Its contents are divided into three main subdivisions: orthopedic, dental, and chemical. The first section contains 13 papers, the second 9, and the last 17 articles. Each was prepared upon the invitation of the editors and, as such, the broadness of approach is considerable. The subjects are interesting, but due to the nature of book and the manner in which the articles were gleaned, there is no continuity of subject matter. In the orthopedic section, the broad spectrum of articles covers topics such as: cruciate ligament replacement with carbon fibers, nutrition and healing, experiences with graphite-silicon carbide double cup prostheses, rules controlling bony tissue reactions, residual monomer, cell mediated immune reactions, and adhesion between bone and cyanoacrylate after citric acid treatment. The articles are well written, but with obviously different styles.
The dental portion of the book covers a variety of materials and their interaction with bone. Carbon, hydroxyapatite, and titanium are the biomaterials most frequently discussed. In addition, technical matters of interest include studies of stress concentration about dental implants, studies of masticatory muscle function and ultrastructural analysis of the interface beween gold and titanium implants. The final section is termed "Chemical." Actually, it includes all of the papers that could not have been grouped in Parts 1 or 2. Articles are included on corrosion, calcium phosphate ceramic implantation, biodegradation of silicate glasses, principals of osseous response to implants, hydrogels and silicone rubber platelet adhesion, epithelial cell cultures, collagen, arterial prostheses, plasma gel dressings, dextranomer containers as topical agents in wound treatment, and regenerating nerve fibers.
The book is of value to clinicians and biomaterials scientists who would like to read enlarged versions of the abstracts presented at Gothenburg. Though there is little correlation among articles or sections, there is something positive to be said for each paper. This is a photo-ready volume with a variety of typewriter faces. Some of the types are easier to read than others. Many of the illustrations are poorly reproduced or too small to discern important details.
The references at the end of each chapter are not spaced or indented nor are they numbered; this makes it difficult to single them out. The quality of the paper is good and the book appears to be well bound.
If one buys it for what it is-a compendium of unrelated and disparate articles, it should be considered a worthwhile addition to the library of biomaterials scientist, dentist, orthopedic, or cardiovascular surgeon.