Dentistry In A Nutshell Review

Dentistry in a Nutshell

The Basics

Dentistry in a Nutshell is a new dental textbook written by Dr Nicola Gore and Dr Raabiha Maan. These authors have a huge amount of experience with training younger dentists and trainees.

The book is a comprehensive guide covering key dental topics including oral medicine, dental trauma, post and core preparations and endodontic procedures.

Dentistry in a Nutshell is primarily targeted at dental students and young dentists (particularly those who are post-DFT or DCT). However, there are a few reasons that I feel this book is suitable for any dentist at any stage of their career:

• Preparation – if you know you’re about to carry out a procedure the following day, then this book can serve as a good refresher so that you are confident during the procedure.
• Last minute – if you keep this textbook in your surgery and are presented with a case that you don’t normally see or need a quick reminder on, the book provides quick guidance.
• Infrequent scenarios – when you’ve been working for a few years, certain procedures/cases don’t present very frequently. This is where the book can prove to be extremely helpful, whether it is management of oral ulceration or dental trauma.
• Guidelines/Protocols – there are a huge array of guidelines and protocols that exist in dentistry and it can be difficult to track them all down. Dentistry in a Nutshell compiles majority of these guidelines together, making it a quick reference text.

Layout and Content

I found the layout and design of the book particularly impressive. I much prefer textbooks that are heavy on diagrams and colour. This book has plenty of flow diagrams, enabling you to follow procedures in a step-by-step manner. Chapters are also colour-coded, with plenty of colour within the content to allow you to differentiate between blocks of text. There are also high-quality photographs in each of the chapters, which again lets you apply the written text directly to a clinical situation.

The content itself is very easy to read and understand. There are a few spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, however this does not takeaway from the value of the content. I especially like the fact that, for materials, they have given examples of trade names and not just generic material names. This, again, makes it easier for you to apply this to real-life dentistry. The content in the book has also been peer reviewed by specialists in each area. This reassures you that the content is evidence-based and up-to-date.

Price

Dental textbooks tend to be very expensive. One of the biggest plus-sides of this book is that it is only £46 on Amazon! I feel that this is a bargain for the content and quality you are getting, especially when compared to other textbooks. It’s almost a little dental bible and so for £46 you can’t go wrong! In addition, 50% of profits are going to charity – which is a big yes!

Summary

Overall, I think Dentistry in a Nutshell is a must-have for any dentist, not just younger newly qualified ones. The quality and volume of content in the book means you may not need numerous other books to help you with clinical work. For the price, I don’t think you will find anything comparable!

Dentistry in a Nutshell