Essential microbiology for dentistry, fifth edition

Abstract

and quality of the flora that inhabit our body, including the oral cavity. In this, the fifth edition of this book, I have attempted to incorporate the new data as much as possible while maintaining its popular concise, yet comprehensive outlook. The fact that you are now reading the fifth edition of the book is testimony to its popularity, with more than 40,000 copies sold in all five continents; Chinese, Polish and Korean translations as well as Middle East Editions (Al-Farabi Version) of the book are now in print, although the e-print of the book appears to be outstripping the hard copy sales. For this, I am deeply grateful to the microbiology teachers in dental schools/ colleges, as well as the undergraduates and the postgraduates who are avid fans worldwide. In compiling this completely revised fifth edition, I have retained the popular features of the last few editions. One major feature of this edition is an expanded section on infection control (Part 6), which I co-edited with Dr Caroline Pankhurst, of University of London, UK. Other novel additional features are sections on NGS technology; the oral microbiome and the microbiota; endodontic infections; implant-related infections; plaque biofilms and the systemic disease axis and the current guidelines on antimicrobial prophylaxis. Of course, a tome of this nature cannot be produced without the help of many friends and colleagues. The legacy authors of the Immunology Section (Part 2) were Dr Brian Jones and Professor Liwei Lu, from the University of Hong Kong, while Professor Glen C Ulett of Griffith University, Australia expanded and embellished these chapters as well as other sections of the tome. To them, my extreme gratitude. Once again, I am indebted to the following colleagues worldwide, who graciously permitted the reproduction of their work: Professor H Jenkinson, University of Bristol, UK (Fig. 3.9); Dr Bernard Low, Malaysia (Fig. 5.1); Professor Willie van Heerden, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Figs 18.4 and 19.1); Dr Maribasappa Karched of Kuwait University (Fig. 31.2); Dr Leanor Haley, CDC, Atlanta, USA (Fig. 22.5); Dr Annette Motte, Free University of Berlin, Germany (Fig. 31.8); and Professor Saso Ivanowski, Griffith University, Australia (Fig. 33.8). Figures 38.1 and 38.5 are reproduced from UK Health Technical Memorandum No. 01-05, 2009, with permission from Crown Copyright. As always, the publishing team at Elsevier led by Martin Mellor, Alison Taylor and Helen Leng has pushed me to beat the deadlines despite my myriad duties. Their professionalism and patience has my admiration and gratitude. Last but not least, Hemamali, Dilani and Asanka have lost some quality family time due to this tome, and I am eternally grateful to them for their tolerance and understanding. Above all, YOU, the reader, are my most important friend and critic! The many features of this edition are due to your feedback over two decades, and I truly hope that the current edition is the finest product thus far. Nevertheless, no book is perfect—so please keep on sending your comments, either good or bad, to me at lakshman@hku.hk. Lakshman Samaranayake Hong Kong August 2017