Charles Stent Charles Stent Charles Stent (1807–1885) was a 19th-century English dentist notable for his advances in the field of denture making. In 1847, Edwin Truman introduced gutta-percha as a material for making dental impressions; however, this was unsatisfactory for several reasons, including its tendency to distort upon removal from the patient's mouth, and to shrink upon cooling. In 1856, Stent added several other materials to the gutta-percha, notably stearine, which markedly improved the plasticity of the material as well as its stability. He also added talc as an inert filler to give more body to the material, and red colouring. The
Coronary artery bypass surgery statins, antihypertensives, smoking cessation, and /or tight blood sugar control in diabetics - do not satisfactorily relieve ischemic symptoms. Alternate methods of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery have been developed. Off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) is a technique of performing bypass surgery without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (the heart-lung machine). Avoidance of aortic manipulation may be achieved through the "anaortic" or no-touch OPCAB technique, which has been shown to reduce stroke and mortality compared to on-pump CABG. Further refinements to OPCAB have resulted in minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery (MIDCAB), a technique of performing bypass surgery