Understanding basic terms of dentistry can let you know exactly what you’re looking for when researching about certain symptoms of your dental problems or looking for treatments and procedures. Knowing about specific dental terms provides you with knowledge about your dental health and helps you understand your dentist better on your next visit to the dental clinic. Here’s a list of the most basic dental terminology.
General dental terms you should know about
- Arch: A term used to refer to the upper or lower denture.
- Bicuspid: Your premolar tooth is called bicuspid as they have two cusps.
- Bleaching: Cleaning and whitening of the teeth using a bleach solution.
- Bonding: The process of applying a composite resin to the teeth to change its shape or color.
- Calculus: Deposit of solid mineralized material sticking to the crown or roots of teeth.
- Canine: The four sharpest teeth we have, two on the top and two at the bottom, located after the incisors.
- Caries: Tooth decay.
- Crown: The part of a tooth that appears above the gums and is covered by enamel.
- Abutment crown: Artificial crown fixed to support a dental prosthesis.
- Artificial crown: A replacement for the damaged crown of the tooth.
- Dental Prophylaxis: Procedure involving polishing and scaling of the teeth to remove plaque, calculus and stains.
- Dental Prosthesis: Replacement for partly or whole of missing teeth.
- Dentures: An artificial backup for teeth and surrounding tissues.
- Immediate dentures: A denture made for immediate and temporary replacement of the removed tooth.
- Partial denture: A prosthetic device for teeth replacement.
- Dentin: That part of the tooth that is beneath the enamel.
- Enamel: The hard tissue covering the crown of the tooth that protects the nerves and dentin.
- Extraction: The procedure of removing tooth or parts of the tooth.
- Simple Extraction: Simple removal of a tooth without any special procedure.
- Filling: restoration of the lost tooth structure using metal alloys or porcelain.
- Gingiva/ Gingivitis: Soft gum tissue is known as gingiva and inflammation of gingival tissue is called gingivitis.
- Implant: A structure grafted into the gum tissue to support a crown.
- Incisor: Your eight front teeth that are primarily used to bite into food.
- Lesion: A wound on the infected tissue.
- Malocclusion: An improper alignment of upper and lower jaws.
- Molar: The teeth located at the back of your mouth that help chew and grind your food before you finally swallow.
- Palate: The roof of the mouth that separates the nasal and oral cavities.
- Periodontal/ Periodontitis: Anything concerning the supporting or surrounding structure of the teeth is periodontal. The inflammation of the tissues surrounding the teeth and loss of attachment of the tooth is periodontitis.
- Periodontal Abscess: A pocket of pus caused due to infection in the gum pockets.
- Plaque: Sticky substance comprised of bacteria and food residue accumulated on the teeth.
- Pulp: The soft parts like nerves, blood vessels and connective tissues, inside the crown of the tooth.
- Root canal: The structure of the root of the tooth that contains the pulp.
- Temporomandibular joint: The joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull and facilitates movement.
- Veneer: A layer of tooth-colored material like porcelain attached to the front tooth by direct fusion for cosmetic purposes.
These are the basic dental terms that you should know. If in any doubt about a procedure or dental devices, visit our dental clinic at Downtown Dental.
