Cover of the textbook Outcomes Advanced - Student's Book

The key answer of exercise 9

The key to exercise solutions in chapter 10 - Under the knife for the textbook Outcomes Advanced - Student's Book with authors Carol Nuttall and Amanda French from National Geographic Learning

Question

Work in pairs. Use vague language to describe how you think the following work.

Answer

  • BACK PAIN → There’s usually some kind of scan to establish what’s wrong; they make a small incision and maybe remove disc material that’s pressing on nerves and causing pain; they use a microscope of some kind to view area being operated on.
  • HIP REPLACEMENT → You’re given anaesthetic; a cut is made along the top of the hip; move the muscles connected to the thighbone to allow a better view. Next, the ball portion of the joint is removed by cutting the thighbone with some kind of saw. Then an artificial joint is attached to the thighbone using either cement or a special material that allows the remaining bone to somehow attach to the new joint. The doctor then sort of prepares the surface of the hipbone – removing any damaged cartilage – and attaches the replacement socket part to the hipbone. The new ball part of the thighbone is then inserted into the socket part of the hip. A drain may be put in to help drain any fluid. The doctor then reattaches the muscles and closes the incision.
  • LIPOSUCTION → The surgeon will mark out lines on the patient’s body, indicating where treatment will take place. Photos of the target area, and sometimes the patient’s whole body may be taken; they will be compared to pictures of the same areas taken afterwards. The patient is given anaesthetic; several litres of a saline solution with a local anaesthetic is pumped below the skin in the area that is to be suctioned. The fat is sucked out through small suction tubes.
  • TOOTH WHITENING → There are a few ways to have your teeth professionally whitened at a dentist's. The “laser light” method involves sitting for about one or two hours. A gel is painted on your teeth and the light beam is positioned to be directly over the gel. It is safe and produces instant results and is more costly than other methods. During the process, if your teeth start to become sensitive, the gel is removed. Another professional method is the professional trays made by the dental team. An impression is taken so as to custom fit a soft plastic retainer on top of your teeth. You will be given instructions to place a gel within the tray and place on top of your teeth for a certain time period. This could be from 30 minutes to overnight depending on your choice and the dentist’s recommendation. You take the trays out, rinse and spit. Another option is the same professional trays with a ‘boost’, which means the trays are used at the dentist’s with a 45% concentration of bleach. Your gums are protected, the trays with the gel are placed on your teeth, and you wait about 30 minutes, rinse and spit. The bleach is specially formulated to avoid sensitivity.