DEPARTMENT OF REVIEWS AND ABSTRACTS
Edite(d by
Alex Jacobson, DMD, MS, MDS, PhD
Birmingham, Ala.
All inquiries regarding information on reviews and abstracts should be directed
to the respective authors. Articles or books for review in this department should be
addressed to Dr. Alex Jacobson, University of Alabama School of Dentistry,
Univusity StationlBirmingham, Alabama 35294.
Handbook of Orthodontics
Robert Ei. Moyers
Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1988. 4th ed., 577
pages, 545 illustrations
Not only is orthodontics one of the most difficult
clinical areas,in dentistry, but it is also one of the most
rapidly changing. This becomes almost blatantly evi-
dent when lone compares the authors first edition
(1958), or even the third edition (1973), to the consid-
erably expanded new volume. The 4th edition, accord-
ing to the author, is a handbook rather than an ex-
haustive text, intended to serve as an introductory text
for dental smdents and to supply basic orthodontic
knowledge for the dentist who does not specialize in
orthodontics. This is not to be construed as a manual
that can be read casually during the course of an eve-
ning. On the contrary, whereas the book caters to the
needs of readers at varying levels, the almost 600-page
text written bsythe author and 11 contributors can well
be used as a background against which graduate level
discussions could begin.
As in previous editions, the latest volume is divided
into three sections; Growth and Development, Di-
agnosis , and Treatment. The basic concepts of
growth and development are described by the author in
the first section. This is followed by an expanded chap-
ter by James K. Avery entitled, Prenatal Facial
Growth. The well-referenced chapter (98 references,
50 recommended reading articles/books), Growth of
the Craniofacial Skeleton, by Moyers and Enlow has
been considerably modified and updated. The authors
have somehow succeeded in reducing a tremendously
complex subject to assimilable form-an achievement
in itself. The chapter by Arthur T. Storey on orofacial
musculature i:s excellent. Rather than classify muscles
as acting as synergists or antagonists (e.g., jaw muscles
designated as levators or depressors, protractors or re-
tractors), the contributing author perceives mandibular
movement as that of a free body manipulated in an
intricate muscular web, with the teeth and joints acting
as stops and guides. The writers general approach to
the subject of neuromuscular physiology is refreshing.
Chapters on the Development of the Dentition by the
main author and Dr. Burdi, and on Etiology of Mal-
occlusion by the author have been expanded and re-
written.
In section 2 of the book, under the heading of Di-
agnosis, the chapters dealing with the orthodontic ex-
amination, classification and terminology of malocclu-
sion, analysis of orofacial musculature, dentition, and
occlusion have been restructured. Added to the last
chapter is a short separate section that deals with tem-
poromandibular joint dysfunction. Another considera-
bly revised chapter is that of cephalometrics by the
author and Bookstein and Hunter. Unlike many texts
on cephalometrics that usually begin with identification
and definition of landmarks, points, and planes fol-
lowed by descriptions of various popular analyses, the
chapter in this book provides the reader with an ex-
cellent overall understanding and appreciation of the
advantages, problems, and limitations of cephalomet-
tics. It is a sophisticated section that requires careful
digesting.
The introductory chapter by Per Rygh and the author
in the third (treatment) section of the book is concise,
yet adequately describes the force systems and tissue
responses to orthodontic/orthopedic forces. General
treatment planning is described, followed by separate,
fairly comprehensive chapters dealing with early, ad-
olescent, and adult treatment procedures. The last chap-
ter describes various orthodontic techniques.
The subject material is well referenced and orga-
nized, and the photographs and illustrations are clearly
reproduced. The book is well written and addresses the
theoretical and practical needs of the most rapidly
changing field in dentistry. There is little doubt that the
volume will serve as one of the major texts in orth-
odontics.
Alex Jacobson
The lnternatlonal Journal of
Orofacial Myology.
Special Issue-Orofaclal Myology:
Current Trends
international Aaaoclation of Orofacial
Myology Inc.
Int J Orofacial Myology 1988;14(1)
Health professionals interested in orofacial myology
are likely to appreciate the special issue of the Inter-
national Journal of Orofacial Myology, edited by Rob-
267