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Obesity has reached pandemic proportions in recent years. Not only adults suffer from the disease, but increasingly children and young people. One of the main causes of overweight and obesity is excessive food intake, in particular heavily processed carbohydrates. Obesity alters multiple organs, including the salivary glands, bringing functional alterations with it. Among researchers, the relation between obesity and tooth decay, periodontal disease and xerostomia is being debated. More and more scientific reports are drawing attention to the changes in the microflora of the oral cavity during obesity. All changes are closely related to the morphological and functional alterations of the salivary glands. This article review presents the current points of view regarding the impact of obesity on the health of the salivary glands, and how changes their functions influence other structures in the oral cavity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that has become a risk factor for the development of respiratory problems, meaning it is necessary to generate models that assess lung function in obese patients for proper treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate a model for analyzing respiratory function according to body composition, by analyzing the structure and function of the airways by computed tomography (CT). Lung function and body fat percentage (BF%) were measured in three male subjects (25 ± 6 years), with different body mass index (BMI; normal, overweight, obese). A third-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the airways was performed using CT. Trachea, right and left main bronchi and anterior segmental bronchus of the right and left lung were measured. Three measurement points were established for each structure, and the average value of these three points was used for the analysis. An increase in the thickness of the airways wall of the left and right main bronchi and right segmental bronchus was observed as BMI and BF% increased. The same was observed for the percentage of airway wall area (%AWA) and airway resistance in the main and segmental bronchi. The proposed 3D reconstruction model and the three-point analysis simplified image assessment and allowed to observe the problems caused by obesity in lung function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) through imaging, is useful for the analysis of intra-articular procedures in view of its complex anatomy. Precise knowledge of the depth at which the TMJ is located is required to achieve an ideal puncture technique. The aim of this study was to measure the depth of the TMJ through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). A cross-sectional study was conducted, selecting 150 MRI of patients who attended the Polyclinic for TMD and Orofacial Pain. The variables analyzed were: 1) Depth of the right and left TMJ; 2) Age of the patients; and 3) Sex of the patients. Of the total MR, 114 corresponded to women with a median age of 23 years. The median depth of the right TMJ was 17.16 mm and median on the left side was 16.98 mm, there was no statistically significant difference (p> 0.05) but there was a strong correlation (r = 0.842 ). There were no differences between the depths and the sex of the patients in both the right and left TMJ. There was no correlation between age and depth of TMJ. In conclusion the depth of the right and left condyle are highly correlated, being approximately 17 mm according to the population studied. There is no association between patient age and condylar depth, and there are no differences in average according to sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastination is an anatomical technique of cadaveric preservation that allows the preservation of anatomical pieces indefinitely, in dry and odorless form. It was created in 1978 by Gunther von Hagens, in Heidelberg, Germany. In particular, the sheet plastination technique, with epoxy resin, allows the generation of thin sections of various anatomical regions, allowing an accurate visualization of anatomical structures of difficult access through dissection or cadaveric exploration. The aim of this work was to present a new sheet plastination protocol with Biodur® E12/E1, which is faster in its implementation, applied, for the first time, in a rabbit head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]