In 1991, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Dentistry first saw the light of day as the authors' ‘baby’. In subsequent editions, it has progressively matured through life as a toddler and robust child. Now 15 years later as a teenager, it is exploring new avenues including web-based learning. Initially, it was developed as the logical extension for dentistry of the ubiquitous Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (often dubbed ‘the cheese and onion’ because of its characteristic green and yellow cover) or sister-Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialties, which was to be aimed mainly at the dental student and early postgraduate. Clearly, over the years, its value for a far wider audience has become well recognised.
The traditional Oxford handbook format of 180 × 98 mm pages between the characteristic flexible and robust plastic covers has been faithfully reproduced once again with an attractive pink, yellow and blue colour scheme. This new edition, however, has been extended to 18 chapters. There has been a major restructuring with new material including caries risk assessment, new preparation techniques and the latest developments in paediatric dentistry, with new restorative approaches as well as behaviour management, dietary advice and care of the handicapped patient.
After an introductory chapter on history and examination, the main dentally based specialties and subspecialties are covered sequentially before moving on to maxillofacial surgery. There is also a succinct chapter on syndromes of the head and neck. The section on medicine relevant to dentistry includes useful advice about technical procedures for in-patients such as venepuncture, catheterisation and the management of common postoperative problems. A helpful chapter on therapeutics leads logically into analgesia, anaesthesia and sedation and, in a similar way, a law and ethics chapter links into practice management.
There are now a series of colour plates covering topics such as oral mucosal lesions and other areas of oral pathology, imaging and the interpretation of restorative techniques. These for some reason are collected together in the middle of a section on denture problems and complaints, in a chapter entitled ‘Prosthetics and Gerontology’. Nevertheless, they have appropriate captions and are key-referenced in the text of the relevant chapters. The authors have once again endeavoured to ensure that the contents are user-friendly and have been most successful with the inclusion of 26 pages of useful information and addresses, a section on symbols and abbreviations as well as blank pages for notes and a comprehensive index.
This is a most valuable handbook with a wide range of appeal, from the undergraduate and those preparing for a range of postgraduate dental examinations through to trainers and other senior colleagues who need to bring themselves up-to-date with innovations outside their main field of practice.