Step-by-Step: A Systematic Guide to Staff Orientation, Training, and Evaluation in the Orthodontic Practice & Orthodontics and Paediatric Dentistry

In this series of training tapes with explanatory syllabus, Charlene White calls on her experience and knowledge as a consultant to present an easy-to-follow guide in how to develop a happy and productive staff.

The cost of hiring and training a chairside assistant with no previous orthodontic background is a significant investment. It is therefore of paramount importance that a practice minimize the number of times it has to replace trained staff members. Step-by-Step is one of the best sources I've seen for learning how this ideal situation can be achieved. As Ms. White says, "It takes a good system to keep good people."

Her tapes take the new hire through all the steps necessary to achieve a winning combination of office harmony, team membership, and enthusiasm. Specific instructions, and in some cases even scripting, cover office orientation, training, performance evaluation, and salary review. All are discussed in detail.

Ms. White emphasizes how disastrous it can be for the doctor, other staff, and patients when an improperly trained person is asked to perform on a level that pretends to show the excellent quality of the office. She also describes the value of scheduling in the training process. If the schedule is done properly, qualified team members can take the time needed to train the new member without cutting corners.

Whether you are a neophyte or a seasoned veteran, this will be a worthwhile addition to your office library.

MELVIN MAYERSON, DDS, MSD

This pocket-size color guide is intended as a convenient reference for students in orthodontics and pediatric dentistry. It is specifically designed to assist British undergraduate and "junior postgraduate" students," and those preparing for membership examinations".

Twenty topics are covered in the orthodontic section, including normal development of the dentition and occlusion, malocclusion, cephalometric analysis, anterior open bite, fixed and removable appliances, and cleft lip and palate. Twenty pediatric topics are presented as well, with chapters on nursing bottle caries, trauma, mucosal disease, and assorted mucosal lesions.

Each topic has a similar format: a definition followed by an outline of pertinent information such as prevalence, etiology, and treatment. Each is lavishly illustrated with high-quality color photographs, along with radiographs, charts, or line drawings where appropriate.

Although the book uses British terminology and refers extensively to the U.K.'s Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, American readers (or any other readers, for that matter) would benefit greatly by having it in their personal libraries. Experienced orthodontists and pediatric dentists will find some of the material elementary, but for rapid reference to a clinical anomaly outside of one's own specialty--as when an orthodontist is presented with a suspicious mucosal lesion--this book would be hard to beat.

ROBERT G. KEIM, DDS, EDD, PHD