Oral laser application

  • A. Moritz
(Ed) UK: Quintessence price £178.00, pp 592 ISBN 1850971501 | ISBN: 1-850-97150-1

This book is edited by Professor Andreas Moritz, president of the European Society for Oral Laser Applications (ESOLA), who has been involved in the teaching and development of laser dentistry for over 13 years. In fact, all the contributors to the book are experts in the use of lasers and are mostly members of ESOLA.

The stated aim of this textbook is to gather the knowledge of various authors in the use of lasers in dentistry, to help decipher the many concepts and wavelengths available. It is certainly a very well structured, comprehensive book, divided into 13 chapters with excellent illustrations and clinical photographs. Each chapter includes both conventional treatment modalities as well as laser treatment in addition to the underlying disease and its scientific background. The first chapter, 'Basic information on lasers', is set out in such great detail that it requires a graduate of physics to fully understand and appreciate all the information it contains. In addition to that, a unique footnote system is added to nearly every page of the chapter to provide further detail on a more mathematical form or on specific data on the lasers. Coupled with the style of writing, the first chapter was certainly challenging even to an experienced laser clinician.

The book covers all the available laser wavelengths with specific clinical applications and describes in detail the clinical procedure catering for both the complete novice as well as the experienced clinician. Direct comparisons are made between conventional and laser treatments where clinically appropriate and the relevant research is also included. Generally the book is very well referenced and provides a very good atlas for laser users to refer to before embarking on new treatment concepts.