How to keep your teeth for life

  • S. Riddle &
  • H. Gill
(Self-published) Email teethforlife.book@hotmail.com to order £9.99 9780956493309 | ISBN: 978-0-9564-9330-9
Extremely enjoyable to read

This informative and educational book was extremely enjoyable to read. With 132 pages and 30 chapters it is written in a relaxed, informal style for members of the general public. I feel it would also be suitable for students or recently qualified dental care professionals (DCPs) and could act as a refresher guide to improve their communication skills with patients.

The book is easy to understand and would be a useful addition to the reading material in the dental waiting room. Even though we provide information, literature and demonstrations for our patients there is still a need to provide further reading material which provides a basic understanding of how they can look after their own mouth/teeth or the treatments readily available to them.

The first chapters of the book focus on prevention and are the most detailed throughout the whole book; it cannot be emphasised enough that prevention is better than cure. The remaining chapters discuss the different dental treatments available, should a major or minor problem occur.

The subjects the chapters covered include: structure of the teeth and prevention, anaesthetics and nervous patients, pain relief and antibiotics, implants, crowns and bridges, bleaching, cosmetic dentistry (botox, dermal fillers, tooth jewellery and oral piercing), TMJ/TMD problems, trauma/accidents, snoring, halitosis, pregnancy and new developments in dentistry. A very small selection of useful addresses is included on the final page (I think this could have been more extensive).

I felt the book would have benefitted from being printed in a larger font size and varying the font for headings. Clearer sub-headings would have improved the ability of the reader to differentiate between the chapters and sub-chapters because at times they seemed to amalgamate into each other. However, photographs of dental problems and solutions are clear and of high definition.

We always think that changes in dentistry happen so fast, possibly on a par with computers, electronics etc but actually the basics of dentistry change very slowly due to important clinical trials which can take several years, so I think most of the information in this book will be relevant for some years to come.

It will give your patients a broad spectrum of dental information for them to digest and also to take away to improve the health of their friends and family and an invaluable guide to avoid potential dental problems in the future with the help of their own dentist and hygienist.