Quintessence of dental technology 2006

  • A. Sadan
(Ed) UK: Quintessence price £45.00, pp 228 ISBN 0867154594 | ISBN: 0-867-15459-4

Quintessence of Dental Technology is a journal which is published annually. It contains 20 articles on a wide range of subjects within prosthodontics and dental technology. As might be expected from Quintessence, it is beautifully produced with excellent photographic illustrations. Most of the articles are jointly authored by clinicians and technicians and are based on one or more case studies. In an era in which emphasis is placed on evidence-based research, this publication fills a gap in the literature. Its aim is to show advanced dental technology at its best. The topics covered range from ceramics through dental technician training to implantology, prosthodontic rehabilitation with surgical intervention and rehabilitation with immediate replacement dentures.

The clinical procedures described are mostly standard, only the laboratory techniques being new, usually as a result of the use of newer materials such as zirconium oxide ceramic. An article on cavity preparation for indirect partial-coverage restorations bases cavity design for ceramic inlays on anatomical and structural considerations. Thirty years ago treatment of the hopeless dentition with immediate dentures was routine and unlikely to command much space in the literature. Is it a measure of how far dentistry has come that alongside advanced ceramics and implantology, one article describes two such cases?

At US$76 it is not easy to predict who might buy this, but it is to be hoped that dental school libraries might subscribe to enable dental students to see what is possible in restorative dentistry. It might also provided a timely reminder to dental deans and curriculum planners of the importance of dental technology and of the link between clinician and technician.