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The Art and Science of Minimal Intervention Dentistry and Atraumatic Restorative Treatment.
Jo Frencken wrote this book in early retirement holed up in New York Dental School courtesy of Mark Wolf. It is about his Life's Work on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). NYU provided the perfect peaceful location at the ideal time − the text would have been ready to precipitate from the mind to the draft. The topic is appropriately cocooned within Minimal Intervention Dentistry, since no handpiece is used; enamel and dentine are mercifully spared. The key elements are hand instruments and an adhesive material for sealing and restoration.
Initial chapters on caries in enamel and dentine, and appropriate adhesive materials for the technique, give background to explain what is to follow. A chapter on the evolution of ART is a particular delight. What happened to spark this idea? The personal story and the many colleagues involved; it is a page-turner and subsequent world-wide developments are inspiring, leading to the position of ART in the world today. If you feel trapped in your surgery walls, read this and reflect on the wider world.
Chapters specific to the ART technique follow. What basic equipment and consumables are required? How are ART sealants and restorations placed and maintained? These chapters are liberally illustrated. Final chapters step back to consider the features of the technique and its applications from rural communities with no dental surgeries, to the developed world both in conventional surgeries and domiciliary settings. Numerous studies have evaluated the techniques scientifically around the world and all chapters are extensively referenced.
So who might read this book? Well for me, dentists world-wide! The author takes the reader on a detailed personal journey and his reflections along the way are one of the best features of the text. He has the right to comment and sometimes he does so bluntly which is very refreshing!
The publisher, Stephen Hancocks, has done a super job with an eye-catching hard cover, clear typeface and attractive sub-headings. When the book is reprinted (hopefully soon, without waiting for another edition) someone should check and adjust the colour balance of all illustrations. Some figures are too dark and figure 2.14 should be buried because the pictures are far too small and the result is annoyingly useless. There is a small blue flash top right on each page and this could usefully hold the chapter number.