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A companion to dental studies
British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (1987) 25, 353-355 of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 0 1987 The British Association
BOOK REVIEWS Techniques in Ophthalmic Price f46.00.
Plastic Surgery.
By RALPH E. WESLEY. 1986. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 482.
This book consists of a series of mostly two or three page descriptions of various surgical procedures on the lids and lacrimal apparatus. It is well illustrated with line diagrams. The procedures are described by about 100 different authors which leads to a lack of continuity. Many of the procedures are well known and standard practice in this field of surgery. Others are rather less conventional and some of the techniques I personally would never think of employing. If the book had been written by three or four surgeons of international renown it would carry considerably more weight as a reference book. As it stands I feel it is only useful to the surgeon with sound knowledge of this type of surgery who is able to assess the value of the procedures described for himself. B. V. M.
A Companion to Dental Studies. Volume 3. Edited JOHNS. 1986. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
CORPS
by A. H. R. ROWE, A. G. ALEXANDER and R. B. pp. 1487. Price f55.00.
The preface to this book states that it ‘is designed to give the reader a comprehensive view of clinical dental surgery’. This is a massive undertaking which in this instance has involved no less than 91 contributors in the production of a book of just under 1500 pages. Reading, or to be more accurate for the most part, skimming and dipping into the book, one can only admire the courage of the editors in even attempting a task of this magnitude. I suspect there must have been times when they regretted the undertaking! Inevitably there will be mixed feelings about how well the project has succeeded. Much will depend upon the needs of the individual reader since the level of informatlon provided in the various chapters is, understandably, not the same throughout. In some instances the chapters provide fairly simple overviews of the topic under consideration while others delve more deeply into the subject matter. The preface does not make it clear for which group of readers the volume has primarily been written but the publishers’ note on the back cover says that the student is ‘spared the necessity of buying many individual books in which much material is inevitably duplicated’. In the reviewer’s opinion the book will provided a useful introduction for undergraduates before engaging in more detailed reading about the various topics but it should not be regarded as a substitute for individual textbooks on the various aspects of clinical dentistry. Equally, for the busy practitioner the book may serve as a useful reminder of some of those aspects of dentistry with which he has become less conversant but it cannot give the detailed knowledge that will be found in individual texts. The editors admit to a formidable task in collating the contributions and in striving for consistency. In the main they have done this work very successfully but inevitably there are both duplications and deficiencies. For example, occlusal analysis and adjustment is dealt with in no less than three chapters and trauma to the teeth in two. while the important topic of sterilisation and the prevention of cross infection receives no comprehensive discussion but only small references which tend to be hidden in various chapters. It also seems a little inconsistent to deal with disorders of the masticatory apparatus before the chapter describing the system itself. Further, a group of topics on ‘Diseases of the Supporting Structures’ is separated by some 200 pages from a comparable group of topics on ‘Periodontal Diagnosis and Treatment’, and one wonders why the main discussion on radiography is included in a chapter entitled ‘Meeting the Demand for Dental Care’. These all, however, are matters which could be remedied in a future edition. The volume is well presented, as we have come to expect from the particular publishers. The typeface is clear and the quality of illustrations is generally good. It appears to be remarkably free from typographical errors and only one inverted illustration was noted. When one considers the price of textbooks in general today and the amount of information it contains, at &55 the book really represents excellent value for money. DAVID
353
S. SHOVELTON
BOOK REVIEWS Techniques in Ophthalmic Price f46.00.
Plastic Surgery.
By RALPH E. WESLEY. 1986. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 482.
This book consists of a series of mostly two or three page descriptions of various surgical procedures on the lids and lacrimal apparatus. It is well illustrated with line diagrams. The procedures are described by about 100 different authors which leads to a lack of continuity. Many of the procedures are well known and standard practice in this field of surgery. Others are rather less conventional and some of the techniques I personally would never think of employing. If the book had been written by three or four surgeons of international renown it would carry considerably more weight as a reference book. As it stands I feel it is only useful to the surgeon with sound knowledge of this type of surgery who is able to assess the value of the procedures described for himself. B. V. M.
A Companion to Dental Studies. Volume 3. Edited JOHNS. 1986. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
CORPS
by A. H. R. ROWE, A. G. ALEXANDER and R. B. pp. 1487. Price f55.00.
The preface to this book states that it ‘is designed to give the reader a comprehensive view of clinical dental surgery’. This is a massive undertaking which in this instance has involved no less than 91 contributors in the production of a book of just under 1500 pages. Reading, or to be more accurate for the most part, skimming and dipping into the book, one can only admire the courage of the editors in even attempting a task of this magnitude. I suspect there must have been times when they regretted the undertaking! Inevitably there will be mixed feelings about how well the project has succeeded. Much will depend upon the needs of the individual reader since the level of informatlon provided in the various chapters is, understandably, not the same throughout. In some instances the chapters provide fairly simple overviews of the topic under consideration while others delve more deeply into the subject matter. The preface does not make it clear for which group of readers the volume has primarily been written but the publishers’ note on the back cover says that the student is ‘spared the necessity of buying many individual books in which much material is inevitably duplicated’. In the reviewer’s opinion the book will provided a useful introduction for undergraduates before engaging in more detailed reading about the various topics but it should not be regarded as a substitute for individual textbooks on the various aspects of clinical dentistry. Equally, for the busy practitioner the book may serve as a useful reminder of some of those aspects of dentistry with which he has become less conversant but it cannot give the detailed knowledge that will be found in individual texts. The editors admit to a formidable task in collating the contributions and in striving for consistency. In the main they have done this work very successfully but inevitably there are both duplications and deficiencies. For example, occlusal analysis and adjustment is dealt with in no less than three chapters and trauma to the teeth in two. while the important topic of sterilisation and the prevention of cross infection receives no comprehensive discussion but only small references which tend to be hidden in various chapters. It also seems a little inconsistent to deal with disorders of the masticatory apparatus before the chapter describing the system itself. Further, a group of topics on ‘Diseases of the Supporting Structures’ is separated by some 200 pages from a comparable group of topics on ‘Periodontal Diagnosis and Treatment’, and one wonders why the main discussion on radiography is included in a chapter entitled ‘Meeting the Demand for Dental Care’. These all, however, are matters which could be remedied in a future edition. The volume is well presented, as we have come to expect from the particular publishers. The typeface is clear and the quality of illustrations is generally good. It appears to be remarkably free from typographical errors and only one inverted illustration was noted. When one considers the price of textbooks in general today and the amount of information it contains, at &55 the book really represents excellent value for money. DAVID
353
S. SHOVELTON