{"id":59,"date":"2008-01-25T19:18:48","date_gmt":"2008-01-25T19:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doctorross.co.za\/2008\/01\/25\/cutting-my-teeth\/"},"modified":"2008-01-27T00:31:41","modified_gmt":"2008-01-27T00:31:41","slug":"cutting-my-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/?p=59","title":{"rendered":"Cutting my teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"

So there I am, rushing down the passage in the base to sort out the latest niggle, when one of the support crew stops me and asks for superglue.\u00c2\u00a0 “For what?” I enquire.\u00c2\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span>“This broke,” sooth he, “when I stepped on it.”<\/o:p><\/span>I examine the proffered dentures, wondering idly how they travelled from oral cavity to pedal plantar position.\u00c2\u00a0 They are badly broken, with all the front teeth separated from the plate, and a section of the moulding broken loose.\u00c2\u00a0 However, the metal retainer is still intact and appears unscathed.\u00c2\u00a0 I give him the summary:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

“The bad news is that superglue won’t hold that for long,” says I, “but the good news is that I have a secret weapon… the\u00c2\u00a0Van Rensburg\u00c2\u00a0factor!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Give them to\u00c2\u00a0me for a day, and I’ll see what I can do”<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/o:p><\/span>Left with the traumatised teeth, I muse on the likelihood that there is anyone with training to repair damaged dentures within a few thousand chemicals.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, thanks to the foresight of one Dr Charles van Rensburg, that person is… well, me.\u00c2\u00a0 Dr Van Rensburg is the head of the dental unit at the Institute<\/st1:placetype> of Maritime Medicine<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> in Simonstown – the home of the SA Navy.\u00c2\u00a0 He was my mentor through my rapid dental training prior to the expedition, and while brainstorming one day about problems I might encounter he suggested I learn to repair dentures.\u00c2\u00a0 This I did, using a demo plate that he broke twice.\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, the dear gentleman even provided me with extra materials to bring to SANAE IV.<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Once in\u00c2\u00a0the clinic I was met with\u00c2\u00a0a setback – the acrylic used for manufacture and repair comes in powder form, and is mixed with a catalyst.\u00c2\u00a0 However, in transit from South Africa<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> the catalyst had gradually dissolved it’s bottle.\u00c2\u00a0 Thwarted, I thought.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet again, the\u00c2\u00a0Van Rensburg\u00c2\u00a0factor saved the day.\u00c2\u00a0 A quick call to the good doctor’s cell phone in SA\u00c2\u00a0found him enjoying a\u00c2\u00a0Friday afternoon lunch by the seaside.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0After chatting for a while, he explained that\u00c2\u00a0normal cyanoacrylate superglue could fulfil the role of the catalyst when mixed with the\u00c2\u00a0powder.\u00c2\u00a0 I quickly returned to the\u00c2\u00a0hospital and set to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span>Repairing dentures is particularly pleasant work, much like building a model.\u00c2\u00a0 The first step is to get the pieces in position and then fix them temporarily with\u00c2\u00a0fast-setting droplets of wax.\u00c2\u00a0 Once that is done, special\u00c2\u00a0rubber putty is used to create a mould to hold the pieces in position.\u00c2\u00a0 The wax is then removed, and the old broken edges drilled away until there is a large surface area\u00c2\u00a0to ensure adhesion.\u00c2\u00a0 With the pieces in the mould, the new acrylic (pink with tiny fibres to mimic normal tissue) is poured in and allowed to set hard.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Next, a large drill head (on a dental drill, not your new Bosch) is used to work the new acrylic down to\u00c2\u00a0it’s original size and shape.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, the acrylic must be polished to smooth perfection with a different set of drill\u00c2\u00a0heads.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span>The work completed, I\u00c2\u00a0fitted the dentures to the patient.\u00c2\u00a0 After a few minor adjustments, the only feedback I needed was a big smile.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/a><\/o:p><\/span> <\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Polishing<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So there I am, rushing down the passage in the base to sort out the latest niggle, when one of the support crew stops me and asks for superglue.\u00c2\u00a0 “For what?” I enquire.\u00c2\u00a0“This broke,” sooth he, “when I stepped on it.”I examine the proffered dentures, wondering idly how they travelled from oral cavity to pedal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antarctic-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorross.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}