Oral microbiology and immunology

  • R. J. Lamont,
  • R. A. Burne,
  • M. S. Lantz &
  • D. J. LeBlanc
(Eds) USA: ASM Press price $79.95, pp 482 ISBN 1555812627 | ISBN: 1-555-81262-7

This new textbook is intended for dental students, dental practitioners and health care professionals. It provides a comprehensive insight into the advances in our understanding of how microbes in the oral cavity interact with each other, the host and their importance in systemic disease. It is also a useful source of information on the use of antibiotics, sanitisation, sterilisation and disinfection procedures.

The book is divided into three sections: in Section I, 'General principles of oral microbiology', the authors draw on examples from the oral microbiota or aspects of oral physiology to illustrate bacterial architecture and general principles of bacterial growth. A chapter on the isolation, classification and identification of oral microorganisms covers the array of molecular techniques that are now available to researchers and which have revealed the tremendous diversity of oral microbes that constitute the oral flora, of which only a fraction can be cultivated. Chapters on the ecology, physiology, genetics and molecular biology of oral microbes deal in depth with the growth and metabolism of bacteria in the oral cavity and the fascinating and complex interactions that can occur within dental biofilms. 'Population genetics of oral bacteria' discusses the dynamic evolution of highly diverse oral microbial populations and their co-evolution with the host. The final chapter in this section deals with the immune response to oral microorganisms. Section II deals with 'Oral diseases of microbial etiology' with separate chapters devoted to 'Caries', 'Periodontal diseases', 'Oral virology', 'Fungi and fungal infections', 'Endodontic microbiology' and 'Systemic diseases and the oral microbiota'. Each one starts with a basic introduction or overview and takes the reader through the aetiology and pathogenesis of each disease, covering recent research, treatment and prevention. Section III covers 'Control of oral infections' with two chapters respectively on 'Antibiotics and treatment of infectious diseases' and 'Infection control in dentistry'.

As a teaching aid this textbook will be very useful to instructors and students. The topics are generally very clearly presented; each chapter is summarised by a list of key points and several chapters have suggestions for further reading. Instructors who recommend the book to their students will want to avail themselves of the complementary CD-ROM containing all the coloured figures and tables, many of which are excellent. It is a pleasure to read and a valuable source of information.