Book review

This is the second edition of a book that has been specifically designed for students undertaking the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) examinations and has four editors – one Finnish and three American, with 46 other contributors. In their introduction, the editors state that the book should also be useful as a guide for undergraduate students and for general dentists when communicating with the orthodontic specialist.

The layout of the chapters tends to follow a traditional pattern, with craniofacial growth, development of the occlusion and diagnosis and treatment planning, then proceeds to describe the various types of appliances, adult orthodontics, use of temporary anchorage devices, temporomandibular disorders and, finally, looks at new technologies such as laser surgery, cone-beam CT and complex craniofacial surgery. However, the text of the chapters themselves consists of a series of questions and answers, usually quite short. Reference is made to the most recent research in the discipline and the increasing number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses are sought out and prominently highlighted.