Oxford handbook of dental patient care C. Scully, A. Kalantzis. UK: Oxford University Press price £24.95, pp 751 ISBN

0198566239

This is a concise but comprehensive handbook of dental patient care, building on the highly acclaimed first edition. Focusing on clinical dentistry, the breath of coverage is incredible for such a small book. It targets dentists and 'auxiliary' staff in the hospital, general practice and community settings in North America, the Antipodes, Europe and elsewhere.

This handbook has 13 key chapters, including history taking, investigations, dealing with emergencies, different types of surgery, oral diseases and therapeutics. Although WHO guidelines are not always included, it does include a very important chapter on being a professional in an ever changing and challenging political climate, which inevitably contains some out of date information.

The summary tables in each chapter are extremely helpful, offering a fantastic reference guide for all practitioners including Dental Care Professionals as well as for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The appendices provide a quick reminder for all basic and essential information.

In some chapters, it is encouraging to see web addresses are given for further information. However, it would be useful if details of sources of references and further reading were provided.

Unfortunately, the structure of the oral health care system referred to in the book only applies to England. Practitioners in other countries such as those in America and Europe, to whom this book claims to serve, are neglected. While this book aims to provide for the whole of the dental team, the chapter on being a professional is biased towards dentists. Not all members of the dental team are mentioned and roles of each member lack details. Similarly, other disciplines in the community with whom the dental team can collaborate are not emphasised.

The chapter on oral diseases appears to be the most confusing. While there is a section on caries prevention, there is little detail on dental caries as one of the numerous oral diseases included in this chapter.

It may be criticised that this handbook mainly focuses on treatment rather than prevention and, in a widest sense, health promotion. There is a mixture of American and British English which some readers may find irritating. There are some misleading minor details such as five pieces of fruit rather than portions, as one piece of fruit does not necessarily equate to one portion. The use of politically incorrect terminologies may be problematic in some countries.

Overall though, the Oxford handbook of dental patient care is a good pocket size reference book for both students and practitioners at all levels.