Histology and histochemistry of the parotid and the principal and accessory submandibular glands of the little brown bat.

The parotid and the principal and accessory submandibular glands of the little brown bat. Myotis lucifugus (Vespertilionidae), were examined using light microscopy and staining methods for mucosubstances. The parotid gland is a compound tubuloacinar seromucous gland. Parotid gland secretory cells contain both neutral and nonsulfated acidic mucosubstances. The principal and accessory submandibular glands are compound tubuloacinar mucus-secreting glands. They contain somewhat atypical mucus-secreting demilunar cells that often appear to be interspersed between mucous tubule cells. The mucous tubule cells in both the principal and accessory submandibular glands contain sulfonmucins. Demilunar cells of the principal submandibular gland contain moderate amounts of nonsulfated acidic mucosubstances, but the corresponding cells of the accessory submandibular gland contain considerable neutral mucosubstance with very little acid mucosubstance. Intercalated ducts composed of cuboidal or low columnar epithelial cells are present in all three glands. Striated ducts in all glands are composed of columnar cells whose apices bulge into the ductal lumina. Excretory ducts are composed of simple columnar epithelium, with occasional basal cells that suggest a possible pseudostratified nature. The cells of the excretory ducts also have bulging apices. All duct types contain apical cytoplasmic secretory material that is a periodic acid-Schiff positive, neutral mucosubstance. Ductal apical secretory material is more evident in intercalated and striated ducts than in excretory ducts.

Understanding "alternative" dental products.

Alternative, complementary, integrative, and holistic health care are matters of public interest and include oral and dental care products. There are a variety of dental products promoted as "alternatives" to the standard commercial dental products that most dentists recommend and most patients use. These alternative products can be categorized as standard dental products made with natural ingredients, herbal products, homeopathic products, and synthetic alternative products. Dental health care providers should be aware of the range of "alternative" dental products and be able to counsel their patients to understand the type of support and evidence needed to determine safety and efficacy of treatment. The use of dental care products should be based upon sound basic science and sufficient clinical evidence of safety and efficacy.

Herbal supplements: considerations in dental practice.

Over-the-counter natural herb products constitute a rapidly growing market in the United States. As with conventional medications, the health care provider needs to be aware of these products' effects, side effects, advantageous synergies, and possible or probable adverse drug reactions. This paper will present 20 of the most frequently used herbs in the United States and discuss appropriate precautions and herb-drug interactions of possible concern in clinical dental practice.

Alternative dental products.

Alternative, complementary or holistic health care is a growing area of medicine and dentistry. There are a variety of dental products promoted as an "alternative" to the standard commercial dental products that most dentists recommend and most patients use. These alternative products can be categorized as standard dental products made with natural ingredients, herbal products, homeopathic products, and synthetic alternative products. The use of dental care products should be based upon sound basic science and sufficient evidence of safety and efficacy. Dental health care providers should be aware of the range of alternative dental products and be able to help their patients understand the type of support/evidence needed to determine safety and efficacy of treatment.

Ultrastructure of the parotid gland in the little brown bat.

The ultrastructure of the parotid gland was examined in the little brown bat. The seromucous acinar cells contained abundant granules of variable morphology. These granules were characterized by a submembranous dense layer consisting of fine parallel slats. In some bats, the matrix of the granules was structureless, whereas in others it consisted of closely packed but randomly arranged bundles of tubules. The intercalated ducts had a highly developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, often containing large numbers of intracisternal granules. In contrast, only a few secretory granules were present in the supranuclear cytoplasm. The striated ducts, which exhibited the characteristic basal striations consisting of vertically oriented mitochondria and highly folded plasmalemmas, contained numerous small dense granules in a subluminal band. These granules had a paracrystalline substructure with a periodicity of 8 nm. Excretory ducts strongly resembled striated ducts. They showed the same kind of basal striations and about half their constituent cells contained small paracrystalline granules.