August 29, 2008

Hanging in the air... Explained!


This is a radiograph (an Orthopantomograph..OPG) of a 42 year old female patient suffering from Chronic Suppurative Periodontitis.


The disease starts with deposition of plaque on the teeth. The plaque is basically a bacterial film which gets deposited due to improper oral hygiene. With the addition of salivary chemicals, chemicals and salts in the food the plaque starts becoming rigid and forms whitish yellow chalk like deposits on the teeth called calculus. This cannot be removed by brushing and one has to visit the dentist to get rid of this.

Alongside, the gums also become infected with the bacteria in the plaque causing Gingivitis. This may lead to swelling and bleeding of the gums. If uncared for, the bacteria present in the calculus and the ones causing gingivitis entrench themselves deep. Underneath the gums is the alveolar bone which supports the teeth by physically enclosing the roots which is attached to the bone by the specialised periodontal fibres. Once the infection reaches these fibres, the case is termed Periodontitis. If left uncontrolled, the infection spreads to the supporting bone and starts degrading the same. As the bone starts receding, the tooth it supports starts getting mobile and paining and the infection starts emaning pus. It reaches a point where there is hardly any bone support left for the tooth. (See the second and third teeth on the left in the lower jaw. They are devoid of any bone support and are just hanging in there attaced to the gums. It would not take me more than a couple of seconds to pull it out without even using a single instrument!

That is all what I meant by 'Hanging in the air' !

Now for the mysterious 'dog bone' on the x-ray that you all were so curious about. Well, I will not reveal that. Instead would request you to read the first line of this post again and then start making intelligent guesses !!

23 comments:

Vinz said...

Interesting information...!!
I was wondering what the last post was all about..!!

Sriram said...

ah... nose ring?

Mysterious Mia said...

your have a dedication for ya at http://bloggersambrosia.blogspot.com/2008/08/feeling-horny.html
come check it out n make yur dedications. cheers!!

Ankur said...

bhai sahab... aap dentist ho kya???
mere datton ki fotu bhejne se ilaz bataoge... !! :D

Ankur said...

bhai sahab... aap dentist ho kya???
mere datton ki fotu bhejne se ilaz bataoge... !! :D

rantravereflect/ jane said...

that doesn't look like a dog bone.. it looks like a screw in her gums!

well, was that SCREW there a result of extremely hard-on ORAL sex? God, she got SCREWed!

Anonymous said...

Digression from the current post.
Your blog is named Chai Biskut! Now i know why you suggested on the experimenting :) :D

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Vinz

Good to see u liked this :)

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Sriram

No Confusion, Great Combination !

Solitaire said...

Oh god. So scary.

You know..you should also advise people on how to prevent this. I do not know of one single person in India (except my family) who uses dental floss!!

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Ankur

Your guess is spot on.. fotu aur xray ke saath ek blank cheque bhi bhej do.. consultation ho jaayega!

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Jane

Oui ma.. if it was indeed a result of a screw, then there must have been some nosey parker behind the same !!!

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Swati

Yep.. good guess.. also do logon to Ambrosia for stuff! U will find the link towards the top of the right sidebar.

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Sol

I guess plain proper brushing is more than enough for a person with normal teeth. Unless the arrangement of ur teeth is zigzag, u really dont need floss in most cases.. clean/gargle as soon as u eat is the mantra everyone shud follow.

RiĆ  said...

Still scares me!!and i m still wondering wht is tht??is something stuck up there!?

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Ria

Do chk out Sriram's comment above and my reply to him. And then decode!

Pavi!!!! said...

omgggggg ! ur a dentist???

Vrijilesh Rai said...

@ Pavi

Koi shaq?

Anonymous said...

interesting!

but kinda grossed me out!

Mysterious Mia said...

omg..this was gross....

Keshi said...

Floss ur teeth as well as ur hearts ppl! :)

Keshi.

Solitaire said...

@ Vrij,

Okie...maybe that is enough but people should at least do that much na??


BTW, you are tagged with the hard tag on WARM FUZZIES!

Dentistry in Doha said...

hey!! jus came thru ur blog n saw this post!!

jus wondering was this persons oral hygiene so grossly terribly that it had to reach this heightened state?or was it a patient with other physical difficulties? n jus curious(dono if its rite askin here!) ...wht was ur treatment plan for the patient? :D not tht i have reached anywhr wid dentistry yet, but just curious to know :)

star gazer! :D