St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 37

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH EMBAY SECTION SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1991 JERRY BERGER ilL EV TM7 Divorce Won't Affect Firm, Staffers Told STOP THE "Bill Maritz's divorce Is final, and In no way will it affect the company financial or otherwise," announced Dick Hurley, prez of Marltz Motivation before a group of siuuers. I '0 Tracy Dahl 7 A A surgical team removing a gallbladder at Barnes Hospital with the new laparoscopic technique, which avoids opening the patient's abdomen. NOW THEN: Word travels fast from Big Town. It happened the other night, backstage at the Metropol- ix i.

a i rVnUt nKMlt A nan upera, wnen soprauu jrnty uui noa ouum iu do a "Ruby Keeler" (you know, being beckoned at the last minute to replace another performer) in Strauss "Die Fledermaus." Dahl, who sang In the role of Marie In last season's OTSL production of Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment," was about to make her debut with a three-hour advance notice when a knock was heard on the door. It was the stage manager, who bellowed, "Miss Dahl, is there anything I can do to help?" "Yes," shot back Dahl. "Show me how to get to the stage." BIZ BITS: Golden Herringbone Productions is balling out of the St. Louis Woman's Club as caterer to the stars. Golden Herringbone's founder, David Mac-Arthur, said that demands on his catering services hatA haon ttn oreat i'- llll II Gallbladder Breakthrough The Facade Ltd.

hair stylery on Dallas Road is being sold by Its proprietors, Jenny and Marcus Bluesteln. A likely buyer is Gary Palmer. Meanwhile, Facade on Clayton Road has been expanded to accommodate staffers from Creve Coeur A new, less painful procedure cuts down on the amount of time a patient spends in the hospital and away from the job Nurses at Metropolitan iweaicai center-west are walling that the benefit program for tuition reimbursement for approved classes has been cut by Now for a fashion statement from Dan Abel's USA Licensed Bows. The South Side firm has been producing major league baseball and NFL bows. Now it is churning out American flag hair bows.

"We are working around the clock to meet the demand," said Abel! who added that the company would donate part of the receipts "to support the troops in Operation Desert Storm." OOPSI Talent Plus reports that It is being deluged with telephone calls in response to casting needs of CBS for the re-enactment drama "True Detective." The call should have been for a 14- to-20-month-old, brunette, identical twin girl. Pics must be submitted by Monday. AD CETERAS: Kemoll's was where Kathy Virgo got plaudits on having earned her Ph.D. in health services at St. Louis University.

On hand to share the bubbly was her hub, John Virgo, professor of management at Southern Illinois University at Edwards-ville St. Louis Circuit Judge Floyd McBride is passing out pink cigars on the birth of a granddaughter. Courtney McBride Rummel bowed the other day at he worries that some surgeons don't have enough training to do the new surgery properly. Several surgeons here agree, saying the new operation has become an overnight marketing tool at many hospitals, pushing The 'Typical' Patient if some surgeons to do the surgery before they are adept at It. "Locally and nationwide, there have I been reports of puncturing of blood vessels and injuries to bowel and the bite duct during laparoscopic you have serious gallstone pain." After a week or so, the pain went away, and she returned to school.

"But the pain came back with a vengeance in August last year, and I went into St. Mary's Health Center on a Wednesday to have a laparoscopic cholecystectomy," she said. At noon, Dr. Kenneth Floro Jr. removed her gallbladder, which had 50 plnhead-slze stones, she said.

Flore was one of the first surgeons here to do the new type of Nine hours after her Schmidt said, she felt well enough to go home, but she was kept in the hospital overnight because her daughter was 111. "Only three days later, on: Saturday, I went grocery shopping and cut the lawn," she said. Roger Signor we suggest checking with your dentist first to make sure a reline Is not needed. Note: Pastes and powders have been shown to be equally effective. For maximum benefit, use them sparingly.

There is no need to coat the entire surface of the denture with paste. Place three or four small dots, equally spaced. If using powder, sprinkle a thin layer onto a denture that has been moistened with warm water, and then shake off the excess. GERM WARFARE As if Israeli scientists don't have enough to keep them busy, they now think they're close to a cure for halitosis (bad breath). Researchers at Tel Aviv University are convening the first world symposium on the subject this April In Mexico.

Bad breath affects an estimated 80 percent of the world's population and is cited as causing people to contemplate divorce, social Isolation and even suicide. Scientists think the culprit is a microorganism that t' ir- 4jfrlf 1 asiiiiittt.eift SUSAN D. Schmidt, a nursing student, describes herself as a typical gallbladder patient and experts agree with her. When she began having gallstone attacks on Christmas Day, 1989, she had just turned 40; she was overweight and under a lot of stress. She had Just entered a tough profession rather late in her life.

She also tends to be a perfectionist, she said. "I'm what they call a Type A personality and my daughter, Lauren, 5, was coming down with chickenpox." On Christmas Day, the pain struck. "You don't forget what pain from gallstones is like," Schmidt said. "I had terrific pain under my right breast and across the center of my back. "No position is comfortable when 3 pounds, 13 ounces, at Barnes tiospuai.

parents are Martha and Ron Rummel. Proud grandmother is McBride's wife, Mary Lou. Carole Kroeger, former empress of Vouziers (nee the Desloge estate), will have her first show of paintings at Elliot Smith Gallery beginning Feb. 22. Charlie Welek III, past prez of Welek's Fabrics and most recently head of Welek Realty at the Lake of the Ozarks, Is racking up sales in his recently debuted office in Naples, Fla.

His eldest heir, Charlie IV, is now prez and CEO of the Prudential Welek Realty in the Ozarks. Spritely Peggy Lasky, girl Friday at Krummen-acher's Pharmacy, has become a great-grandmom with the birth of Dean Thomas Wise III in Gulfport, Mlndy Haley and Tom Manley, both RNs in surgery (she at West County Surgery Center; he at St. Luke's), have set Sept. 28 for their nupts. YES, LISA, THERE IS A TOOTH FAIRYI: Hairbenders Rene and Karen Gaus took daughter Lisa and son Alex in for their dental checkups recently.

Lisa's baby tooth was in the wiggling "don't touch it, Daddy" stage, and veiled remarks regarding the Impending visit from the Tooth Fairy were being exchanged between parents. A quick stop at Kmart in Ellisville nearly floored Rene, who received in his 1 nJnx ff 1 JnllnH i 11 mhlk nine em .1 aA Sam LeonePost-Dispatch cholecystectomies," Soper said. "It's hard to know for sure, but these problems may be due to a surgeon's lack of experience. "If you're contemplating such surgery, ask your surgeon what experience and training he's had in doing this type of cholecystectomy." Agreeing with Soper is Dr. Kenneth A.

Arnold, a general surgeon In West County who has done more than 100 of the new procedures. "Laparoscopic gallbladder removals are sweeping the country, and most surgeons have completed or have signed up for $3,000, two-day courses to learn the technique," Arnold said. "The procedure is relatively simple if you take time to learn to do it well. "To remove a gallbladder, you hook up a miniature camera on the end of a scope and watch what you're doing on a large TV monitor." Using long-handled instruments, the surgeon grabs the gallbladder and cuts It free, he said. Next, he brings the organ to the surface, punctures it, suctions out the bile, crushes the largest gallstones and pulls out the shrunken gallbladder via the navel.

"Although this technique has been tainted with commercialism, by some doctors and hospitals, It doesn't detract from Its value," Arnold said. "It bugs me that some surgeons let patients take a video of the procedure home after surgery it's like saying, 'Here's my operation, so Induce your friends to go this route, Teril Galmiche, 30, a nurse in Barnes' outpatient surgery department, had the procedure performed last June. "I put up with stomach and abdominal pain for six weeks but went to my internist when the pain would wake me up at night," Galmiche said. Ultrasound pictures and barium X-ray studies of her upper gastrointestinal tract showed five peanut-sized gallstones Inside her gallbladder. "Even though you still get general anesthesia for the new procedure, it's really a lot less traumatic than having a 6- See SURGERY, Page 4 releases sulphur compounds in gaseous form.

Dentists and scientists from around the world are expected to attend. Fearful of a cure that could harm their $150 mlllion-a-year industry, mouthwash manufacturers are also expected to be present. The cure won't be revealed until April. Until then, I guess we'll Just have to, what else, hold our breath! Kudos: To McDonald's restaurants for finally putting something of benefit into their Happy Meals. Last month's giveaways included a snap-together comb and a toothbrush featuring McDonald's characters.

We applaud their effort to increase the grooming level of youngsters and show the rest of the industry that toy? are hot the only way to sell hamburgers. Dr. William G. DeWert is a former clinical instructor at the Washington University School of Dental Medicine and Is in private practice in St. Louis County.

Dr. E. Glenn Glassman is director of Ortho-care Systems Orthodontics In St. Louis County and is Involved in community education. Write to the "Tooth Doctors" in care of the Post-Dispatch, 900 North Tucker Boulevard, St.

Louis, Mo. 63101. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope and your phone number for a personal reply. A. rfti i'k By Roger Signor Post-Dispatch Science-Medicine Editor 'HEN President Lyndon B.

Johnson showed off his incision from gallbladder surgery, many Americans hoped they'd never have to have such an operation. Now, 25 years later, people can have gallbladder surgery without a major scar. It's a new technique called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, in which a bad gallbladder is removed through a tube Inserted through a quarter-inch hole In the patient's belly button. Experts here estimate that several thousand diseased gallbladders will be removed In the St. Louis area this year by the new surgical technique, which allows patients to spend less than a full day In the hospital.

Hundreds of patients who have undergone the procedure In recent months have returned to work a few days after surgery. In standard gallbladder surgery, hospital stays of a week are common. The gallbladder is a fist-sized sac under the liver that stores bile, a waste product that helps digest fats. When gallstones form, they block the tube that carries the bile from the liver to the duodenum, causing pain and infection. About one-quarter of a general surgeon's surgical procedures are gallbladder operations; as a result, up to 800,000 Americans undergo standard gallbladder surgery annually.

The new outpatient surgery could save many millions of dollars in lost workdays annually. The costs of the new and standard operations are about the same. But a note of caution about the new technique Is raised by Dr. Nathaniel J. Soper, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University Medical School.

Soper pioneered the technique here In a government-approved Investigational trial. He has safely removed 285 stone-filled gallbladders at Barnes Hospital, but HAPPY ANNIVERSARY February marks the 42nd anniversary of National Children's Dental Health Month. The American Dental Association intends for parents, teachers and dentists to use this month to emphasize to children the value of a healthy mouth. The ADA'S national theme this year is 'There's Magic in Your Smile." Curiously enough, this was last year's theme, too. Perhaps the theme writer is underpaid! Hooray for the Missouri Dental Associa tion for sponsoring a statewide poster con test around the theme "A Balancing Act Sealants and Good Dental Hygiene." The contest is open to all fifth-graders, and interested children can contact their teach ers to meet the Feb.

22 deadline. Each local winner will be awarded a prize by Kay Qulnn, the Channel 5 news personality and this year's honorary chairwoman. Activities will Include appearances by Mr. Big Tooth and the Tooth Fairy at area children's hospitals, malls and at Friday's Storm soccer game. Dr.

Ted E. Bear will appear at the Blues hockey game Feb. 9. STICK WITH IT, BY GUM Dear Tooth Doctors: I've been think ing of using something to help keep my dentures in place. I've heard from several family members that I shouldn't be using any home adhesive because of its potential fl fit cnmmc a uuuai uin uu wiimi was auawicu.

"Thanks for your tootn. i love you. (signea; ine Tooth Fairy. "I do believe, I do said Rene, who plys his trade at Saion Christa in West County. DR.

WILLIAM DR. E. GLENN G. DeWERT GLASSMAN b2K 1 LiZJ By Sam Tyson 1. In the 1980 movie "Melvin and Howard," who Plav9d Howard Hughes? 2.

What does the acronym OAU stand for? 3. Harvey and Marilyn Diamond wrote what famous how-to 4. What group's 1990 debut album was enti-' tied "World 5. What university did basketball star Pete Maravlch pjayfor? ANSWERS harm. Should I avoid them? P.V.,St.Ann Denture adhesive, both powders and pastes, are a fact of life for 25 percent of the 40 million denture wearers in the United States.

There are no studies to support the belief that adhesives are harmful to underlying soft tissue or increase the shrinkage of supporting bone. Whether paste or powder, all products contain ingredients that swell and become sticky as they absorb water, filling any voids with a gel that creates a tighter seal. Unlike adhe-. slves, "home rellne" or "denture cushion" kits permanently alter the shape of the denture and can be detrimental. These should never be used.

Be sure the brand you select carries the ADA Seal of Acceptance, such as Effergrlp, Orafix or Wernet's. Adhesives are fine for adding to your sense of security but should never be used to compensate for a poorly fitting denture. Since tissue changes can occur over time, T-fS ifX.f- j5J. iffi BUBisinoi Joj 'Am ubo -ujy jo '2 'spJBqoy uosBp.