Glossary of Orthodontic Terms

  • J Daskalogiannakis
London: Quintessence Books, 2000 price £65, pp2964 ISBN 3876527600 | ISBN: 3-876-52760-0

This book is intended to outline and classify the terms, materials and concepts that are used in orthodontics. It is endorsed by the World Federation of Orthodontics as its use may increase ease of communication between orthodontists throughout the world. The main target audience for the Gossary are orthodontic specialty trainees and orthodontists. The author also intends that undergraduate students who wish to become acquainted with orthodontics could make use of this book.

When I first heard of this book, I wondered if it was only going to be suitable for orthodontic obsessives who gain pleasure from ploughing through pages and pages of definitions. However when I sat down and read it, I found it fascinating and incredibly useful. This has led me to the conclusion that I have either become an orthodontic obsessive or the book is truly very useful. I would like to suggest that the latter viewpoint is correct.

One of the things that you try to do when you review a glossary is to find terms that are not defined. I tried to do this and I could not find any terms or concepts that are not clearly outlined. Certainly, any omissions were minor.

The book is also accompanied by a CD version, and this is the real strength of the package. Unfortunately, the layout of the screens is not what I expected as it does not look like the standard Windows screens and this takes some time to get used to. However, searching on any term is rapid. When a subject is found the text and even graphics can be saved. They can then be imported into Word. If I were a post-graduate in orthodontics I would think that this facility was excellent.

I can highly recommend this excellent book to all those who have an interest in orthodontics. It is particularly relevant to those on specialty training programmes, not just orthodontic geeks!

K. O'Brien (BR859)