The heart and circulation: Dental assisting

The cardiovascular system functions as a transport system supporting every tissue and organ. It transports blood, oxygen and nutrients to cells, removes cellular waste products, and helps regulate temperature and chemical balance.

Now there's clear evidence linking cardiovascular disease to poor oral health and periodontal disease which involves gum infection, inflammation, and tooth damage.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. So as a dental assistant, your knowledge of the cardiovascular system and the importance of good oral health is crucial for helping patients live healthier lives and is essential for providing safe and effective patient care.

Now let's begin exploring the cardiovascular system by looking at the heart. The heart is a muscular organ about the size of a closed fist located in the thoracic cavity between the lungs and above the diaphragm.

It's wrapped in a protective sack called the pericardium, which contains fluid to reduce friction as the heart beats. The heart functions as a double pump.

The right side pumps blood to the lungs for oxygenation, while the left side pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

Amazingly, on average, it pumps about 4000 gallons of blood every day. Inside the heart are 4 chambers, 2 atria on top that receive blood from outside the heart, and 2 ventricles below that pump blood out of the heart.

One-way valves between the chambers work like doors that only open one way to prevent backflow and to keep the blood flowing in the correct direction.

The tricuspid valve separates the right atrium and right ventricle while the mitral valve lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle.

The pulmonary and aortic semi-unar valves control blood flow out of the heart. All right, let's examine how blood flows throughout the cardiovascular system.

First, oxygen poor blood enters the right atrium through the superior and inferior vena cava. It flows into the right ventricle.

And is pumped to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. In the lungs, gas exchange occurs, meaning carbon dioxide is removed from the blood while oxygen enters the blood.

Then the oxygen rich blood returns to the left atrium through the pulmonary veins. From there the blood moves into the left ventricle.

And is pumped through the aorta to nourish the entire body. Now that we reviewed how blood moves, let's look at the vessels the blood travels through and what blood is made of.

Blood travels through three main types of vessels arteries, veins, and capillaries. Arteries are large vessels that carry oxygenated blood away from the heart.

The walls of the arteries are thick, muscular, and elastic, so they can operate under high pressure, expanding and contracting along with the pumping of the heart.

Veins return deoxygenated blood to the heart. Veins are thinner than arteries and operate under low pressure.

Unlike arteries, veins have valves that prevent backflow, so blood will keep flowing towards the heart. Lastly, the tiny capillaries are microscopic vessels that connect arteries and veins.

Blood flow slows down in the capillaries to allow oxygen, nutrients, and waste products to be exchanged within the tissues.

Now blood is composed of liquid and solid portions. The liquid portion is made of plasma, a straw colored fluid composed of water and plasma proteins like albumin.

The solid portion contains formed elements including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Red blood cells or erythrocytes contain hemoglobin which allows them to transport oxygen throughout the body.

White blood cells or leukocytes help protect against infection. Platelets, also known as thrombocytes, play a key role in blood clotting to keep bleeding under control.

Now, another important aspect of blood involves blood types and the RH factor. Blood type is determined by the presence or absence of specific proteins on red blood cells.

So you can have either type A, type B, type A, B, or type O blood. The immune system produces antibodies against the proteins that you don't have.

So people with type A blood have antibodies against type B proteins and vice versa, while those with type AB blood don't have antibodies against any red blood cell proteins, and people with type O blood have antibodies to both A and B proteins.

A person can experience serious complications if they receive blood that's incompatible with their own blood type. Another protein is the RH factor that's either present or absent on a person's red blood cells.

People are either RH positive, meaning they have the RH proteins on their red blood cells, or they are RH negative, meaning it's absent.

Although anti-RH antibodies aren't naturally present, they can form when a person who is RH negative is exposed to RH positive blood either during pregnancy or through a mismatched transfusion.

This can lead to complications during subsequent pregnancies or future exposures. This is why matching both blood type and RH factor is essential for patient safety during blood transfusions.

All right, as a quick recap, the cardiovascular system transports oxygen and nutrients, removes waste, and helps regulate temperature and chemical balance.

The heart acts as a double pump with 4 chambers and one-way valves that maintain proper blood flow. Blood flows from the body to the heart to the lungs for oxygenation and back out to the body in a continuous cycle.

Arteries, veins, and capillaries form the vascular network that carries blood. Blood contains plasma, red and white blood cells, and platelets.

Blood type and RH factor are also important aspects of blood composition. As a dental assistant, your knowledge of the cardiovascular system is essential for providing safe and effective patient care.