Psychiatric disorders in dental practice

Psychiatric disorders in dental practice

234 J. Dent. 1996; 24: No. 3 is a result of heterosexual and not homosexual intercourse, as described in Table 5-6. Table 6-1 in Chapter 6 is useful...

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234

J. Dent. 1996; 24: No. 3

is a result of heterosexual and not homosexual intercourse, as described in Table 5-6. Table 6-1 in Chapter 6 is useful as it describes the patterns of transmission of infection in the dental team and the possible prevention. What follows in Chapter 6 is a detailed discussion of the regulations currently used in the USA and their origins. The next six chapters get to the essentials of cross infection control. Although clearly described, some of the procedures would be considered impractical for routine dental practice in the UK. The next two chapters on practice safety are perhaps more philosophical than practical and only applicable to American readers. There is a glossary which for the most pat-t is useful. The book is clearly printed but the quality of reproduction of the photographs is appalling. Figure 2.1 is the poorest reproduction of bacterial colonies on a plate I have ever seen and reflections on other Figures, such as 9-5 and 9-6, make them difficult to interpret. The references in each chapter are not comprehensive, often referring to the authors published summaries of other work, not the original source. Written for the USA regulations on cross infection control, the value of this book to those elsewhere in the world must be limited. M.V. Martin Dental Management of Patients with HIV. M. Glick. Pp. 319. 1994. New Malden, Quintessence. Hardback, &52.00. ISBN 0 86715 259 1. This book sets out to cover those aspects of HIV Infection pertinent to dental treatment and the result is an extremely useful resource on the subject. The book is well written, easy to read and conveys both the author’s and his panel of contributors’ profound knowledge of the subject. There are sixteen chapters starting with a fascinating comparison of AIDS with previous epidemics. The second chapter on law and ethics is, understandably, written in a US context but raises some thought provoking aspects of public and professional attitudes to patients infected with HIV. There follow chapters covering the epidemiology, transmission and an extremely lucid chapter on the pathogeneses of the infection. Both the common and rarer oral and cutaneous manifestations of HIV disease are clearly discussed in some detail, many of which could be recognised by the dental surgeon as the first sign of the disease or of its progression. The book goes on to discuss various medications used in management followed by HIV testing, laboratory parameters and the medical assessment of HIV infected patients. Issues of infection control are well covered, as is the delicate subject of the management of occupational exposures to blood-borne pathogens. The book stresses throughout that HIV positive patients can be treated without a major modification of generally accepted principles of dental practice. This theme is expanded in a practical chapter written by the author on modifications of dental care which covers those specific areas of frequent concern among practitioners. The book ends with a chapter on staff training and this is followed by three appendices giving useful lists of laboratory values and frequently used abbreviations. The quality of text, as has come to be expected of Quintessence is high and both the line diagrams and colour photographs clear and pertinent. I enjoyed reading this book and can recommend it to all dental practitioners who deal with HIV-positive patients and to any who wish to update their knowledge on the subject. R.I. Macleod

Psychiatric Disorders in Dental Practice. D. Enoch and R. Jagger. Pp. 132. 1994. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Softback, g14.99. ISBN 0 7236 1001 1. This book commences with a brief overview of psychiatric disorders. It gives a somewhat outdated view using outdated terminology, resulting in confusion: for instance, the reader may not know what was the difference between so-called neurotic and so-called endogenous depression. Hysteria is a term which has such a multiplicity of meanings and has caused such confusion in the past that it is a pity to see it preserved here. The psychiatric problem which impinges most on dental practice is anxiety. This is recognised by the inclusion of a separate chapter on Dental Phobias. However, this presents a quaint classification and no real discussion of the origins of dental anxiety, a topic which has now attracted a large literature. When it comes to management of anxiety, there is little discussion of what the dental practitioner may reasonably do. By definition, the dental practitioner will rarely see dental phobias, i.e. the large proportion of the population who are prevented by anxiety from attending for treatment. However, some information on prevention of the problem may have been expected. The section on medication is also dated. For instance, a dental practitioner may wish to know whether the same precautions should be taken with the new monoamine oxidase inhibitors: he will find no mention of moclobamide. The statement that pimozide is the “treatment of choice for monosymptomatic delusions” is without foundation. I cannot recommend this book to teachers or practitioners. R.P. Snaith Contributions to the Development of Human Deciduous Tooth Primordia. R.J. Radlanski. Pp. 87. 1994. New Malden, Quintessence. Softback, f45.00. ISBN 0 86715 261 3. The first point to make about this work is the difficulty in categorizing it. It falls about halfway between a scientific paper and a very slim textbook and is, in fact, probably best considered as an extended (non-peer reviewed?) research paper. It is concerned with the role of physical (i.e. spatial) relationships between tissues in the control of tooth morphogenesis and at its core lies an extensive study involving three-dimensional reconstructions of tooth primordia. As the author points out, it is only with the advent of readily available desktop computing power that anyone would have attempted such a study. The book itself comes in a rather uninspiring cover but inside is nicely turned out, with several good quality micrographs and numerous colour 3-D reconstructions of tooth primordia and their surrounding tissues. The restricted nature of this publication must limit its appeal. I cannot see the typical dental student giving it anything other than a cursory glance, even when pointed in its direction. It is certainly the case that students do have difficulty in relating what they see on a slide to the spatial arrangement of the tissue in three dimensions. I remain to be convinced, however, that this type of reconstruction helps them a great deal. For those working in the field it provides some nuggests of possibly useful background information. As its focus is so limited, it is difficult to see how it could be more than that. Its lack of direct reference to current work in tooth and general tissue morphogenesis only serves to limit its scope still further. Had