| direct retention | Retention obtained in a removable partial denture by the use of attachments or clasps which resist their removal from the abutment teeth. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| indirect retention | Retention obtained in a removable partial denture through the use of indirect retainers. (05 Mar 2000) |
| oil retention enema | A rectal injection of mineral oil, introduced at low pressure and retained for several hours before expelling, to soften faeces. (05 Mar 2000) |
| urinary retention | The inability to pass urine from the bladder, most often due to an obstruction of flow. In older males, this may be due to prostate enlargement. Urine retention can also occur as a drug side effect (anticholinergics), after surgical procedures and in the presence of a urethral stricture (narrowing of the urethra). (27 Sep 1997) |
| fluid retention | An abnormal accumulation of fluid in cells, tissues or body cavities that results in swelling. (16 Dec 1997) |
| absorbancy index | Absorbance (of light) per unit path length (usually the centimeter) and per unit of mass concentration. Compare: molar absorption coefficient. Synonym: absorbancy index, absorptivity, extinction coefficient, specific extinction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alveolar index | Relation between the basialveolar (basion to alveolar point) and basinasal (basion to nasion) lengths: (basialveolar length × 100)/basinasal length; the result indicates the degree of projection of the maxilla or upper jaw. Synonym: alveolar index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anaesthetic index | Ratio of the number of units of anaesthetic required for anaesthesia to the number of units of anaesthetic required to produce respiratory or cardiovascular failure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| antitryptic index | An obsolete term for the relative retardation in loss of viscosity of a solution of casein incubated with trypsin, to which a drop of abnormal blood serum (as from a cancerous patient) has been added, compared with that in a similar solution to which normal serum has been added; if the former drips through the tube of the viscosimeter in 100 seconds, and the latter in 104 seconds, the antitryptic index is 4. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Arneth index | An expression based on adding the percentages of polymorphonuclear neutrophils with 1 or 2 lobes in their nuclei, plus one-half the percentage with 3 lobes; the normal value is 60%. See: Arneth formula, Arneth count. (05 Mar 2000) |
| auricular index | Relation of the width to the height of the auricle or pinna: (width of pinna × 100)/length of pinna. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ayala's index | The cerebrospinal index when 10 ml of cerebrospinal fluid have been removed. Synonym: Ayala's quotient, spinal quotient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| basilar index | Ratio between the basialveolar line and the maximum length of the cranium, according to the formula: (basialveolar line × 100)/length of cranium. Synonym: alveolar index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bodecker index | A modification of the DMF caries index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| body mass index | One of the anthropometric measures of body mass; it has the highest correlation with skinfold thickness or body density. (12 Dec 1998) |