Use of beeswax for repair of damaged dry human bones in anatomy

Shruthi Bhat, Sheela G Nayak, Vidhyashambava Pare, Sagar Borker

Kurinji Venkatramana Gowda Medical College, Sullia, Karnataka

National journal of clinical anatomy

Vol. 2(4), Pg: 200-203

2013

Beeswax

• The wax is formed by worker bees

• Initially glass-clear and colourless

• becoming opaque after mastication and adulteration with pollen

• to build honeycomb cells

Contents

• Hydrocarbons

• Monoesters, diesters, triesters

• Hydroxy polyesters

• Acid esters, acid polyesters

• Free fatty acids, free fatty alcohols

• Unidentified substances

Physical charecteristics

• Tough wax

• Low melting point – 62 – 64 degree Celsius

• Discolours when heated above 85 degree c

• Cold – brittle

• Room temperature – tenascious

• Soft & pliable @ 35-40 degree c

Uses

• Types – yellow(crude), white(bleached) & beeswax absolute(treated with alcohol)

• Used for – food, cosmetics & pharmaceuticals

Food

• Food additive

• Glazing agent

• Coat cheese, fruits

• Ingredient in chewing gum

Cosmetics

• Substitute for petroleum jelly

• Lip balm, lip gloss, hand creams, eye liners, eye shadow, etc.

• Moustache wax

• Hair pomades

Clincally

• Surgical bone wax – control bleeding from bone surface

Historical use

• Lost wax casting “cire – perdue”

• Wax tablets

• Encaustic paintings

• Strengthen sewing thread

• Sealing wax

• Didgeridoo

• Tooth filling

Objective

• Studied use of beeswax to repair damaged dry human bones used in anatomy.

Materials & methodology

• Spirit lamp, forceps, scissors, scalpel, quick fix, varnish, copper wire, enamel paint, paint brush & spatula.

How to extract

• Step 1

• Step 2

• Step 3

• Step 4

Waxcloth

• Crude wax placed on damaged bones

• Given correct shape manually

• Applied fast gum

Repaired pelvis

• Articulated ilium with sacrum & counter part

Skull

Hyoid bone

Scapula

Rib cage

Discussion

• Students who use bone set often don’t know to maintain it

• Fail to understand negative impact

• No special demonstration prescribed by Medical education in India

Conclusion

• Simple to use

• Cost effective

• Appropriate technique to repair bones in anatomy

• Bones can be used for long periods

Thank you