, in female patients with AIS and control subjects.Material and methods: The study group was comprised of 59 girls aged 12–16 years with AIS and 50 healthy controls. Dentalexamination included the assessment of oral hygiene, gingivitis, and dental caries intensity. Data were statistically analyzedwith a significance taken as p < 0.05.Results: There wasn’t any statistically significant difference in the age at menarche and menarcheal status of both groups. Duringregression analysis, three predictors significantly affected gingival status of girls: oral hygiene, orthopedic condition,and laterality of the curve. Scoliosis and left convex of the curve significantly increased the index of gingival inflammation.Conclusions: The results indicate that gingivitis is frequent among female adolescents with AIS, due to poor oral hygieneand higher susceptibility to inflammation. It emphasizes a need for a development of preventive strategy for scoliotic patients,since incipient periodontal problems in children may turn into irreversible advanced periodontal diseases in adults

Child sexual abuse as an etiological factor of overweight and eating disorders — considerations for primary health care providers

Despite the recognition of the clinical importance of child sexual abuse, primary health care providers are often not ad­equately prepared to perform medical evaluations and diagnose child sexual maltreatment. Paper presents basic symptoms and signs of CSA, which may suggest the need for further patient’s diagnosis and referral. Since the great majority of sexually abused children do not have any abnormal physical findings, special attention is paid to the silent warning signs of CSA, such as changes in attitude towards own body and eating habits. Numerous studies suggest that victims of CSA may develop obesity or eating disorders of various forms and intensities

Application of auxological methods, including dental age estimation, in the assessment of delayed puberty in girls in gynecological practice

Developmental gynecology uses methods practiced in auxology — the science of human ontogenetic development. An important and jointly used concept in gynecology and auxology is the concept of developmental age, which, unlike calendar age, is a measure of the biological maturity of the organism, indicating the stage of advancement in the development of certain features or body systems. Developmental age assessment methods include: a) morphological (somatic) age — body height and weight, b) secondary sex characteristics — breast in girls, genitalia (penis and testes) in boys, and pubic hair in both sexes, c) bone age — hand and wrist x-ray, and d) dental age. An important marker of developmental age is also age at menarche, treated as a late indicator of puberty in girls. All of these methods are useful in the context of assessing regularity and disorders of puberty, such as delayed puberty. The paper discusses developmental age assessment methods that can be used to diagnose delayed puberty as well as the causes of delayed puberty in girls. It should be emphasized that in assessing the process of physical development of a given individual, the cooperation of specialists in the field of developmental gynecology, pediatrics, auxology, dentistry, endocrinology, and dietetics would be the most desirable

Properties and customization of sensor materials for biomedical applications.

Low-power chemo- and biosensing devices capable of monitoring clinically important parameters in real time represent a great challenge in the analytical field as the issue of sensor calibration pertaining to keeping the response within an accurate calibration domain is particularly significant (1–4). Diagnostics, personal health, and related costs will also benefit from the introduction of sensors technology (5–7). In addition, with the introduction of Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) regulation, unraveling the cause–effect relationships in epidemiology studies will be of outmost importance to help establish reliable environmental policies aimed at protecting the health of individuals and communities (8–10). For instance, the effect of low concentration of toxic elements is seldom investigated as physicians do not have means to access the data (11)

The effects of conductivity and pH of saliva on electrochemical potentials of metallic dental materials

The paper presents results of the study on electrochemical potentials of metallic dental materials. Seven alloys, amalgam and chromium-nickel steel were examined as well as the effect of the solution conductivity ranging from 12.5 μS/cm to 2.01 mS/cm and solution pH within the range of 5.5 to 11.2 on electrochemical potentials of the materials. Amalgam presented with the lowest changes of the standard potential due to changing conductivity and pH of the solution within experiment conditions. Moreover, increase of pH value caused decrease of electrochemical potential of all examined materials, apart from amalgam. It was proved that electromotive force of galvanic cells formed by some of the examined materials and amalgam are often higher than 200 mV. Statistica software was used for mathematical analysis of the results

Electrochemical properties of metallic dental biomaterials

W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań potencjałów elektrochemicznych metalicznych materiałów stomatologicznych. Zbadano potencjały sześciu stopów, amalgamatu i stali chromowo-niklowej oraz wpływ na wartości potencjałów tych materiałów konduktywności roztworu w zakresie od 12,5 μS/cm do 2,01 mS/m i pH w zakresie od 5,5 do 11,2. Z przebadanych materiałów najmniejszą zmianę potencjału elektrochemicznego, spowodowaną zmianą konduktywności oraz pH roztworu w zakresie eksperymentu, miał amalgamat. Ponadto wzrost wartości pH roztworu powodował zmniejszenie potencjału elektrochemicznego wszystkich przebadanych materiałów, z wyjątkiem amalgamatu. Stwierdzono, że wartości sił elektromotorycznych ogniw elektrochemicznych, utworzonych przez niektóre z przebadanych materiałów i amalgamat są często większe od 200 mV. Do opracowania matematycznego wyników badań wykorzystano program komputerowy Statistica [11].The paper presents results of the study on standard potentials of metallic dental materials. Six alloys, amalgam and chromium-nickel steel were examined as well as the effect of the solution conductivity ranging from 12,5 μS/cm to 2,01 mS/m and solution pH within the range of 5,5 to 11,2 on standard potentials. Amalgam presented with the lowest changes of the standard potential due to changing conductivity and pH of the solution within experiment conditions. Moreover, increase of pH value caused decrease of standard potential of all examined materials, apart from amalgam. It was proved that electromotive force of galvanic cells formed by some of the examined materials and amalgam are often higher than 200 mV. Statistica software was used for mathematical analysis of the results

Review and comparison of electro-insulation properties of vacuum and sulphur hexafluoride

The paper specifies the results of the tests on electric strength of vacuum, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and the insulation mineral oil under alternate voltage. The tests have been carried out for planar electrodes made of stainless steel or aluminum. It was found that 10-3 Pa vacuum, 3 105 Pa SF6, and insulation mineral oil situated with equal inter-electrode gap equal to several millimeters, have approximately equal electric strength. The degrees of influence of basic parameters of the insulation system on electric strength of SF6 and vacuum are presented. Advantages and faults of vacuum, SF6, and insulation mineral oil are mentioned, taking into account possible use of these media as a high-voltage insulation in various electric equipment. Mathematical processing of the test results was carried out with the use of the Statistica software [5]

Sulphur hexafluoride as a high-voltage insulation - selected problems

The paper presents some selected properties of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) a medium used for high-voltage insulation and electric arc suppression purposes. The results are presented of the studies aimed at determining the effect of the electrode material type, temperature, gas density and interelectrode gap on the SF6 electric strength. The considered systems had both flat electrodes or one flat and the other (cathode) having the form of a rod of 3 mm or 30 mm diameter, ended with a hemisphere. The electrodes have been made of stainless steel or aluminum. The results were mathematically processed with the use of the Statistica [11] computer software. It was found that SF6 temperature changes in the range from 243 K to 293 K with constant SF6 density did not cause variation of electric strength of the gas. Moreover, the effect of the electrode material type on electric strength of SF6 was observed only in the systems distinguished by macroscopic uniformity of the electric field and in case of the gas density exceeding 15 kg/m3, corresponding to SF6 pressure amounting about to 2.5-105 Pa in the temperature 293 K. Physical interpretation of the study results is proposed and formulated. Additionally, the paper discusses the hazards arising from the use of SF6 for the health of the persons operating the equipment and for the environment