Minor oral surgery in dental practice

  • J. G. Meechan,
  • M. Greenwood,
  • U. J. Moore,
  • P. J. Thomson,
  • I. M. Brook &
  • K. G. Smith
UK: Quintessence price £28.00, pp 124 ISBN 1850970823 | ISBN: 1-850-97082-3

This is a generally well-written and illustrated small hard backed book, which gives a broad overview of minor oral surgery (MOS). It is divided into 14 chapters, covered over 168 pages. In general the book is easy to read, with aims and outcomes clearly stated at the beginning of each chapter, to ensure that the reader has understood the contents. Introductory chapters on patient assessment, the general principles of MOS and pharmacology give a broad overview of diagnosis and treatment planning. All of the chapters are readily readable, with the one on surgical endodontics being especially enjoyable.

One of the major criticisms is that the book does not make clear exactly what procedures can be appropriately carried out in a general dental practice setting. For example, in the chapter on biopsies it was stated that only 'lesions that appear malignant should not be biopsied in the general practice setting'. This is worrying as oral cavity cancers may not have typical presentations. Therefore we would strongly caution the dental practitioner in following the advice given in this chapter. Another example was how to manage a fractured tuberosity — no guidelines were given about when the patient should be referred or when the tuberosity should be removed.

The specific pre-operative assessment of surgical procedures that could safely be performed in a dental practice setting was not directly addressed. For example, in the chapter on impacted teeth, although the NICE guidelines were documented for the removal of third molars, there was no method given to enable a reader to adequately assess the degree of difficulty that might be encountered with this procedure. Without this knowledge, a practitioner might get into considerable difficulty in attempting a procedure that is then found to be beyond their level of expertise. Diagrams showing the features likely to increase the difficulty of surgery and/or a table of possible complex cases would have been beneficial.

In general, this book should be of interest to undergraduate dental students, and postgraduate practitioners who wish to update their knowledge or gain some insight into the range of MOS procedures. However, it is should be made clear early in the book that many of the procedures described would not usually be performed in a general dental practice setting. As long as this is borne in mind, this book can be recommended to the dental practitioner.