This book includes a short section on what is normal and normal variations present in the populations, which is particularly helpful especially for students who have only a limited clinical experience of what is normal. Diagrams with accompanying photos of clinical presentations and text explain diagnostic and descriptive terminology, aiding understanding of diagnoses and application of appropriate terms to clinical findings. The remaining chapters deal with the common oral diseases by anatomical landmarks (teeth, gingivae, tongue etc) and by colour changes (red, white, pigmented). Presenting and explaining conditions peculiar to the hard tissues, periodontal diseases, soft tissue lesions, benign and malignant neoplasms and oral manifestations of systemic diseases. The book includes a number of useful appendices. These include a translator for those common Latin abbreviations that leave us all clueless. The quick guide to the diagnosis and management of the most common oral lesions is excellent, I just wish that within the sections diseases were listed alphabetically and thus easier to find.

This book is an excellent aid to revision and includes a self-assessment quiz to help with exam preparation. It is also a handy guide for clinics, although it is too large to fit in a pocket and sneak onto clinic the size has allowed a much more practical and readable text. My copy is proving invaluable and is well thumbed, the cover is a little flimsy but can be easily transformed with some sticky back plastic and a bit of Blue Peter know how. This is a book I will continue to dip into