Marco A. Peres (editor) - Oral Epidemiology: A Textbook on Oral Health Conditions, Research Topics and Methods (Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry)

This textbook series presents the most recent advances in all fields of dentistry, with the aim of bridging the gap between basic science and clinical practice. It will equip readers with an excellent knowledge of how to provide optimal care reflecting current understanding and utilizing the latest materials and techniques. Each volume is written by internationally respected experts in the field who ensure that information is conveyed in a concise, consistent, and readily intelligible manner with the aid of a wealth of informative illustrations. This textbook series presents the most recent advances in all fields of dentistry, with the aim of bridging the gap between basic science and clinical practice. It will equip readers with an excellent knowledge of how to provide optimal care reflecting current understanding and utilizing the latest materials and techniques. Each volume is written by internationally respected experts in the field who ensure that information is conveyed in a concise, consistent, and readily intelligible manner with the aid of a wealth of informative illustrations. Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry will be especially valuable for advanced students, practitioners in the early stages of their career, and university instructors. will be especially valuable for advanced students, practitioners in the early stages of their career, and university instructors.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14362

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The book edited by Professors Peres, Antunes, and Watt, with dozens of collaborators from 12 countries, represents a landmark publication in the field of Oral Health Epidemiology. Having been involved in Epidemiology for over four decades, I witnessed its evolution from a relatively narrow discipline aimed at studying communicable diseases to a broad endeavor that covers all types of conditions related to health and illness. In addition to disease-specific research, Epidemiology earned several qualifiers to describe its growing scope: social, genetic, environmental, life-course, and behavioral are a few descriptors that have been and continue to be applied to our discipline. This book is a stellar example of how such a multitude of approaches can be brought together in a coherent state-of-the-art of diseases of the oral tract.

Going back in time, I find it striking to see how many scientists underwent their initial training in Dentistry but then moved on to make major contributions to health research, as well as to public health practice and policymaking. Some of my early teachers in Brazil, and several of the most competent statisticians, demographers, epidemiologists, and sanitarians I have known, indeed evolved from a clinical Dentistry background, having moved to Epidemiology and Public Health at later stages in their careers.

Despite the wide presence of dentists throughout epidemiological practice, a textbook of Epidemiology explicitly directed to the area of Oral Health was not yet available. This book definitely fills this large gap. Peres, Antunes, and Watt, with the support of their collaborators from many parts of the world, opted for an ambitious bookin the full sense of the wordwhich addresses three main approaches. The first part, Oral Health Diseases and Disorders, follows the approach of disease-oriented Epidemiology, by reviewing the international literature on the frequency of more than a dozen outcomes relevant to oral health. These reviews are broad and systematic. They will certainly become essential readings for understanding the current situation of the distribution and determinants of dental diseases. The chapters also provide useful insights into present gaps in knowledge and on how these must be addressed, both by researchers and healthcare managers and policymakers.

Whereas the first part of the book canvassed the past and the present, its second part focuses on future challenges of Oral Health Epidemiology, being aptly named as Hot topics in Oral Health Research. Persistent themes such as marked social inequalitieswhich are as prominent in oral health as in most other health conditionsare dealt with alongside topics of more recent interest, such as the influence of the life cycle, the use of big data, approaches, the evaluation of complex interventions, the impact of oral health on quality of life, and the relationship between oral and systemic diseases. This part also addresses ethical issues and topics related to the teaching of Epidemiology and its applications for health programs and policies. Thus, in its ambitious second part, the book provides an outstanding example to be followed by future Epidemiology compendia, regardless of their specific topic matter.

Finally, the third part, Methods in Oral Health Research, provides the necessary tools for epidemiological practice, being aimed at building capacity in the conduct of their field research. Topics such as instruments for the gathering of data, validation of questionnaires, the validity of diagnostic tests, assessing and reporting bias, and systematic reviews of the literature are discussed. This part will undoubtedly become an essential read for undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in doing research in the field.