Rriti.rh Journul o[ Orul arzd Muxillofacial Surger,v (1986) 24, 229-230 0 1986 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

BOOK REVIEWS

The Ageing Face and Neck. Edited hy RKII,~R~I G. WEKKR & RICHARD C. SMrrii. IYXS. Published by Blackwell Scientific Publications. Oxford. pp. 275. Price f47.50.

A rather unusual book. It has a series of line drawings to illustrate the changes that occur in the ageing face and neck. with some photographs later in the text. The text. as such. does not describe any surgical techniques but consists of a series of questions answered first by the authors then by a number of aesthetic surgeons. and finally there is an editorial comment. The questions basically concern how the surgeon should discuss the matter in dealing with patients during consultation.

I would have thought that the book is only of interest to aesthetic surgeons and at fJ7.50 is quite cxpcnsivc.

B. V. M. (‘ORPS

Recent Advances in Plastic Surgery-No. 2. Edited by I;\r< 1‘. .IACKSON. IYX5. Published by Churchill Livingstone. Edinburgh. pp. 266. Price f-10.00.

Thij hook was first published in IYXI. As its title states, this volume deals with some of the recent advances in plastic surgery over the prcceeding 5-10 years.

In this specialty over the last 2(!-25 years there has heen an explosion of new ideas and techniques. The increase of knowlcdgc is so great that although many of the article? in this book are excellent the! can only cover each subject relatively hricllc.

An intcrcsting book for the cxpcrt but a p:astlc surgeon who reads the specialist iournals will find littlc IlCW.

B. 1’. M. CORI’S

Precision Attachments in Prosthodontics. By Fi. W. PKHSKLI.. Quintessence Publishing Company. London, Berlin. Rio de Janiero and Tokyo. IYX1. pp. 31s. Price fhl .YO.

Harold Prciakel’s ‘Precision Attachments in Dentistry’ has been revised. divided into 2 volumes and retitled with grandeur Precision Attachments in Prosthodontics. Publication is this time by Quintessence. Volume I: The Application of Intracoronal and Extracoronal Attachments follows the pattern of the first seven chapters of the previous publication with the addition of a chapter entitled Problems with Attachment-Retained Prosthc\cs. The diagrams and photographs arc produced in a quality of colour that WC have come to expect from Quintessence. a plcasing improvement on the offset lithography and poor reproduction of clinical photographs in previous editions.

John Zamct contributes a largely unmodified chapter of Periodontal Therapy. Emphaals IS still placed on surgical proccdurcs. a surprising feature since rcccnt research gives more support to less radical tcchniquea. There ia a useful section on the recording of plaque and bleeding indices however. It would have been helpful if more emphasis could have been placed on plaque control and the particular maintenance problems for the patient with attachment-rct;lined prostheses and cxtcnsivc bridgework.

Chapters 6 and 7 on Intra and Extracoronal retainers ha\e been updated and rcviscd to mcludc NM attachments on the market. Aa in prcv~ous editions thehe arc dcscribcd in detail both in the mechanic\ ot their operation and the clinical and technical procedure\ required in their construction.

‘l’hc final chapter ol Volume I IS helpful since it deals uith wmc of the prohlcms 01 attachment-rctaincd prostheses. ‘l’he wction conccl-ning Iracturc of rcstorationa would have benefited from expansion to include aetiology and diagnosis. Failure may not happen in Harold Prriskel‘q cnvironmcnt but it certainly happen\ elsewhere and pi-evcntmn of rccurrcnt prohlcms with prostheses 01 this complexity must be a maior objective of the author.

This is an excellent book. superbly illustrated and II delight to read. Any minor crltlci\ms noted here mu\t bc attributed to a crttic‘\ prejudice. There a~-c ;I few irriratinf typogaphical crl-ors and the change

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