The 5-Minute Veterinary Consult: Small Animal Dentistry is a compact, comprehensive tabulation of oral diseases, surgical techniques, and diagnostic procedures. It is a very good reference guide, providing rapid access to common oral lesions encountered in small animal practice. This book is a collaboration of over 30 authors, each recognized as an expert in the chapters he or she wrote.
The content is organized as in the 5-Minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline, 3rd edition. Topics are well arranged into disciplines, allowing for quick, easy reference. Each disease process is organized with definition, etiology, pathophysiology, signalment/history, clinical features, differential diagnoses, diagnostic procedures, therapeutics, and comments. The diagnostic procedures and technique sections are arranged with indications first, followed by basic equipment needs, then a detailed explanation of the procedure, and, finally, comments. At the end of each chapter, a list of suggested reading for a more in depth description is provided. The book has a good glossary located in the final pages.
Overall, the pictures are of very good quality and are most useful for the reader’s understanding of the topics. Some of the diagrams are of poor quality and are not helpful. More pictures in the oral neoplasia section would be helpful for readers. Also, the section on exotic pets is disappointing, as it only skims the surface of the conditions associated with these animals. The equipment mentioned in the technique sections is very superficial; the readers would benefit if it was more detailed.
The assets of this book are its organization of topics, ease of deciphering the material, and detailed description of the topics, making it a very practical book for the general practioner. This book would be a valuable resource for veterinary students, general practitioners, and the specialist, and a good addition to any clinician’s library.