Change In The Mouth Essay

Calcium can be viewed as the most notable change because of lead’s ability to replace calcium in many of the intracellular regulatory procedures. Calcium is an intercellular mediator that acts either as a signal or a secondary messenger for many functions of the submandibular glands. This decrease in the absorption of calcium is believed to cause the destruction of the mitochondria which causes rapid energy depletion and impedes transportation. This will stop cells from their normal function and lessen the amount of saliva produced. The second anatomical structures that is affected in the mouth are the teeth. There are two indications that there has been chronic lead poisoning in an individual. The first indication is a thin grey blue line that forms along the border of the gum line, called the Burtonian line. The Burtonian line was described by Henry Burton in 1840. He used the work of Dr. Christian from 1829 and 1836 that
There are two different types of gallstone, cholesterol stones and pigment stones. Cholesterol stones are made up of cholesterol and are a yellow-green color while the pigment stones are a darker in color and made up of bilirubin. The pigment stones are what are caused by lead exposure and the amount of exposure to lead to create these pigment stone differ from person to person. However, the increase in bilirubin is the result in the increase of hemolysis, which is due to the early destruction of the red blood cells. These stones are normally small enough to pass through the biliary ducts, however prolong exposure to lead can cause the stones to become bigger and block the ducts because of the continual exposure of bilirubin in the gallbladder. If a blockage happens it can cause abdominal pain in the upper right side, fever, nausea,vomiting, and pale colored stools. If left untreated it can cause life threating complications, such as infections, liver disease, and