ROWIDA ABDALLA, DDS, MS
Spiral-bound. 122 pages, 290 illustrations. $88. 2019.
Quintessence Publishing Co., Inc., 411 N. Raddant Road, Batavia, IL 60510.
(800) 621-0387; www.quintpub.com.
A book on esthetic waxing would seem to hold little interest for orthodontists; even the opening line of the preface indicates that this volume is directed toward dental students. Despite what the title might imply, however, Dr. Rowida Abdalla offers more than simple instructions on dental wax-ups.
This well-written book is divided into six chapters, but orthodontists will find the first two particularly useful: “Introduction to Occlusion,” which reviews tooth morphology and occlusion, and “Principles of Esthetics,” which covers dental microesthetics. These sections contain a number of valuable clinical pearls that I found applicable to everyday orthodontic practice; for example, the oblique ridge of the maxillary first molar should not be in occlusion. In fact, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, particularly the principles of dental microesthetics, which could easily be applied to enameloplasty—a technique rarely covered in orthodontic education. As one illustration, enameloplasty can be used to make a smaller tooth appear wider by moving the transitional line angles outward and reducing embrasure sizes.
The remainder of the book discusses the articulator and wax-ups, which may be worth a browse only for dental-school nostalgia. Nevertheless, I think many orthodontists will find The Art of Occlusal and Esthetic Waxing a worthwhile purchase if they merely swap the Bunsen burner for a handpiece.
NEAL D. KRAVITZ, DMD, MS
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