Oral surgery

  • F. D. Fragiskos
Germany: Springer price £191.50; pp 367 ISBN 9783540251842 | ISBN: 978-3-5402-5184-2

This book was originally published in Greek by Professor Fragiskos, an Associate Professor in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and has been translated into English by Helena Tsitsogianis. The aim is to provide practical guidance on various surgical techniques in the form of an atlas and the stated target audience is dental students, general dental practitioners and specialists. It is recognised by the author that this format limits the extent of theory behind the described techniques, reasoning that one picture is worth a thousand words.

There are 16 chapters covering many aspects of minor oral surgery, with particular emphasis on the basic principles. The first half of this book focuses on more common procedures from simple and surgical tooth extraction to management of odontogenic infections. The step-by-step illustrations give the reader a practical and visual guide on how to perform each surgical technique which is invaluable for dental students and young dentists. The latter half of the book concentrates on more advanced oral surgery, for example, salivary gland lesions, preprosthetic surgery and dental implants. These chapters are less detailed and provide more of an overview for experienced dental practitioners wishing to further their skills and professional development.

I was disappointed that oral premalignancy and cancer, medical emergencies and oral and maxillofacial trauma were not covered. This is a serious omission and an essential requisite to any textbook on oral surgery. Another major criticism is that some of the material is out of date or differs from what is taught and practised in the UK. In particular, the recommendations for steroid cover and antibacterial prophylaxis for infective endocarditis are not based on current clinical evidence; alternative treatments to surgical excision for lesions such as haemangiomas or salivary gland sialoliths are not considered; black silk sutures are used for closure of skin wounds and amalgam is the only retrograde restorative material discussed.

The presentation of this book makes it difficult to use as a quick reference or learning text. The chapters do not follow a structured programme and there would be great benefit in having an initial outline of key points, improved subheadings throughout and an end summary. Due to the translation from Greek, the text is excessively verbose and it could be better subtitled and paragraphed to ensure greater readability. Furthermore, the terminology used differs from that used in the UK, for example, apicoectomy instead of apicectomy, which is confusing.

Learning surgery from a written description is impossible and in the context of practical treatment, the use of clear diagrams and clinical pictures makes this book a useful adjunct to more theoretical textbooks. This book is beautifully illustrated and it provides an effective visual aid which will complement a clinician's professional learning. My overall opinion is that this book is lacking on detailed text, uses outdated techniques and does not discuss more evidence based dentistry. It cannot rival similar, multi-author, specialist texts covering this speciality. I would only recommend the book as a supplemental text book for dental students and dental practitioners who require pictorial support for knowledge already acquired.