Clinical success in surgical and orthodontic treatment of impacted teeth

  • J-M. Korbendau &
  • A. Patti
UK: Quintessence price £51.00; pp 136 ISBN 2912550440 | ISBN: 2-912-55044-0

This book is written by an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Dentistry in Paris, and the Director of the International Centre for the Study of Clinical Orthodontics in Verona.

It is a very well presented paperback book which aims to address the problems associated with impacted teeth in children and adolescents, from both orthodontic and surgical perspectives. There is a brief, slightly unnecessary contents page folded into the front cover, a more detailed contents page after the acknowledgements and preface, and a thorough index.

The book is divided into seven chapters: stages of eruption of permanent teeth; orthodontic and radiographic assessment of impacted teeth; preventive treatment of impactions; criteria for choosing orthodontic and surgical protocols; impacted maxillary canines: palatal approach; impacted maxillary canines: buccal approach; and impacted mandibular teeth. Each chapter is divided into clear sections. The chapters clearly go through the stages needed by practitioners for managing impacted teeth, starting with the stages of tooth development and the various factors that lead to tooth impaction, and leading to making an adequate diagnosis and treatment plan. The book steers more towards preventive orthodontic strategies, however, there is a good mixture of orthodontic and surgical information, and the surgical procedures are explained and shown in ample detail.

It is a very visual book with lots of good colour clinical photographs, including stages of surgery, well labelled colour diagrams, radiographs, and computerised tomography scans.

In summary, this book is well laid out and easy to read, however, it is not the easiest of books to navigate around as a reference. It is a very good general overview of the management of impacted teeth in relation to orthodontic and surgical management.