Achieving Oral Health: The Social Context of Dental Care, Second Edition provides information pertinent to the sociological aspects of dentistry. This book discusses the needs of patients who require particular forms of care, thereby helping the general dental practitioner to deal with nervous patients and enhance communication skills.

Organized into seven chapters, this edition begins with an overview of some of the problems that dentists encounter in managing patients. This text then explains the importance of preventive care in oral health, which includes both educational and motivational approaches. Other chapters provide suggestions for designing a preventive program that can be adapted for the use of individual patients. This book discusses as well the various ways of measuring pain, which is important for the understanding of psychological approaches to pain relief. The final chapter deals with the dentist's attitudes, behavior, and personality that are important for the understanding of dental care.