Browsing by Subject "Dentistry"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Dental modification practices on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape
    (2003) Friedling, Louise J; Morris, Alan G
    The people living on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape have been practicing dental modification for a number of years. A systematic survey of eight adjoining areas in the Northern suburbs was done to investigate the prevalence, motivation and possible historical time depth of this practice. The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire. A total of 2167 individuals participated in this study of which 41 % had modified their teeth. More males (44.8%) than females (37.9%) were involved in this practice. Residential area and pay class had an impact on dental modification practices as the incidence increased within lower income areas. Six styles of modification were identified, of these; the removal of the upper four incisors (style 400) was often the style of choice (93. 7%). There were four stated reasons (peer pressure, fashion, gangsterism and medical/other) for dental modification of which peer pressure (in males) and fashion (in females) were the most popular. Dentists did most of the extractions. Three quarters of the entire study sample had family members with dental modifications. More than half (69.8%) of individuals with modifications wore dentures. Not only coloured people were modifying their teeth, some study subjects who had self-classified themselves as black or white also practiced it.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Phytodentistry in Africa: prospects for head and neck cancers
    (2021-02-05) Adeola, Henry A; Sabiu, Saheed; Aruleba, Raphael T; Adekiya, Tayo A; Adefuye, Anthonio O; Adefuye, Ogheneochuko J; Oyinloye, Babatunji E
    Background Orthodox dentistry has undergone significant changes in recent times with the introduction of various omics and molecular targeted therapies both at the experimental/trial and clinical implementation level. Although, significant milestones have been achieved in the molecular dentistry field in the past decade, there remains a dearth of application of phytopharmacological innovation in personalized and targeted therapies for dental diseases. Main body From time immemorial, plant products have long been an integral aspect of dental practice ranging from chewing sticks/herbal kinds of toothpaste to dental/impression materials. The current era of precision medicine seeks to apply a multipronged molecular and bio-computational approaches to solve fundamental medical problems that have hitherto remained difficult. Remarkable changes in the molecular/omics era, have transformed empirical therapies into personalized/individualized ones. Furthermore, the combinatorial application and the widespread introduction of high-throughput molecular tools such as pharmacogenomics, phytopharmacology, metabolomics, mathematical modelling, and genetic engineering inter alia, has tremendously improved the diagnostic and therapeutic landscape of medicine. Additionally, the variable molecular epidemiology of diseases among different population and emerging molecular evidence warrants the use of customized novel theranostic techniques. Unfortunately, the footprint of such emerging application is sparse in dental diseases such as maxillofacial cancers. Conclusion Hence, this review seeks to evaluate the potential application of phytopharmacological approaches to head and neck cancers in a resource-limited environment, such as Africa.