The treatment of edentulous patients

  • J.F. McCord,
  • P. Smith &
  • N. Grey
UK: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone price £29.99, pp124 ISBN 0443073074 | ISBN: 0-443-07307-4

This short textbook of just over 100 pages is aimed at undergraduate dental students and those who have very recently qualified. The book is logically organised into eight chapters, the first six covering the steps involved in the provision of complete dentures. Chapter one comprehensively covers the 'assessment of edentulous patients' and this is complemented by chapter two covering 'treatment options'. Throughout the book there are many excellent and clear illustrations. One feature I particularly liked was the informative tables that summarise salient points. These will enable students to quickly revise important points. Chapter four covers the 'registration stage' and this is probably the clearest explanation of this stage I have seen. It will be most welcome by students!

Chapter seven covers the technological aspects of denture construction concisely and clearly. The book ends with a series of eight case studies. These cover a good range of prosthetic treatments and common problems and include a discussion of the treatment options, although in one or two cases the detail is limited.

It is not, of course, possible to agree with everything in a dental textbook but I found myself agreeing with nearly all of the authors' statements. The only area I felt uncomfortable with was the authors' contention that replica denture systems are: 'demanding of clinical and technical skills' and 'not an easy option'. I believe the opposite to be true and personally I would often be lost without replica record blocks making life easy! There are a number of small typographical errors in the book and Figure 7.1 is used again as Fig. CS 7.1 in error.

Overall I feel this is a first rate book to add to the list of undergraduate texts. Certainly every dental student who wishes a lucid and well illustrated explanation of how to treat edentulous patients should buy one. It should also be of value to VT dentists, those studying for MFDS and any dentist who feels they need to revise this area of dentistry.