Book review

For any practitioners who have experienced frustration and unpredictable aesthetic results when carrying out direct composite layering techniques, salvation is at hand in the form of a magnificent new textbook from Quintessence publications entitled LAYERS. An Atlas of Composite Resin Stratification.

Authors Professor Jordi Manauta and Dr Anna Salat, from the University of Catalonia in Spain, clearly share a passion for both the art and science of aesthetic restorative dentistry and have created what must be one of the best looking dental textbooks in history. Their lavishly illustrated atlas describes layering techniques that were traditionally the preserve of ceramicists working with porcelain. It aims to help clinicians practise and predictably deliver minimally invasive direct composite restorations that accurately mimic the natural aesthetics of both anterior and posterior teeth.

The early chapters describe how the optical properties of enamel and dentine influence the choice of equipment, restorative materials and clinical techniques. The importance of tooth shape, surface texture and colour is stressed and explained in detail using carefully chosen diagrams, artworks and inspirational photographic examples.