Essentials of orthognathic surgery, 2nd edition

  • J. P. Reyneke
UK: Quintessence price £128.00; pp 281 ISBN 9780867155006 | ISBN: 978-0-8671-5500-6

This is the second edition to the positively received 2003 book of the same name. The author, Professor Johan Reyneke, is a South African oral and maxillofacial surgeon with a good academic pedigree. He holds three international professorships and presents a course titled 'Orthognathic Surgery - occlusion and beyond' in a number of countries.

The book I received has an aesthetically pleasing deep purple hardback cover consisting of A4 size pages and is roughly 270 pages long. It aims to meet the needs of higher surgical and dental trainees in oral and maxillofacial surgery and orthodontics respectively as well as any clinicians interested in orthognathic surgery. As a first year SHO in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery I must acknowledge that I have limited experience in orthognathic surgery, therefore, I can only comment on the book as a person who is interested in the subject and would like to know and understand more about it.

The first thing I noticed about the book was how easy it was to read. The book starts with the absolute basics with its chapter titled 'Principles'. This takes the reader back to undergraduate teaching on skeletal classification and incisor relationships. The pictures are colourful, clear and appropriately placed in order to allow the reader to visualise what the author is trying to communicate. This section also highlights the role the orthodontist plays and the planning/treatment they must undertake prior to the surgeons involvement. The second chapter 'Systematic Patient Evaluation' starts with an interesting subsection on the 'Sociopsychological Evaluation' which is commonly overlooked. This chapter also deals with facial form and how certain facial relationships impact upon facial harmony. As expected, a large part of the book is dedicated to lateral cephalometric radiographic evaluation in which there are numerous photographs, sketches and tables. What I found fascinating, however, was how the author places an emphasis on the artistic flair of the surgeon for a set of procedures that you may think would be driven by precise numbers, angles and measurements. Imagination and an ability to think originally and creatively are qualities that Reyneke applauds. The book also has a 'how to do guide' on the most common surgical procedures to correct dentofacial deformities. Case studies at each stage of the book are where I feel it excels. This allows the reader a greater understanding of the principles outlined in the text and gives real life examples in practice.

In summary, this is a valuable read and is recommended for any clinician with an interest in orthognathic surgery.