Book review

This is a book of over 500 pages with 25 chapters written by over 30 contributors. It is a weighty tome covering bruxism in great detail over 3 parts entitled ‘Overview’, ‘Effects on the masticatory system’ and ‘Clinical approaches’. There are excellent chapters on aetiology and the last section on clinical management is a thorough overview. This reviewer particularly enjoyed chapters 5 and 6 on ‘The relationship with sleep’ and ‘Emotional factors’. Inevitably with so many authors, there is some degree of repetition and contradiction, but the message that bruxism is not just a dental problem but a wider medical problem is constant. Some chapters seem out of place in a book on bruxism, such as chapters 10 and 11 which cover ‘Erosion’ and ‘Gastroesophageal reflux as a cause of erosion’, respectively. The endodontic aspects are also discussed in chapter 13. The pharmacologic aspects were interesting to read, especially that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors may trigger and even worsen bruxism, although the evidence has tended to be mainly from case reports. TMD and its relationship with bruxism inevitably takes up considerable space but the point that not all TMD patients brux and that not all bruxers have TMD is well made.