Cleft lip and palate: Diagnosis and management

  • J. Bagg,
  • T. W. MacFarlane,
  • I. R. Poxton &
  • A. J. Smith
UK: Oxford University Press price £39.95, pp 317 ISBN 0198564899 | ISBN: 0-198-56489-9

Essentials of microbiology for dental students delivers exactly what it says in the title, succeeding in its stated aim to present microbiology in a clinical context that is relevant to the safe and effective practice of dentistry and providing a core reference text for dental undergraduates and postgraduates as well as for practising dentists.

This book has been produced with today's dental undergraduates firmly in mind, particularly from the perspective of the recommendation of the GDC document, The first five years, that basic science, including microbiology, should be closely integrated with clinical teaching and spread throughout the dental curriculum.

Not surprisingly, this second edition has retained the successful format of its predecessor which won the Dental Prize of the Medical Writers Group of the Society of Authors Medical Book Awards 2000. The text is written in a clear and concise style augmented by over 300 colour illustrations, photographs and tables. A 17 page glossary of scientific and clinical terms is a particularly useful feature as are the summary lists of key facts at the end of each chapter.

The book's 30 chapters are divided into three main sections dealing with: i) fundamental principles of microbiology, introducing infectious agents and host defence through to antimicrobial agents, disinfection and sterilisation and diagnostic microbiology; ii) infectious diseases relevant to dentistry presented in a system-based format; and iii) oral microbiology, providing an excellent introduction to the topic from which the student can progress to more detailed texts. The text has been updated since the previous edition in order to keep up with the recent developments in microbiology of which the dentist should be aware. New chapters have been written on fungi, human herpes viruses, infections of the central nervous system and the use of antimicrobial agents in dentistry. The emergence of infectious diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and prion diseases are also covered and accordingly the chapters on sterilisation, disinfection and infection control procedures in dentistry have been completely rewritten to reflect changes in decontamination protocols.

The topics are covered comprehensively, pitched of course at a level suited to dental rather than microbiology students, with suggested further reading at the end of each chapter.

As a convenor of a BDS Human Health and Disease course I have no hesitation in recommending this as a core textbook.