If one were to rank the various kinds of tortures available to mankind, a visit to the dentist would surely rank as one of the topmost. Movies, books and even anecdotes are replete with the agony caused by the drilling machine, accidental hits on an exposed nerve and of course the painless but tortuous vibrations of the drill.While technology is constantly trying to improve conditions at a dental clinic, Dr Vishwas Chaugule, pedodonitist, has brought a technique that helps relieve the agony. Says Chaugule, ``A child visiting a dentist basically has two types of fear. One is objective, that is, he actually experiences pain and is thus scared. The other, is the subjective fear which is most common. Children hear adults or friends talk of how painful a visit to the dental clinic can be, without experiencing anything, the child is afraid.''Up till now, this fear was dealt with by explaining the difference between pain and the sensation of drilling. But now with the nitrous oxide and oxygen therapy, patients can hope to have their teeth drilled without any discomfort.Says Chaugule, who learnt this technique of conscious sedation at the School of dentistry, Pacific University, California, ``The patient is made to inhale this gas and with that his threshold of pain increases tremendously. He in fact begins to feel euphoric, as a result we can do extensive work without any interruption.''But does the inhalation of this gas cause any problems especially in children? Chaugule explains,``No way. This technique has been approved by the Posso Willo Commission in the U.K. Because it is inhaled, there are no side-effects as it does not enter the blood stream at all. Besides the machine that administers the gas is so safe that it will stop operating if the nitrous oxide level increases more than 20 percent.'' Seems like God's answer to the drilling machine does it not?Radical measuresTill now you thought that cancer was caused by carcinogens, like tobacco, that diabetes was caused by faulty pancrea. You could not be more wrong. For recent research now, has a new bete noir - Free radicals. According to the latest investigation on our bodies, it is this free radical that is responsible for almost every disease that afflicts mankind. So, what is a free radical?When you relish the last morsel of your favourite dish, savour the last sip of your Peach Schnapps, the experience is truly good. For you, what you eat, drink and inhale ends with its sensory perceptions. But when all this enters your body, it is a different story altogether. Every single cell in our bodies reacts to what is put in.While metabolism takes care of our energy needs, cell replacement and so on, they also continually produce a by-product, the free radicals. Also cigarette smoke, environmental pollution, and constant emotional stress generate large amounts of free radicals in our body. And it is this free radical, says Dr. P M Bulakh, deputy dean and head, Department of Biochemistry at the BJ Medical college, ``that is responsible for almost every illness and disease that afflicts mankind.''Right from cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac diseases, skin disorders, ageing and so on.How can a single by-product of our metabolism be responsible for so much? Says Bulakh, ``Free radicals are continually produced in our bodies. These have the ability to react with other molecules like protein and so on, to cause cell death and tissue damage. Since this is how free radicals work all over in our bodies, they could cause tissue damage to any part.''Though free radicals are produced quite naturally, the good news is that Nature has also provided us with a defense mechanism to counter its ill effects - antioxidants contained in vitamin C, E, betacarotene and some trace elements like selenium. According to Bulakh, ``Even problem causing substances like bilirubin that causes jaundice, uric acid, creatinin (which is responsible for kidney diseases) have antioxidant properties.'' So now even being down with jaundice has a plus point!Though the drug stores are choc-a-bloc with antioxidants, the pills that help neutralise free radicals, there's nothing like Mother Nature. Says Bulakh ``Tomatoes, carrots, green leafy vegetables, almonds and food containing vitamins C and E are a good source of antioxidants.''Says, Dr Kalyan Gangwal, consulting physician, ``Taking pills without supervision can lead to problems. Since vitamin E is fat soluble, it gets stored in the body and can cause problems. In fact our spices like turmeric, garlic, cloves, cardamom and so on are great storehouses of antioxidants.''Seems like antioxidants are the key to long life and good health.
