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Nutrition and dental health
130
J. Dent
1995;
23: No. 2
can be used for this purpose. Only four books have ever been printed on the subject, one of them from the UK. The text under review is one of the most recent and lives up to its name. After outlining general, and sometimes conflicting, moral principles concerning the duty of clinical care, the authors focus particularly on informed consent and corollary principles of telling the truth and respecting confidentiality. Of course, good dental care must be delivered against the background of resource constraints and here the authors address the tension between the interests of the individual and society. Following this general discussion, the focus shifts to specific issues confronting the contemporary dentist. Among others explored are ethical problems in dental research, the treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS, dental education and the business dimension of private practice. The approach to all of these issues is interrogative. The authors repeatedly ask questions of the reader and illustrate them through developing a sparkling array of case material. The strength of this text is the inherent interest of the many of these practical illustrations. Anyone remotely concerned with teaching dental ethics will find much of use here. In their analysis of concepts and arguments, the authors demonstrate an admirable clarity and understanding of the difficulties of applying moral principles to clinical practice. There are also problems. Most important is that the authors do not adequately articulate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to resolving the ethical dilemmas which they introduce and illustrate. The result is that dental students and practitioners may enjoy the practical illustrations but leave the book quite confused as to how they should morally orient themselves in their own professional life. At worse, they will feel that the resolution of moral dilemma in dentistry is just a matter of opinion. More reference to the relatively fixed parameters of the law would have been useful as a corrective. Of equal help would have been further detail about the organization and finance of dental care in Britain. But, of course, this would be asking too much of a thoroughly North American book. L. Doyal
Computers in Clinical Dentistry. J. D. Preston. Pp. 228. 1993. New Malden, Quintessence. Softback. f39. ISBN 0 86715
229 4.
It was not before the second half of the eighties that significant efforts were made in the use of computers in clinical dentistry. Typically, these pioneering efforts took place in isolation from each other. It was the editor of this book, Jack D. Preston, who took the initiative to break this isolation and to bring together all key-people in the evolving field of dental informatics, both from industry, academic institutions and clinical practice. The meeting covered all main topics of the field: l l
l
l
l
Office management systems. Clinical dental record systems, with special emphasis on voice input and output image editing (‘cosmetic imaging’). Video imaging systems, focusing especially on intra-and extra-oral cameras and image editing (‘cosmetic imaging’). Mandibular movement analysis, including occlusal analysis, electromyography, mandibular motion tracking and sonography. Periodontal devices, especially cervicular depth recording and thermography.
l
l l
Radiographic imaging, including CT, digital radiography and digital subtraction radiography. CAD/CAM. Artificial intelligence applications, including different kinds of decision support systems.
The Proceedings of this First International Conference on Computers in Clinical Dentistry therefore represents an excellent review of the state of the art and future trends in dental informatics. Teachers, researchers and students in clinical dentistry as well as developers of commercial products in the field will benefit from the excellently edited contributions. Although the book addresses issues in advanced information technology, it can be highly recommended even to computer-illiterate dental clinicians interested in possibly or eventually using modern technology in their practice. I. V. Wagner
Nutrition and Dental Health. A. J. Rugg-Gunn. Pp. 458. 1993. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Hardback, f 55. ISBN 01926 2 1092. The stated aim of the author in writing this very useful book is to guide the reader towards sensible and practical nutritional and dietary advice with particular reference to special groups. He confines his remit to the effects of nutrition and diet on the teeth and their supporting tissues, leaving textbooks on oral medicine to discuss the effects on the oral tissues. His target audience includes dietitians, dentists, doctors, health educators, those in the food manufacturing industries and dental undergraduates. With such a wide range some chapters are inevitably of much greater relevance than others to the dental undergraduate or postgraduate and it is useful that most chapters have a short concluding summary. The book may be arbitrarily considered in three parts. Following an introduction on dental diseases, the first part reviews the international literature on nutrition, diet and dental health. As such it provides a comprehensive reference book for those looking for the background scientific research to update and support their dental health education policies. The second part, focusing on nutrition and dental health of children and adults, is particularly useful in bringing together the salient issues for a dental health educator. The third part, just two chapters, is written by a different contributor. First, he puts forward a systematic, yet pragmatic approach to giving dietary advice for the individual so as to enable practitioners to decide when they are able to offer appropriate advice or whether to ask for help. This is followed by a chapter on national and community food policies for dental health in the UK. Whilst the latter seems to fit more comfortably within the overall approach adopted by the book, that on dietary advice for the individual does not. Little reference is made to the increasing, research-based information provided by psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists on why health education may or may not be successful or how it may be viewed as a form of social control. Rather, by adopting a pragmatic approach, the recommendations tend to be broadbased and generalized, contrasting sharply with the scientific approach of the remainder of the book. Overall, this book should serve as a very valuable reference source to all those practitioners involved in providing dental health education. It is however unfortunate that at f 55 the price is out of the reach of many undergraduates. D. E. Gibbons
J. Dent
1995;
23: No. 2
can be used for this purpose. Only four books have ever been printed on the subject, one of them from the UK. The text under review is one of the most recent and lives up to its name. After outlining general, and sometimes conflicting, moral principles concerning the duty of clinical care, the authors focus particularly on informed consent and corollary principles of telling the truth and respecting confidentiality. Of course, good dental care must be delivered against the background of resource constraints and here the authors address the tension between the interests of the individual and society. Following this general discussion, the focus shifts to specific issues confronting the contemporary dentist. Among others explored are ethical problems in dental research, the treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS, dental education and the business dimension of private practice. The approach to all of these issues is interrogative. The authors repeatedly ask questions of the reader and illustrate them through developing a sparkling array of case material. The strength of this text is the inherent interest of the many of these practical illustrations. Anyone remotely concerned with teaching dental ethics will find much of use here. In their analysis of concepts and arguments, the authors demonstrate an admirable clarity and understanding of the difficulties of applying moral principles to clinical practice. There are also problems. Most important is that the authors do not adequately articulate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to resolving the ethical dilemmas which they introduce and illustrate. The result is that dental students and practitioners may enjoy the practical illustrations but leave the book quite confused as to how they should morally orient themselves in their own professional life. At worse, they will feel that the resolution of moral dilemma in dentistry is just a matter of opinion. More reference to the relatively fixed parameters of the law would have been useful as a corrective. Of equal help would have been further detail about the organization and finance of dental care in Britain. But, of course, this would be asking too much of a thoroughly North American book. L. Doyal
Computers in Clinical Dentistry. J. D. Preston. Pp. 228. 1993. New Malden, Quintessence. Softback. f39. ISBN 0 86715
229 4.
It was not before the second half of the eighties that significant efforts were made in the use of computers in clinical dentistry. Typically, these pioneering efforts took place in isolation from each other. It was the editor of this book, Jack D. Preston, who took the initiative to break this isolation and to bring together all key-people in the evolving field of dental informatics, both from industry, academic institutions and clinical practice. The meeting covered all main topics of the field: l l
l
l
l
Office management systems. Clinical dental record systems, with special emphasis on voice input and output image editing (‘cosmetic imaging’). Video imaging systems, focusing especially on intra-and extra-oral cameras and image editing (‘cosmetic imaging’). Mandibular movement analysis, including occlusal analysis, electromyography, mandibular motion tracking and sonography. Periodontal devices, especially cervicular depth recording and thermography.
l
l l
Radiographic imaging, including CT, digital radiography and digital subtraction radiography. CAD/CAM. Artificial intelligence applications, including different kinds of decision support systems.
The Proceedings of this First International Conference on Computers in Clinical Dentistry therefore represents an excellent review of the state of the art and future trends in dental informatics. Teachers, researchers and students in clinical dentistry as well as developers of commercial products in the field will benefit from the excellently edited contributions. Although the book addresses issues in advanced information technology, it can be highly recommended even to computer-illiterate dental clinicians interested in possibly or eventually using modern technology in their practice. I. V. Wagner
Nutrition and Dental Health. A. J. Rugg-Gunn. Pp. 458. 1993. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Hardback, f 55. ISBN 01926 2 1092. The stated aim of the author in writing this very useful book is to guide the reader towards sensible and practical nutritional and dietary advice with particular reference to special groups. He confines his remit to the effects of nutrition and diet on the teeth and their supporting tissues, leaving textbooks on oral medicine to discuss the effects on the oral tissues. His target audience includes dietitians, dentists, doctors, health educators, those in the food manufacturing industries and dental undergraduates. With such a wide range some chapters are inevitably of much greater relevance than others to the dental undergraduate or postgraduate and it is useful that most chapters have a short concluding summary. The book may be arbitrarily considered in three parts. Following an introduction on dental diseases, the first part reviews the international literature on nutrition, diet and dental health. As such it provides a comprehensive reference book for those looking for the background scientific research to update and support their dental health education policies. The second part, focusing on nutrition and dental health of children and adults, is particularly useful in bringing together the salient issues for a dental health educator. The third part, just two chapters, is written by a different contributor. First, he puts forward a systematic, yet pragmatic approach to giving dietary advice for the individual so as to enable practitioners to decide when they are able to offer appropriate advice or whether to ask for help. This is followed by a chapter on national and community food policies for dental health in the UK. Whilst the latter seems to fit more comfortably within the overall approach adopted by the book, that on dietary advice for the individual does not. Little reference is made to the increasing, research-based information provided by psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists on why health education may or may not be successful or how it may be viewed as a form of social control. Rather, by adopting a pragmatic approach, the recommendations tend to be broadbased and generalized, contrasting sharply with the scientific approach of the remainder of the book. Overall, this book should serve as a very valuable reference source to all those practitioners involved in providing dental health education. It is however unfortunate that at f 55 the price is out of the reach of many undergraduates. D. E. Gibbons