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Book Review |
This 64-page soft back manual is the first edition of a new manual published by Munksgaard in 1999. It is considerably cheaper than previous texts from the authors in the same field. There are 19 short chapters with colour illustrations throughout and space for readers to add their own comments. In addition, the appendices include a standardized examination form and follow-up protocol which some readers will recognize from the authors previous texts.
The first four chapters cover epidemiology, the nature and consequences of trauma, the classification of traumatic injuries and examination and diagnosis. The following 12 chapters cover individual injury types describing clinical and radiographic appearance, biologic considerations, treatment, and expected outcomes. These latter findings are based on existing long-term studies. The text is clear and well written with references throughout. However, the text aims only to provide highlights of dental traumatology. The treatment section is therefore a brief description of what should be done. Step-by-step clinical procedure photographs do not appear with the exception of splinting which is covered in a separate chapter. The sections on biologic considerations are especially helpful as they provide a link between what is found at the time of injury and what is likely to occur and why. The treatment section is then aimed at correcting what has occurred and monitoring future events.
The text also includes chapters on preventing injuries and information for the public. This latter chapter contains recommendations on first aid for injuries to primary teeth and permanent teeth with specific suggestions for crown fractures and avulsions. It also gives details of how to obtain educational material which will be of great value to colleagues working closely with schools or sport clubs.
Somewhat unusually the authors have chosen to use electronically generated illustrations produced by a medical artist instead of clinical photographs and radiographs. The authors state that they selected this format to enhance similarities and differences between various injury groups. This means that the same tooth appears to be traumatised in each chapter, so that the clinical view and radiograph are of apparently the same individual with a different injury in each case. While this is at first a little difficult to get used to it does illustrate how a ‘typical’ injury would appear both clinically and radiographically without having to account for differences between individuals.
In their preface the authors state that they ‘wish to provide a ready reference for general practitioners and dental students in their studies’. In this they have succeeded, the manual will serve as an excellent reference for practitioners and dental students who have a good working knowledge of dental traumatology, since it concisely outlines the principles of diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow up for individual injury types. However, colleagues who also require a text that gives details on how to undertake specific treatments will find this too brief.
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