Applied dental materials, 9th edition

  • J. F. McCabe &
  • A. W. G. Walls
UK: Blackwell Munksgaard price £36.99; pp 303 ISBN 9781405139618 | ISBN: 978-1-4051-3961-8

The preface of Applied dental materials states that the book hopes to remain 'true to the core principles' and develop them into a 'more comprehensive text which covers a wide spectrum of materials'. The ninth edition includes expansions upon adhesion, ceramics, light activation technology, CAD-CAM, and a new chapter on endodontic materials, to reflect the recent developments in these areas. Despite its small size, the book is information dense, with 31 chapters spanning roughly 300 pages, in a relatively small font. Early chapters deal with the overall science of dental materials, gypsum, waxes, metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, impression materials, with later chapters on filling, crown and endodontic materials. Chapters are turgid with information, with multiple diagrams, graphs and colour photographs. Although this topic can be banal the book explains complex concepts in a straightforward fashion. Reading a full chapter from start to finish would be best advised in parts, as unless one is heavily involved in the field, absorbing all presented information takes some concentration.

In summary this book is well written and comprehensive. The text can be difficult to digest in places but this reflects more the subject matter than the manner of writing. On the whole, I feel the authors have managed to make a comprehensive referral book for dental materials. The authors 'hope that the book will remain helpful to students and teachers of the science of dental materials'. I believe they have achieved these criteria.