Dental caries; the disease and its clinical management

Abstract

This book, overall, is an excellent reference text for students of cariology, whether they be predoctorals, graduate students, faculty, or practitioners.The editors, Drs.Ole Fejerskov and Edwina Kidd, can be congratulated on the book's mechanics and for keeping focused the international array of wellrespected experts who have contributed chapters.The chapters are, on the whole, of manageable length and well-written, with the pertinent tables and illustrations directly available for reference when reading the text.The tables and figures are well laid out, informative and an excellent complement to the text.Chapters 2 and 3 of the book describe the composition, structure and function of saliva and plaque.These chapters are scientifically informative, though each chapter ends with 2-3 pages headed Saliva and Caries and Dental Plaque and Caries.This unfortunately implies, to an extent correctly, that some of the earlier information in these chapters is irrelevant in a book on dental caries.This was particular so in the chapter on saliva.Chapters 4 and 5 present the scientific essence of the discipline of cariology and are wellwritten and beautifully illustrated.These are ''must read'' chapters for the predoctoral students in dental schools.The chemical interactions between the tooth and oral fluids, Chapter 4, allows the reader to understand the chemistry of the disease and its repair without overwhelming the reader with physical chemistry minutia.The clinical and histological manifestations of the disease in Chapter 5 follow logically from the chemical concept of how the disease develops, as described in the previous chapter.It is said that ''a picture is worth a thousand words'', and how well this chapter