Book review

This new cariology text seeks to explain the biological background of dental caries and the formation of carious lesions to provide the practitioner and student reader with the basis to understand different therapeutic and preventive measures. To this end the Editor, Michel Goldberg, has enlisted the help of 20 international cariologists. The book has 19 chapters, 249 pages and is fully referenced. A first examination yields three unpleasant surprises: there is no index; of 126 figures, only 5 contain clinical pictures and the Editor's Preface is peppered with grammatical errors.

The text is divided into 5 parts covering carious enamel, carious dentine, cervical erosions, fluoride and finally invasive and non-invasive therapy. The major part of the text covers histology in great detail but sadly with minimal reference to the clinical relevance. The enamel histological section includes an excellent chapter on the biofilm, and a diagnostic chapter that only covers light-induced detection methods, none of which detects cavities. Clinical-visual diagnosis and radiography are not covered.