Cohen's pathways of the pulp, 10th edition

  • K. Hargreaves &
  • S. Cohen
UK: Elsevier price £96.99; pp 992 ISBN 9780323064897 | ISBN: 978-0-3230-6489-7

This is a comprehensive reference text for all things endodontics. The first edition was published in 1976 and it is now on its tenth edition.

Initially the book discusses the science of endodontics by covering topics such as diagnosis, instruments, materials, the structure of the dentine-pulp complex, pathobiology and microbiology. It then progresses to discuss all aspects of clinical endodontics. The tenth edition includes five new chapters, three in print and two online, including: Pathobiology of the Periapex, Regenerative Endodontics, Restoration of Endodontically Treated Teeth, Cone Beam Imaging for Endodontics and Key Principles of Endodontic Practice Management.

Previous editions have been criticised in reviews for being too wordy and having an overwhelming amount of in depth scientific background. I can sympathise with this view and at times the text was pretty heavy going. However, I felt that the detail complemented the relevant clinical topics and did in fact enhance the reader's understanding.

The book is well illustrated and I will definitely refer back to some of the images on 'instrumentation of the root canal' and also a series of 'summary boxes' which detail the preferred access cavity, average numbers and lengths of canals for each tooth.

I was impressed by the online content which included the whole text as well as five additional 'online only' chapters, a library of images, videos, case studies and quizzes. I found the search function online to be particularly handy as small text inserts were part of the search results which allowed you to quickly judge what was relevant to your particular query.

One of the nicest, and I think most important, online features is the 'updates' area. Textbooks are often criticised for being out of date at publication but this feature allows the text to be kept in line with recent developments. This is demonstrated by the discussion of self-adjusting files (SAF), a novel technique using hollow files oscillating in an up-and-down fashion with irrigation being pumped through the file. This technique is covered in the book but updates have been added online, in the relevant section of the text, as and when research was published.

In conclusion this is a comprehensive and well illustrated reference book which would be of use to both students and practitioners, particularly those with an interest in endodontics.