Article
Medical Problems in Dentistry
It is now four years since the 6th edition of this well established textbook was published. This new seventh edition has adopted a larger page size and runs to 823 pages, an increase of 77 pages on its predecessor. The contents are laid out in the same format as previously with 37 chapters divided up under five headings, namely, general medical issues (including medical emergencies), organ system disease, other system disease (for example allergy), other health issues and appendices.
Medicine, like dentistry, continues to evolve. An increase in medical innovation combined with an ageing population means that our patients increasingly have complex medical histories, ongoing multimorbidities and need a polypharmacy of medication to maintain their health. No practitioner can expect to remember all of the finer details of multiple medical conditions and their relevance to dentistry. This book continues to act as a unique reference source of how medical problems can affect the practice of dentistry, bringing together information from a wide range of sources.
Like another invaluable reference source, the BNF, this book benefits from its regular updating and Professor Scully is to be congratulated on his efforts. The pace of change, and the ease with which information on the internet can be quickly updated in the light of new evidence, is acknowledged with an expanded list of website references at the end of chapters, alongside traditional journal references and recommendations for further reading. The increasing influence of evidence-based medicine is also evident, although the paucity of high quality evidence for some of what we do, and our consequent reliance on consensus, is also acknowledged.
This remains an excellent comprehensive textbook bringing together relevant information into one place. It is a book to use for reference, rather than an end-to-end read, but it continues to fulfil its function amply in the increasingly complex world of the medical-dental interface.