Medical problems in dentistry

  • C. Scully &
  • R.A. Cawson
UK: Elsevier price £59.99, pp 683 ISBN 0443101450 | ISBN: 0-443-10145-0

Every generation produces its classic texts; this is one. Such books tend to become larger with each edition, and this is no exception. Medical problems in dentistry was never a textbook in the standard sense; it was always a ready reference when one was unsure of the current dental management of a medical condition. As such it has become the standby of many clinicians. A copy sits in my clinic, not just for students and junior staff but for my own consultation, and it has become an invaluable aide and a first point of reference over the years.

The scope of the text has widened greatly both with new sections (such as disability and complementary medicine) and by the strengthening of existing sections. For example, five pages are given to infections prevalent in the developing world (relevant in the age of mass worldwide tourism) and six pages to the medical problems encountered in different immigrant groups.

As the authors themselves state, this never purported to be a comprehensive textbook of medicine for dentists. The suggested reading lists go a long way towards making up for this and now include a number of trustworthy websites.

This is the first edition of Medical problems in dentistry with colour illustrations. Many clinical texts are spoiled by poor colour reproduction. Here the photographs are well chosen and of high quality; the authors clearly have access to a comprehensive collection of illustrations.

The appearance of the printed pages is a little daunting with dense pages of black type relieved by the occasional table or picture. However, when one begins to read, the logic of this layout becomes apparent; a lot of information is packed into a relatively small number of lines. The summary tables, highlighted in colour, also make it easy to assimilate the relevant information.

It is difficult to know the target audience for this book. Is it aimed at a UK audience or the wider English speaking dental world? The relentless use of NHS derived forms as illustrations suggests the former; the authors may not have realised that some items, such as the chart of the British manual alphabet ('finger spelling') in the section on deafness, will be of little assistance to practitioners in other English speaking countries such as Australia, the USA and Ireland.

None of these criticisms are meant to detract from this superb book. Every dentist needs a copy near to hand. Dentistry already owes Crispian Scully and Roderick Cawson an immense debt for their various texts but this new edition of Medical problems in dentistry must stand as their greatest achievement to date.