abrasion

en-noun

abrasion (countable and uncountable, plural abrasions)

/əˈbɹeɪ.ʒn̩/

First attested in 1656. From French abrasion (attested since 1611), from Medieval Latin abrasio (“a scraping”), from Latin abrādō (“scrape off”). See also abrade.

(dentistry) The wearing away of the surface of the tooth by chewing.

kuluminen

dentistry: wearing away of the surface of the tooth


abutment

abutment (countable and uncountable, plural abutments)

First attested in 1644; engineering sense first attested in 1793. From Old French aboutement. Equivalent to abut + -ment.

(dentistry) The tooth that supports a denture or bridge.

tukihammas

dentistry: tooth that supports a denture or bridge


ivory

ivory (countable and uncountable, plural ivories)

→ Pohnpeian: aipori

From Middle English yvory, ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or of ivory”) adjective of ebur (“ivory”) (genitive eboris), from Demotic yb (“ivory, Elephantine”) (compare Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine”)), from Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant, ivory, Elephantine”). Displaced native Old English elpendbān (literally “elephant bone”).

ncog

(collective, singular or in plural) The teeth.


MI

en-noun

MI (countable and uncountable, plural MIs)


MO

(dentistry) Initialism of mesio-occlusal.


wisdom tooth

From wisdom + tooth, calque of Latin dēns sapientiae, which is itself a calque of Ancient Greek σωφρονιστῆρες (sōphronistêres, “prudent or self-controlled ones (i.e. teeth)”), because they arrive approximately when one has reached the age of prudence or wisdom. Compare also German Weisheitszahn (“wisdom tooth”), Danish visdomstand (“wisdom tooth”), Swedish visdomstand (“wisdom tooth”), Icelandic vísdómstönn (“wisdom tooth”), Dutch verstandskies (“wisdom tooth”, literally “intellect molar”), German Low German Verstandskuus (“wisdom tooth”, literally “wisdom molar”). Chinese 智齒／智齿 (zhìchǐ), Russian зуб мудрости (zub mudrosti), Hebrew שן בינה (shen biná) and Finnish viisaudenhammas also mean “tooth of wisdom”.

der

σωφρονιστῆρες

noncog

зуб мудрости

(dentistry) One of the four (one upper and one lower on each side) rearmost molars in humans, which typically develop between ages 18-24.


festoon

(dentistry) Texturing applied to a denture to simulate human tissue.


festoon

en-verb

festoon (third-person singular simple present festoons, present participle festooning, simple past and past participle festooned)

festoons (present singular third-person)
festooning (participle present)
festooned (participle past)
festooned (past)

(dentistry, transitive) To apply texturing to (a denture) to simulate human tissue.


molar

From Middle English molar, from Latin molāris (“millstone, molar”).

Of or relating to the molar teeth, or to grinding.


explorer

Any of various hand tools, with sharp points, used in dentistry.


tooth

Wales (usually), Midlands (especially Birmingham)

From Middle English tothe, toth, tooth, from Old English tōþ (“tooth”), from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Related to tusk. Doublet of dent, dens, tind, and tine.
Cognates:
Cognate with Scots tuth, tuith (“tooth”), North Frisian toth, tos (“tooth”), Dutch tand (“tooth”), German Zahn (“tooth”), Danish tand (“tooth”), Swedish tand (“tooth”), Norwegian tann (“tooth”), Icelandic tönn (“tooth”), Welsh dant (“tooth”), Latin dēns (“tooth”), Lithuanian dantìs (“tooth”), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús)/ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”), Armenian ատամ (atam), Persian دندان (dandân), Sanskrit दत् (dát), दन्त (danta, “tooth”).

A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.

(animation) The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films that allows better adhesion of artwork.

I have a sweet tooth: I love sugary treats.

These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth

1693, John Dryden, “The Third Satire of Aulus Persius Flaccus”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis:

(figurative) Liking, fondness (compare toothsome).


tooth

tooth (third-person singular simple present tooths, present participle toothing, simple past and past participle toothed)

tooths (present singular third-person)
toothing (participle present)
toothed (participle past)
toothed (past)

His Wife sate near him, teasing matted wool, / While, from the twin cards toothed with glittering wire / He fed the spindle […]

Whereas if the Header of one side of the wall, toothed as much as the Stretcher on the other side, it would be a stronger Toothing, and the joints of the Header on one side, would be in the middle of the Headers of the course they lie upon of the other side

1678, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: or the Doctrine of Handy-works, page 260:

To lock into each other, like gear wheels.


bridge

From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ (“bridge”), from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ (“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw- (“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).
Cognate with Scots brig, brigg, breeg (“bridge”), Saterland Frisian Brääch (“bridge”), West Frisian brêge (“bridge”), Dutch brug (“bridge”), German Brücke (“bridge”), Danish brygge (“wharf”), Icelandic brygga (“pier”), Gaulish briua (“bridge”).
The verb is from Middle English briggen, from Old English brycġian (“to bridge, make a causeway, pave”), derived from the noun. Cognate with Dutch bruggen (“to bridge”), Middle Low German bruggen (“to bridge”), Old High German bruccōn (“to bridge”) (whence Modern German brücken).
The musical connection sense is a semantic loan from German Steg, from Old High German steg.

ацҳа

if someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it

The dentist pulled out the decayed tooth and put in a bridge.

A construction or natural feature that spans a divide.

(dentistry) A prosthesis replacing one or several adjacent teeth.


plate

→ Maori: pereti

→ Hindi: प्लेट (pleṭ)

From Middle English plate, from Old French plate, from Medieval Latin plata, from Vulgar Latin *plat(t)us, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat, wide”). Compare Spanish plato.

(dentistry) A shaped and fitted surface, usually ceramic or metal that fits into the mouth and in which teeth are implanted; a dental plate.


crown

→ Japanese: クラウン (kuraun)

→ Korean: 크라운 (keuraun)

→ Maori: karauna

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”).
* (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

doublet

(anatomy, dentistry) The part of a tooth above the gums.

(dentistry) A prosthetic covering for a tooth.

каро́нка

dentistry: prosthetic covering for a tooth


orthodontist

/ˌɔː(ɹ)θəˈdɒntɪst/


dam

From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

(dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.


amalgam

en-noun

amalgam (countable and uncountable, plural amalgams)

From Medieval Latin amalgama (“mercury alloy”), from Arabic اَلْمَلْغَم (al-malḡam, “emollient poultice or unguent for sores”), from Ancient Greek μάλαγμα (málagma, “emollient; malleable material”), from μαλάσσω (malássō, “to soften”), from μαλακός (malakós, “soft”). Doublet of malagma. For the verb, compare French amalgamer.

der

(dentistry) An alloy of mercury used to fill tooth cavities.


calculus

en-noun

calculus (countable and uncountable, plural calculi or calculuses)

* Borrowed from Latin calculus (“a pebble or stone used as reckoning counters in abacus”), diminutive of calx (“limestone”) + -ulus.
* Mathematical topic is from differential calculus.

bor

(uncountable, dentistry) Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.


denture

From French denture (“set of teeth”), from Latin dens, dentis (“tooth”) + -urus, -ura, -urum, a suffix implying a set.

A set of teeth, the teeth viewed as a unit.

ատամնաշար

An artificial replacement of one or more teeth.

изкуствени зъби

(often in the plural) A complete replacement of all teeth in a mouth.


pelican

From Middle English pellican, pellicane, from Old English pellican (“pelican”), from Latin pelecānus, from Ancient Greek πελεκάν (pelekán),
πέλεκυς (pélekus, “hatchet”).

(dentistry) A set of forceps used to force overcrowded teeth apart.


dental

en-adj

dental (comparative more dental, superlative most dental)

more dental (comparative)
most dental (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French dental or Late Latin dentālis, from dēns (“a tooth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

(dentistry, relational) Of or concerning dentistry.


spoon

From Middle English spoon, spoune, spone, spon (“spoon, chip of wood”), from Old English spōn (“sliver, chip of wood, shaving”), from Proto-West Germanic *spānu, from Proto-Germanic *spēnuz (“chip, flake, shaving”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peh₂- (“chip, shaving, log, length of wood”).
Cognate with Scots spun, spon (“spoon, shingle”), West Frisian spoen, Dutch spaan (“chip, flinders”), German Span (“chip, flake, shaving”), Swedish spån (“chip, flake”), Faroese spónur (“wood chip; spoon”), Ancient Greek σφήν (sphḗn, “wedge”)(though the connection to the Greek is likely impossible by modern reconstructions of PIE). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cuculer, coclear (“spoon”), from Old English cuculer, cuceler, cucler, borrowed from Latin cochlear (“spoon”).
The "metaphoric unit of personal energy" sense was coined by writer and disability advocate Christine Miserandino in 2003 (see spoon theory).

coinage

he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

(dentistry, informal) A spoon excavator.


axial

(dentistry) A plane parallel to the surface of a tooth.


elevator

→ Hawaiian: ʻeleweka

→ Japanese: エレベーター

→ Korean: 엘리베이터 (ellibeiteo)

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

A dental instrument used to pry up ("elevate") teeth in difficult extractions, or depressed portions of bone.


tush

From Middle English tusshe, tusche, tussch, tossche, tosch, from Old English tūsc, from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz. Doublet of tusk.

Perhaps one or two whose lives have patient wings, / And through whose curtains peeps no hellish nose, / No wild-boar tushes, and no mermaid's toes [...].

1818, John Keats, To J. H. Reynolds, Esq.:

[…] he was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut.

1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

A small tusk sometimes found on the female Indian elephant.


tush

"Tush, Sir Minstrel," replied the archer, displeased at Bertram's interference, […]

1831 June–November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter [XIII], in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series. […], volume IV (Castle Dangerous), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Robert Cadell; London: Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832), →OCLC, page 275:

He glanced through the letter and shook his head. "Tush! tush! And the wife of the bank manager too—the bank manager of Pudlington, James! Can you conceive of anything so dreadful?"

1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

(archaic) An exclamation of rebuke or scorn.


palatal

en-adj

palatal (comparative more palatal, superlative most palatal)

more palatal (comparative)
most palatal (superlative)

(dentistry, not comparable) Of an upper tooth, on the side facing the palate.

palataalinen

(dentistry) on the side facing the palate


-id

From Middle French -ide (like also English -ide), French -ide, and their sources, Latin -id-, -is and Ancient Greek -ῐδ- (-id-), -ῐς (-is).

protocone (“cusp of an upper molar”) + -id → protoconid (“equivalent for lower molars”)

(dentistry, paleontology) Forming names of dental features found in lower (mandibular) teeth.


lingual

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin linguālis, from lingua (“the tongue; a language, speech”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to lingua + -al. Doublet of lingualis.

af

(anatomy, dentistry, relational) Related to, near, or on the side toward the tongue.

(phonetics) Articulated with the tongue.


pocket

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokā (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

(dentistry) A small space between a tooth and the adjoining gum, formed by an abnormal separation of the two.


distal

en-adj

distal (comparative more distal, superlative most distal)

more distal (comparative)
most distal (superlative)

(dentistry) Facing the wisdom tooth or temporomandibular joint on the same side of the jaw.


cusp

From Latin cuspis (“a point, spear, pointed end”); first used in astrology. Doublet of cuspid and cuspis.

bor

(dentistry) Any of the pointed parts of a canine tooth or molar.


labial

Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to labium + -al.

af

(dentistry, of an incisor or canine) On the side facing the lips. See mesial.


plaque

en-noun

plaque (countable and uncountable, plural plaques)

Unadapted borrowing from French plaque (“plate, sheet (of metal); slab (of marble); bacteria on teeth”), from French plaquer, Middle French plaquer (“to plate”), from Middle Dutch placken (“to patch, beat metal into a thin plate”), from placke (“disk, patch, stain”), from Old Dutch *plagga (“patch”), from Proto-Germanic *plaggą (“patch”).
The word is cognate with Middle Low German placke, plagge (“small stain, scraps, rags, thin grass”), German Placken (“spot, patch”), Saterland Frisian plak, plakke (“a blow, slap”), Swedish plagg (“clothing, garment”). Compare plack.

plakki

(countable, uncountable, pathology) An abnormal accumulation of material in or on an organ of the body, often associated with disease.

(uncountable, dentistry) An accumulation of biofilm, or bacteria, on teeth, which may develop into dental calculus (tartar).


dentist

It is singular how forcibly this passage in my narrative brings to my mind a picture which used to be, some years ago, at a broker's—that charnel-house of the comforts and graces of life. It had been taken out of its frame, and leant in a dark and dusty corner against a perpendicular armchair, whose rigid uprightness seemed suited only to the parlour of a dentist, repose being the last idea it suggested.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 119:

Thus Django becomes the carrier of the “public use of one's reason”—the Kantian road to enlightenment given to him by the German “Forty-Eighter” dentist–turned-bounty hunter Dr. “King” Schultz, and represents the fictive, allohistorical beginning of the battle against slavery and racism in the United States.

2014 July 31, Oliver C. Speck, editor, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained: The Continuation of Metacinema, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 25:

A medical doctor who specializes in teeth.


flask

en-verb

flask (third-person singular simple present flasks, present participle flasking, simple past and past participle flasked)

flasks (present singular third-person)
flasking (participle present)
flasked (participle past)
flasked (past)

From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flascō (“bottle”); from Frankish *flaskā; whence also Dutch fles; both from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”) (whence also German Low German Flaske, Fless, German Flasche, Danish flaske), from Proto-Indo-European *ploḱ-skō (“flat”) (whence also Lithuanian plókščias, Czech ploský, Albanian flashkët), or from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to weave”). Doublet of fiasco, flacon, and flagon.
The sense “laborator glassware” is from Italian fiasco, and the sense “container for holding a casting mold” is from Middle French flasque (“powder flask”), itself from Old Spanish flasco, frasco, both from Late Latin above.

der

(dentistry) To invest a denture in a flask so as to produce a sectional mold.


flipper

From flip + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Flappert (“flipper, wing”).

cog

Dr. Woo attempts to distinguish Blakeslee by pointing out that “one can fondle a breast without having anything to do with dentistry, but one cannot take molds, fabricate and insert flippers into another person's mouth without practicing dentistry."

2005, Washington Appellate Reports: Volume 128:

(dentistry) A kind of false tooth, usually temporary.


tusk

From Middle English tusk (also tux, tusch), from Old English tūx, tūsc (“canine tooth, tusk, molar”), from Proto-West Germanic *tų̄sk, *tunsk, from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz (“canine tooth”), extended form of *tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Icelandic toskur (“a tusk, tooth”) (whence the Old Norse and Icelandic Ratatoskr and Ratatoskur respectively), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌿𐍃 (tunþus, “tooth”) and *𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (*tundi, “thorn, tooth”). Doublet of tush. More at tooth.

inh

Until the CITES sales ban, elephant tusks were the 'backbone' of the legal ivory trade.

One of a pair of elongated pointed teeth that extend outside the mouth of an animal such as walrus, elephant or wild boar, and which continue to grow throughout the animal's life.

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(carpentry) A projecting member like a tenon, and serving the same or a similar purpose, but composed of several steps, or offsets, called teeth.


tusk

en-verb

tusk (third-person singular simple present tusks, present participle tusking, simple past and past participle tusked)

tusks (present singular third-person)
tusking (participle present)
tusked (participle past)
tusked (past)


braces

Susy has to go to the dentist to see if she needs braces.

(orthodontics) A device worn on the teeth to straighten them.


proximal

en-adj

proximal (comparative more proximal, superlative most proximal)

more proximal (comparative)
most proximal (superlative)

antonym(s) of “closer to the point of attachment

From Latin proximus, superlative form of prope (“near, nigh”).

(dentistry) Facing toward another tooth. The proximal surfaces of a tooth are those that touch or are close to neighboring teeth.


sextant

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sextant.wav

(dentistry) One of six groups of adjacent teeth, excluding the wisdom teeth. The front sextants go from canine to canine, and there are sextants on the right and left of these. See Periodontal examination.


orthodontic

Of, or relating to the dental speciality of orthodontics.


post

Inherited from Old English post (“pillar, door-post”) and Latin postis (“a post, a door-post”) through Old French. .

inh+

(dentistry) A long, narrow piece inserted into a root canal to provide retention for a crown.


orthodontics

From ortho- (“correct, straight”) + -odont + -ics.

affix

(medicine) A specialty of dentistry concerned with correcting misalignment of teeth.

dentistry

hypernymous from most cognitive viewpoints albeit sometimes framed as coordinate when the notion of general dentistry is implied


dentifrice

en-noun

dentifrice (countable and uncountable, plural dentifrices)

From Middle English dentifricie, from Latin dentifricium (“powder for rubbing the teeth”), from dens (“tooth”) + fricāre (“to rub”). Compare French dentifrice.

der

Toothpaste or any other substance, such as powder, for cleaning the teeth.


mesial

Irregular derivation from Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos).

(dentistry) Facing the side of a tooth which faces the middle of the jaw.


buccal

buccal surface of the molars

buccal branch of the facial nerve

Obtained buccal epithelium and newly drawn, uncentrifuged blood collected in an EDTA tube were used for analysis of gene expression: a control GAPDH gene and Osteocalcin gene.

2015 August 19, Mansur Rahnama et al., “Analysis of the Influence of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Osteocalcin Gene Expression in Postmenopausal Women”, in BioMed Research International, volume 2015, →DOI:

(anatomy, dentistry, relational) Of, relating to, near, involving, or supplying the cheek.


occlusal

(dentistry) On the side of a tooth which mates with the opposing tooth.

(dentistry) Of or relating to occlusion.


dentistry

en-noun

dentistry (usually uncountable, plural dentistries)

Some provision should be made for the truly suffering poor, and also for our present students of dentistry to learn something about dental surgery before commencing a profession which has almost become a science.

1905, Australian journal of dentistry, volume 9, Australian Dental Association, page 184:

A corporation may not operate a dentistry office unless all of its stockholders are licensed to practice dentistry.

1957, West's Wisconsin statutes annotated, West Publishing Company:

He was born near Middleton in 1853, graduated from Mount Allison, and took his dentistry degree at Philadelphia in 1878.

1997, P.B. Waite, The Lives of Dalhousie University, volume II: 1925-198, page 24:

Wig-workers were not the only tradesmen who practiced dentistry on the side, or "assumed the role" of dentist, as the arrival of a thespian dentist from London attests in this ad from Boston's Independent Chronicle and Universal Advertiser

2000, James Wynbrandt, The excruciating history of dentistry, page 81:

(uncountable) The field of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions of the teeth and oral cavity.

သွားဘက်ဆိုင်ရာပညာ

the field of medicine which studies and treats conditions of the teeth

POOR Australians are resorting to do-it-yourself dentistry, including filing their own teeth and attempting their own extractions, because of lengthy queues for public dental services.

2009, Siobhain Ryan, “Poor access leads to DIY dentistry: dental checks”, in The Australian, sourced from Dow Jones Newswires:

This patient is an out-of-town physician who had to wait until retirement to complete his dentistry. He had holding pattern type dentistry done to get him by.

2011, Gregory J. Tarantola, Clinical Cases in Restorative and Reconstructive Dentistry, →ISBN:

(uncountable) Operations performed on teeth and adjoining areas such as drilling, filling cavities, and placing crowns and bridges.

Dr. Landsberg, of Posen, states that when children's teeth are put in order by means of school dentistries, anaemia, one of the most frequent school diseases, will be greatly diminished.

1908, in the report of the Second International Congress on School Hygiene, volume 2, page 516

I speak now only of your pet's bad breath. Dentistries will specifically improve the oral health of the pet as well as its overall health in the long term.

2004, Gene Witiak, True Confessions of a Veterinarian: An Unconditional Love Story, page 83:

(countable) A dental surgery, an operation on the teeth.

They are very fond of sweet things; and the ladies especially crowd the “candystores,” which are not less numerous than the dentistries—with which business they are intimately connected.

1867, Macmillan's Magazine, volume 16, page 464:

The author could dilate at great length on the possibilities in plant groceries, restaurants, and dentistries.

1918, Edward Bernard Benjamin, The larger liberalism, page 172:

As a first step, the law with be amended to prepare for the privatization of pharmacies and dentistries by end-2003.

2003, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: First Review, →ISBN:

(countable) A place where dental operations are performed. (Not as common as "dentist's office". Compare surgery.)


toothpaste

toothpaste (countable and uncountable, plural toothpastes)

From tooth + paste. Compare Saterland Frisian Tuskepasta (“toothpaste”), West Frisian toskpoetserguod (“toothpaste”), Dutch tandpasta (“toothpaste”), German Zahnpasta, Zahnpaste (“toothpaste”), Danish tandpasta (“toothpaste”), Swedish tandpasta (“toothpaste”), Icelandic tannkrem (“toothpaste”).

cog

A paste, normally used with a toothbrush, for cleaning the teeth.

you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube


canine

From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, dog-like”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin.

In many respects she made me an admirable wife. Her affection for me was canine—positively.

1891, Arthur Quiller-Couch, “The Affair of Bleakirk-on-Sands,”, in Noughts & Crosses:

I look for reflections, in your face
Canine devotion, time can't erase
Out on the corner, locked in your room
I never believe them and I never assume

2000, Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri (lyrics and music), “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret”, in Rated R, performed by Queens of the Stone Age:

Then his upper lip may be seen to be raised, especially at the corners, so that his huge canine teeth are exhibited.

1872, Charles Darwin, chapter 10, in Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals:

(anatomy) Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.

(medicine, obsolete) Of an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.


canine

Whatever the case, the pair’s adventure certainly became famous in 2016, when a large dating program of fossils and artefacts from Chauvet Cave, which included the smear of charcoal discarded by the child, confirmed that the tracks constitute the oldest unequivocal evidence of a relationship between humans and canines.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 187:

Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.

You have been dealt King-9 unsuited ("canine") in your pocket.

2005, Dennis Purdy, The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em, page 270:

(poker slang) A king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.


cavity

Mid 16th century borrowing from Middle French cavité or Late Latin cavitās, from cavus (“hollow, excavated, concave”) + -tās (“-ity”, nominal suffix).

af

Jim got two cavities filled at the dentist's office yesterday.

(dentistry) A small or large hole in a tooth caused by caries; often also a soft area adjacent to the hole also affected by caries.

кариес

hole and soft area in tooth caused by caries


toothbrush

From tooth + brush. Compare Saterland Frisian Tuskebäärsel (“toothbrush”), West Frisian toskboarstel (“toothbrush”), Dutch tandenborstel (“toothbrush”), German Zahnbürste (“toothbrush”), Danish tandbørste (“toothbrush”), Swedish tandborste (“toothbrush”), Icelandic tannbursti (“toothbrush”).

cog

A brush, used with toothpaste, for cleaning the teeth.


partial

From Middle English partiall, parcial, from Old French parcial (“biased or particular”), from Late Latin partiālis (“of or pertaining to a part”), from Latin pars (“part”).

der

(dentistry) dentures that replace only some of the natural teeth


buildup

en-noun

buildup (countable and uncountable, plural buildups)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-buildup.wav

Blocking undercuts out with bonded flowable composite is an option, but the time involved doing a buildup, plus the additional complication to provisionalize, make this option less desirable (Figure 6.19e).

2017, Jose-Luis Ruiz, Supra-Gingival Minimally Invasive Dentistry, page 103:

(dentistry) The construction of a composite core to repair a damaged tooth.


neutral zone

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-neutral zone.wav

(dentistry) That space in the oral cavity where the forces exerted by the musculature of the tongue are equal and balanced with the forces exerted by the buccinator muscle of the cheek laterally and the orbicularis oris muscle anteriorly.


pearly whites

The least you can do is keep your pearly whites squeaky clean with a cutting-edge electric toothbrush.

2009 July 31, Ben Patterson, “High-Tech Helpers: Philips Sonicare FlexCare”, in Time:


erosion

erosion (countable and uncountable, plural erosions)

Guy de Chauliac
Oliver Goldsmith
Robert Copland
The Questyonary of Cyrurygens
erosion

From Middle French erosion, from Latin ērōsiō (“eating away”), derived from ērōdō.
The first known occurrence in English was in the 1541 translation by Robert Copland of Guy de Chauliac's medical text The Questyonary of Cyrurygens. Copland used erosion to describe how ulcers developed in the mouth. By 1774 erosion was used outside medical subjects. Oliver Goldsmith employed the term in the more contemporary geological context, in his book Natural History, with the quote
: "Bounds are thus put to the erosion of the earth by water."

(dentistry) Loss of tooth enamel due to non-bacteriogenic chemical processes.


maintainer

From Anglo-Norman maintenour, Old French mainteneor, from maintenir (“to maintain”); with later remodelling of the suffix after -er.

(dentistry) A device used to keep teeth in a given position.


pull teeth

en-verb

pull teeth (third-person singular simple present pulls teeth, present participle pulling teeth, simple past and past participle pulled teeth)

pulls teeth (present singular third-person)
pulling teeth (participle present)
pulled teeth (participle past)
pulled teeth (past)

(dentistry) To extract teeth, usually because they are decayed or damaged.


retainer

You give me head / It makes it worse / Take out your fuckin' retainer / Put it in your purse

1981, “Too Drunk to Fuck”, performed by Dead Kennedys:

(dentistry) A device that holds teeth in position after orthodontic treatment.


tartar

en-noun

tartar (countable and uncountable, plural tartars)

From Old French tartre, from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Byzantine Greek τάρταρον (tártaron), said to be from Arabic دُرْدِيّ (durdiyy), though it is already found in Pelagonius’s Ars veterinaria 46 in the adjective tartarālis, if the reading is correct.

A hard yellow deposit on the teeth, formed from dental plaque.


DO

DO (countable and uncountable, plural DOs)

(dentistry) Initialism of disto-occlusal.


gingivitis

gingivitis (usually uncountable, plural gingivitides or gingivites)

gingivitides (plural)
gingivites (plural)

/ˌd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɪˈvaɪtəs/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-gingivitis.wav

(pathology) Inflammation of the gums or gingivae.


curette

Borrowed from French curette, from curer (“to clean out, scrape out”).

Curettes are used for the subgingival removal of dental deposits and for root planing. They can also be used supragingivally. The working tip of a curette is more slender than that of a scaler.

2008, Cecilia Gorrel, Small Animal Dentistry, Elsevier (Saunders), page 223:

Beginning in the 1880s, the curette quickly became the popular choice for those doctors on the lookout for instrumental aid in cases of pregnancy loss.

2019, Shannon Withycombe, Lost: Miscarriage in Nineteenth-Century America, Rutgers University Press, unnumbered page:

2020, Yu Matsumoto, 10: Bone Curette Handle for Improved Bone Removal in Endoscopic Ear Surgery, Seiji Kakehata, Tsukasa Ito, Daisuke Yamauchi (editors), Innovations in Endoscopic Ear Surgery, Springer, page 86,
Curettes with an octagonal-shaped shaft are readily available and widely distributed in Japan.

(medicine, dentistry) A hand-held surgical instrument, often with a scoop or hook at its tip, used for cleaning or debriding biological tissue.

مِجْرَفة

surgical instrument used for cleaning tissue


attrition

attrition (countable and uncountable, plural attritions)

15th century, from Middle English attricion, attricioun, from Middle French attricion, attrition and its etymon, Latin attrītiō (“a rubbing against”), from the verb attrītus, past participle of atterō (“to wear”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + terō (“to rub”). By surface analysis, attrit + -ion.

(dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.


tooth fairy

/ˈtuːθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/

/ˈtuθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/

Anna was concerned that telling her child about the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny would cause him to believe his mother was a liar later in life.

A figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a present) in exchange for a milk tooth when it falls out of a child's mouth.

tandemuis

figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth


dental floss

dental floss (usually uncountable, plural dental flosses)

A cord of thin filaments used to clean the gaps between the teeth.


baby tooth

a tooth which will be replaced as a child ages, as opposed to an adult permanent tooth; a milk tooth


teething troubles

A reference to teething (“the eruption, through the gums, of the milk teeth”) and the accompanying discomfort, which occur during early life.

No doubt the new form of drive will have its teething troubles and this may be expected; but even if each ship manages to unload one cargo where it is badly needed and then it is beached, mechanical troubles will be comparatively unimportant provided all the crew are safe.

1941 October, “Novel Armed Freighter Adopted by Navy”, in T. Orchard Lisle, editor, The Log, volume 36, number 13, San Francisco, Calif.: Miller Freeman, Inc., →OCLC, page 58, column 1:

But we think that, for something which is so new, it is far better and easier for them to recoup if it is only a 16,000 run. If it is up in the millions it is a bigger problem, and it is far better to get your teething troubles out of the way on a smaller one.

1961 October 16, R. Emerick, “Mr. R. Emerick, Mr. S. Clegg, Mr. T. Warburton, on Behalf of the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers”, in Royal Commission on the Press: Minutes of Oral Evidence […] (Cmnd. 1812), volumes II (Witnesses: Trades Unions and Associations, […]), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, published September 1962, →OCLC, paragraph 9041, page 25:

He admitted that in their early days these units suffered a number of teething troubles, which, he said, "one may now look back upon with some wonder", as their causes were not hard to find.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Diesel performance improving”, in Trains Illustrated, page 642:

They have survived four nights in the forest, and after a few teething troubles they are getting on surprisingly well.

2015, Paula Lichtarowicz, “The Nice New Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Ape-ish Folk”, in Creative Truths in Provincial Policing, paperback edition, London: Windmill Books, Penguin Random House, →ISBN, page 293:

He was on his way to Cleveland, Ohio to visit the steelworks there, review their working practices and sort out any problems. He knew there would be some, they had recently installed a new casting system that he had helped to develop, and the plant back home had experienced some teething troubles.

2015, Liz Vincent, chapter 14, in Meddling Mother Madge + Dutiful Daughter Alice = Malice, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 135:

Teething troubles with software forced the brief return of the old Class 507/508 stock at the beginning of March, but the issues are understood to have been quickly resolved.

2023 March 22, “Network News: New Class 777s make inroads on Merseyside”, in RAIL, number 979, page 12:

(idiomatic) Problems that are to be expected with any new and untried product, system, or venture.

dětské nemoci

problems that are expected with any new and untried product, venture, etc.


incisor

Borrowing from New Latin incīsor, from incīdō (“to cut into, cut through”) + -tor (“-er, -or”, agent noun suffix).

af

(anatomy, zootomy) A narrow-edged tooth at the front of the mouth of mammals, between the canines and adapted for cutting; in humans there are four in each jaw.


toothless

en-adj

toothless (comparative more toothless, superlative most toothless)

more toothless (comparative)
most toothless (superlative)

From Middle English totheles, toþeles, from Old English tōþlēas, from Proto-Germanic *tanþlausaz (“toothless”), equivalent to tooth + -less. Cognate with Dutch tandeloos (“toothless”), German Low German tannlos (“toothless”), German zahnlos (“toothless”), Danish tandløs (“toothless”), Swedish tandlös (“toothless”), Icelandic tannlaus (“toothless”).

a toothless old man

She goes on to explain the difficulty she's having getting visas for Lawrence and for Robert, the 14-year-old who is her older brother and is, amazingly, the last child of the toothless tiny woman who buzzes around us. (I find out later that she is only in her mid-fifties.)

1983 December 24, Andrea Loewenstein, “"What's Freedom Without Food In Your Stomach?" -- A Trip to Haiti”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 8:


floss

en-noun

floss (countable and uncountable, plural flosses)

Uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *flos (attested in Middle English Flosmonger (a surname)), related to English fleece. Alternatively from French floche (“tuft of wool”), from floc, from Old French flosche (“down, velvet”), from Latin floccus (“piece of wool”), probably from Frankish *flokkō (“down, wool, flock”), from Proto-Germanic *flukkô (“down, piece of wool, flock”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“hair, fibres, tuft”).
Cognate with Old High German flocko (“down”), Middle Dutch vlocke (“flock”), Norwegian dialectal flugsa (“snowflake”), Dutch flos (“plush”) (tr=17c.).

der

A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.

خَيْط أَسْنَان

a thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth

(British) Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".

A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.


floss

en-verb

floss (third-person singular simple present flosses, present participle flossing, simple past and past participle flossed)

flosses (present singular third-person)
flossing (participle present)
flossed (participle past)
flossed (past)

(intransitive) To perform the floss dance move.


floss

Origin obscure. Perhaps of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian flos, flus (“rind, scale, strip peeled off”).

unk

obscure

Juncus effusus
Juncus effusus#Translingual

(Northern England, Scotland) The common rush (Juncus effusus).


toothpick

A small, usually wooden, stick, often pointed at both ends, for removing food residue from between the teeth.

عُود تَخْلِيل أَسْنَان

stick for removing food residue from the area between the teeth


alveolus

Borrowed from Latin alveolus (“a small hollow or cavity”), diminutive of alveus (“a hollow, cavity”).

bor

(anatomy, dentistry) The bony socket in which the root of a tooth resides.


scaler

(dentistry) A dentistry tool with two hooks.


filling

I will be using a rapid-setting cement filling.

My temporary filling fell out and got lost.

(dentistry) Any material used to fill a cavity in a tooth or the result of using such material.


saddle

→ Japanese: サドル (sadoru)

Homer Tunnel
Milford Sound
Oxford English Dictionary

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”.
cognates
* Danish sadel
* Dutch zadel
* German Sattel
* Icelandic söðull
* Low German Sadel
* Russian седло́ (sedló)
* Saterland Frisian Soadel
* Scots sadil
* Swedish sadel
* West Frisian seal

saal

seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal

satula

something resembling a saddle in appearance or shape

satula

depression located along the axial trend of an anticline

Something resembling a saddle (sense 1) in appearance or shape.

(dentistry) The part of a denture which holds the artificial teeth.


meso-

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-meso-.wav

From Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos, “middle”). Doublet of mid- and medio-.

mesocone is a conule in the median mure where the mesoloph is attached to it, mesoflexus is a flexus between the mesoloph and the paracone, mesoloph is a crest in front of the metaflexus, connected to the median mure

(dentistry) The forward side of a tooth.


bite wing

(dentistry) A holder for X-ray film, in which the film is held in place by a small tab on which the patient bites.


extraction

en-noun

extraction (countable and uncountable, plural extractions)

From Old French estraction, from Medieval Latin extractio.

(dentistry) A removal of a tooth from its socket.


RDH

(medicine) Initialism of registered dental hygienist.


milk tooth

Any tooth of the first set of teeth of young people (or animals).


crochet

From French crochet, from Middle French crochet, from Old French crochet, crokét (“curved instrument, hook”), diminutive of Old French croc (“hook”), from Old Frankish *krōk (“hook”) or from Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”), both from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerg- (“tracery, basket, twist”). Cognate with Middle English crōc (“crook, hook”), Middle Dutch croec, crōc (“curl”). Doublet of crocket, croquet, and crotchet. More at crook, crooked.

doublet

A certain crest of enamel on the molar teeth of some rhinoceroses.


apico-

classical compound
international scientific vocabulary

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting a New Latin combining form, from apex.

e.g. apicocoronal, apicoectomy

(dentistry) Related to the root of a tooth.


chomper

Hollier was a chomper, his jaws working up and down like pistons, and without seeming to be greedy he ate a great deal.

1983, Robertson Davies, The rebel angels:

I am a chomper of teeth and a displayer of feelings.

1993, Esther D Rothblum, Kathleen A Brehony, Boston marriages: romantic but asexual relationships among contemporary lesbians:


headgear

en-noun

headgear (countable and uncountable, plural headgears)

/ˈhɛdɡɪə(ɹ)/

(orthodontics) A type of orthodontic appliance attached to dental braces that aids in correcting severe bite problems.


bicuspid

Having two points or prominences; ending in two points; said of teeth, leaves, fruit, etc.


bicuspid

A tooth with two cusps; a premolar tooth.


Maryland bridge

Maryland bridge (plural Maryland bridges)

A dental prosthetic replacing a missing tooth by a bridging piece which is glued to the backs of the adjacent teeth (as opposed to an ordinary dental bridge, which is attached by grinding down the adjacent teeth and covering them).


precarious

/pɹɪˈkɛə.ɹɪ.əs/

(dentistry) Relating to incipient caries.


cuspid

From Latin cuspid-, stem of cuspis (“point, apex”). Doublet of cusp and cuspis.

A tooth with a single cusp; a canine tooth.


premolar

He opened and let out a hogo of medicinal rum and beer. The bad tooth was a premolar.

A tooth situated in front of the molar teeth; especially a tooth in humans with two cusps which is between the canines and the molars (Latin: singular dens premolaris, plural dentes premolares)


provisional

/pɹəˈvɪʒənəl/

From Middle French provisionnal (compare French provisionnel).

If this was not possible, then alternatives including provisionalizing with a complete denture or a tooth-supported fixed provisional and a staged treatment protocol should have been considered.

2015, Stuart J. Froum, Dental Implant Complications, page 518:


operculum

(dentistry) A gum flap covering (part of) a partially erupted tooth, usually a wisdom tooth.


cavernous

en-adj

cavernous (comparative more cavernous, superlative most cavernous)

more cavernous (comparative)
most cavernous (superlative)

Late Middle English cavernous, cavernose, borrowing from Old French caverneux or Latin cavernōsus (“full of hollows or cavities”), from caverna (“a hollow, cavity, cave”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to cavern + -ous.

af

Having many caverns.
(dentistry) Having cavities.


occlusion

en-noun

occlusion (countable and uncountable, plural occlusions)

Borrowed from Late Latin occlūsiō, occlūsiōnis (“occluding, obstruction”), from the Classical Latin occlūdō (“I shut up or close up; I restrain”), from ob + claudō (“I shut or close”).

der

(medicine, dentistry) The alignment of the teeth when upper and lower jaws are brought together.


toothed

The sperm whale is a toothed whale.


coronal

en-adj

coronal (comparative more coronal, superlative most coronal)

more coronal (comparative)
most coronal (superlative)

From Middle English coronal, from Anglo-Norman coronal, from Latin corōnālis (“related to a crown”), from corōna (“crown”).

(dentistry) Relating to the external (supragingival) portion of the tooth.


bruxism

en-noun

bruxism (usually uncountable, plural bruxisms)

From Ancient Greek βρυχή (brukhḗ, “grinding of teeth”) + English -ism (suffix forming nouns indicating a tendency of action, behaviour, condition, or state). The word βρυχή is derived from Ancient Greek βρύκω (brúkō, “bite, chew; devour, gobble; grind one's teeth, gnash”).

der

Bruxism is defined as occlusal stress during sleep.

[1932, Bertrand S. Frohman, Jerome M. Schweitzer, “Occlusal Neuroses: The Application of Psychotherapy to Dental Problems”, in The Psychoanalytic Review, volume 19, number 3, New York, N.Y.: William A[lanson] White, M.D., and Smith Ely Jelliffe, M.D., →OCLC, page 297; quoted in “Occlusal Habit Neuroses. Gritting, or Grinding of the Teeth (Bruxism, Bruxomania).”, in Oral Rehabilitation: Complete Occlusal Reconstruction Treatment of Dental Deformities and Related Subjects: The Closed Bite, St. Louis, Mo.: The C. V. Mosby Company, 1951, →OCLC, page 612:

Employment of autosuggestion in the treatment of "bruxism" may not be so well known.

1940 November, Paul J. Boyens, “Value of Autosuggestion in the Therapy of ‘Bruxism’ and Other Biting Habits”, in The Journal of the American Dental Association, volume 27, number 11, Chicago, Ill.: American Dental Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1773, column 1:

At the conclusion of the second International Conference on Endodontics in 1958 there was listed in the final summation the following very conservative statement: "There is a possibility that in rare cases bruxism may cause the death of the pulp."

1960 November, John I. Ingle, “Alveolar Osteoporosis and Pulpal Death Associated with Compulsive Bruxism”, in Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, and Oral Pathology, volume 13, number 11, St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby-Year Book, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, page 1371:

Disturbances of the Masticatory System gives a comprehensive outline of factors involved with a broad perspective as to the etiology of bruxisms, traumatic occlusion and functional disturbances of the temporomandibular joints and muscles.

1966, Walter Buchmann, “[book review]”, in Illinois Dental Journal, volume 35, Oakland Park, Ill.: Illinois State Dental Society, →OCLC, page 743, column 2:

[B. Z.] Rabinowitch feels that internal resorption may be caused by traumatic occlusion. He cites a case of internal resorption where there was no history or evidence other than continued bruxism as the etiology.

1972 January, William Myers, David Whitaker, “Endodontic Considerations in Occlusal Adjustment”, in Benjamin R. Baker, editor, The Journal of the North Carolina Dental Society, volume 55, number 1, Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Dental Society, →OCLC, →PMID, pages 16–17:

Abnormal function [of the temporomandibular joint], in turn, may be the result of a structural problem such as dental malocclusion or a functional problem such as bruxism (clenching and grinding of the teeth).

2011, Bernard Liebgott, “The Head by Regions”, in John Dolan, editor, The Anatomical Basis of Dentistry, 3rd edition, Maryland Heights, Mo.: Mosby, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 276, column 1:

Caffeine intake in high quantity is linked with an increased risk of sleep bruxisms in 1.5 times through mechanisms currently unknown. Heavy drinking and frequent alcohol intake during the day have also been associated with sleep bruxism.

2015, Nicolás Patricio Skármeta, Paula Espinoza-Mellado, Pedro Chana, “Orofacial Dystonia and Other Oromandibular Movement Disorders”, in Tamer Mohamed Gaber Rizk, editor, Dystonia: Different Prospects, London: IntechOpen, →DOI, →ISBN, section 4.5 (Sleep Bruxism Etiology), page 34:

(dentistry) The habit or practice of grinding the teeth, as while sleeping, or due to stress or certain drugs.


temporize

en-verb

temporize (third-person singular simple present temporizes, present participle temporizing, simple past and past participle temporized)

term-label

(American spelling, Oxford British English)

temporizes (present singular third-person)
temporizing (participle present)
temporized (participle past)
temporized (past)
temporize (infinitive)

From Middle French temporiser (“to wait one's time, temporize”) + English -ize (suffix forming verbs). Temporiser is derived from Medieval Latin temporizāre, from Latin temporāre (“to delay, put off”) + -izāre (suffix forming the present active infinitive of verbs). Temporāre is derived from tempor-, the inflected stem of tempus (“age, time, period; season of the year; due, opportune, or proper time”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temp-, *ten- (“to extend, stretch (in the sense of a stretch of time)”), or *temh₁- (“to cut (in the sense of a section of time)”)) + -āre.

der

This is especially true when we're faced with temporizing a patient who will ultimately receive veneer restorations.

2005, Dental Economics, volume 95, Tulsa, Okla.: PennWell Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 66:

(transitive, dentistry) To apply a temporary piece of dental work that will later be removed.


stopping

an amalgam stopping

curious antiquaries, sifting the ruins of time, when London is a grass-grown path and all those hurrying along the pavement this Wednesday morning are but bones with a few wedding rings mixed up in their dust and the gold stoppings of innumerable decayed teeth

1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., page 23:

Then one day a big stopping came out of one of my back teeth.

1958, Henno Martin, translated by Edward Fitzgerald, The Sheltering Desert, New York: Thomas Nelson, page 125:

(dentistry, dated) Material for filling a cavity in a tooth.


scrimshaw

en-verb

scrimshaw (third-person singular simple present scrimshaws, present participle scrimshawing, simple past and past participle scrimshawed)

scrimshaws (present singular third-person)
scrimshawing (participle present)
scrimshawed (participle past)
scrimshawed (past)

The origin of the verb is unknown, but it has possibly been influenced by the surname Scrimshaw. Various etymologies have been proposed (for example, that it derives from scrimshank (“(Britain, military slang) to be idle, to shirk duty”)), but the Oxford English Dictionary does not consider any of them convincing.
The noun is probably derived from the verb.

ref

From the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

To create (a small ornamental handicraft also called a scrimshaw) by carving or engraving on bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials.

To carve or engrave (bone, ivory, or other materials) with ornamental designs.

To carve or engrave (ornamental designs) on bone, ivory, or other materials.


scrimshaw

en-noun

scrimshaw (countable and uncountable, plural scrimshaws)

term-label

(originally US, nautical, also attributively)

Rooney got his skull exposed, doggone it
Soon he's gonna get scrimshaw carved on it

2008, Neil Cicierega (lyrics and music), “Modify”, in View-Monster, performed by Lemon Demon:

(countable) A small ornamental handicraft created by carving or engraving bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials, formerly produced by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.

(uncountable) The manufacture of small ornamental handicrafts by carving or engraving bone, ivory, or other materials, formerly by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.


dental caries

A disease of the teeth resulting in damage to tooth structure.


endo

en-noun

endo (countable and uncountable, plural endos)

Clippings, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἔνδον (éndon, “inner; internal”). Compare the prefix endo-.

der

I question dentists about the services they actually provide in their offices. Do you do crown and bridge and restorative dentistry? “Of course.” Do you do endodontics? “No, I never really liked endo.”

2022 August 19, Louis Malcmacher, “Learn something new: Incorporating Botox and dermal fillers into your practice”, in Dental Economics:

(countable, dentistry, informal) Clipping of endodontics.

Supraeruption happens. Gingival inflammation happens. Pulpal inflammation happens. Traditionally, we can “work through” these problems. We can grind crowns into place. We anesthetize and use hemostatics on the gingiva. We do endos. But we shouldn’t have to do those things, especially with digital dentistry.

2021 October 25, Joshua Austin, “Pearls for Your Practice: 3-Day Polished Zirconia Crowns by 38 Smiles Dental Lab”, in Dental Economics:

(countable, dentistry, informal) Clipping of endodontic treatment.


overbite

(dentistry) A malocclusion in which the upper teeth extend over the lower ones.


water pick

(dentistry) A device that is used to clear away food debris from the mouth, mostly used by people with braces or periodontal problems.


dental calculus

A hard crust of calcium salts and food particles on the teeth, developing from plaque.


bite stick

(dentistry) A small wooden stick used in orthodontistry, which the patient bites on when the bands of the braces are fitted.


cariogenic

en-adj

cariogenic (comparative more cariogenic, superlative most cariogenic)

more cariogenic (comparative)
most cariogenic (superlative)


suction

en-noun

suction (usually uncountable, plural suctions)

From Latin sūctiō, attested since Late Latin and derived from sūgō (“to suck”). Attested in English since the early 17th century.

(dentistry) A device for removing saliva from a patient's mouth during dental operations, a saliva ejector.


nitrous

From Middle French nitreux, and its source, Latin nitrōsus (“nitrose”). Doublet of nitroso. By surface analysis, nitro- + -ous.

(dentistry, automotive, informal) Nitrous oxide.


fluoridate

en-verb

fluoridate (third-person singular simple present fluoridates, present participle fluoridating, simple past and past participle fluoridated)

fluoridates (present singular third-person)
fluoridating (participle present)
fluoridated (participle past)
fluoridated (past)

(chemistry, dentistry, transitive) To add fluoride to something, especially to drinking water in order to reduce tooth decay.


perioscope

(medicine, dentistry) A form of endoscope used to explore and visualize the periodontal pocket, producing an image of a diseased tooth's root.


inlay

inlay (third-person singular simple present inlays, present participle inlaying, simple past and past participle inlaid)

inlays (present singular third-person)
inlaying (participle present)
inlaid (participle past)
inlaid (past)

Porcelain inlaying is a grand thing in certain cases, and it is much to be regretted that the present existing circumstances do not warrant its being used more extensively.

1895, Benjamin Holliday Catching, Catching's Compendium of Practical Dentistry - Volume 5, page 159:

It is not strange that this principle of inlaying should occur to those men years ago, for it was one of the most ancient of arts and it had been brought well-nigh to perfection. The thought of restoring broken surface in teeth, as was being done in gold and wood was ever present with them.

1907, The Pacific Dental Gazette - Volume 15, page 759:

It is hard to tell whether it was the solid block inlay idea of itself, or else something to help cement to be retained in a cavity, that has brought about inlaying of cavities;

1913, The Practical Manual of Dental Casting, Being the Recorded Experiences of Many Able and Eminent Men in the Dental Profession:

They felt with a prophetic instinct that sometime and somewhere these obstacles would be removed, that difficulties apparently unsurmountable would be overcome, and that the principle of inlaying teeth would become recognized as good practice in restoring broken-down tooth tissues.

1926, The Dental Craftsman - Volume 1, page 12:

(dentistry) To place an inlay in a tooth.


inlay

(dentistry) A filling for a tooth, made of ceramic or gold to fit the cavity and shape of tooth and cemented into place.


splint

From Middle English splint, splent, splente, from Middle Low German splinte, splente or Middle Dutch splint, splinte. Cognate with Old High German splinza (“bar, bolt, latch”). All ultimately from Proto-Germanic *splintǭ, *splintō (“piece of wood, splinter”), from Proto-Germanic *splint-, *splind- (“to split”), from a nasalized form of *splītaną (“to split”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).

der

(dentistry) A dental device applied consequent to undergoing orthodontia.


impaction

en-noun

impaction (countable and uncountable, plural impactions)

From Latin impingere (“to dash against, impinge”).

der

(dentistry) Failure of a tooth to erupt into the dental arch, because of adjacent teeth, dense overlying bone, excessive soft tissue, or other factor.


endodontics

From endo- (“within”) + odont- (“tooth”) + -ics.

affix

The branch of dentistry dealing with the dental pulp and root.


periodontics

periodontal ligament
periodontal ligament

(dentistry) The study of supporting structures of teeth—gums, alveolar bone, cementum, and the periodontal ligament—and diseases and conditions that affect them.


bruxomania

Derived from Ancient Greek βρυγμός (brugmós, “grinding [teeth]”) + -o- + -mania.

uder

(medicine, dentistry) Compulsive grinding of the teeth.


impacted

en-adj

impacted (comparative more impacted, superlative most impacted)

more impacted (comparative)
most impacted (superlative)

Being the last teeth to erupt in the oral cavity, many wisdom teeth are impacted.

(dentistry) Of a tooth, subject to dental impaction.


rebase

en-verb

rebase (third-person singular simple present rebases, present participle rebasing, simple past and past participle rebased)

rebases (present singular third-person)
rebasing (participle present)
rebased (participle past)
rebased (past)

(dentistry) To replace the base of a denture.


root canal

(dentistry) A surgical operation on a root canal, typically filling it with gutta-percha.


MOD

(dentistry) Initialism of mesio-occlusal-distal.


mamelon

(dentistry) A protrusion on a newly erupted tooth.


dentin

en-noun

dentin (usually uncountable, plural dentins)

From French dentine, from Latin dens (“tooth”) + English chemical suffix -in / -ine.

The hard, dense calcareous material that makes up the bulk of a tooth.


debridement

debridement (countable and uncountable, plural debridements)

(dentistry) The removal of the dental tartar that has accumulated over teeth, typically done using hand tools and ultrasound instruments.


cementum

Borrowed from Latin caementum. Doublet of cement.

From a purely anatomic standpoint, root cementum is part of the tooth, but also part of the periodontium.

2005, Herbert F. Wolf, Klaus H. Rateitschak, Periodontology, page 14:

Cementum is the least known calcified tissue in vertebrates (Bosshardt and Schroeder 1996) and several questions about cementogenesis have not yet been answered.

2007, Ermanno Bonucci, Biological Calcification: Normal and Pathological Processes in the Early Stages, page 245:

Whether epithelial cells from Hertwig's sheath contribute to initial cementum formation is controversial as has already been discussed in Chap. 1.

2007, Pieter Johannes Slootweg, Dental Pathology: A Practical Introduction, page 8:

(anatomy, dentistry) A bony substance that covers the root of a tooth; cement.


carious

en-adj

carious (comparative more carious, superlative most carious)

more carious (comparative)
most carious (superlative)

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

From French carieux (“carious”), from carie (“decay (of bone or teeth)”) (from Latin cariēs (“rot, rottenness, corruption”), from careō (“to lack, be deprived of”), from Proto-Italic *kazēō (“to lack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).) + French -eux (“-ous”) (from Latin -ōsus (“full of, prone to”), from Old Latin -ōsos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-went-, *-wont- + *-to-)).

der

[I]f no Acid be contain’d in the Blood how comes it, I beſeech you, that in Carious or Virulent Ulcers, the Silver Probe becomes inſtantly of a Livid Colour, which can only be effected by an Acid not an Alkalous Menſtruum?

1700, Charles Leigh, “Of Distempers”, in The Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak, in Derbyshire: With an Account of the British, Phœnician, Armenian, Gr[eek] and Rom[an] Antiquities in Those Parts, Oxford: Printed for the author; and to be had at Mr. George West's, and Mr. Henry Clement's, booksellers there; Mr. Edward Evet's, at the Green-Dragon, in St. Paul's Church-yard; and Mr. John Nicholson, at the King's-Arms, in Little-Britain, →OCLC, book II, section IV (Of Acute Distempers in General, Particularly the Pestilential Fever Raging in Lancashire, in the Years 1693, 94, 95, 96), page 83:

Our disease is democracy. It is not the skin that festers—our very bones are carious, and their marrow blackens with gangrene. Which rogues shall be first, is of no moment—our republicanism must die, and I am sorry for it.

1806 March 10, Fisher Ames, “To the Same [letter to Thomas Pickering]”, in Works of Fisher Ames. Compiled by a Number of His Friends. To which are Prefixed, Notices of His Life and Character, Boston, Mass.: Printed and published by T. B. Wait & Co. Court-Street, published 1809, →OCLC, page 512:

My father’s museum contained several preparations of carious teeth.

1840, William Percivall, “Carious Teeth”, in Hippopathology: A Systematic Treatise on the Disorders and Lamenesses of the Horse; with their Modern and Most Approved Methods of Cure; …, volume II, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row, →OCLC, section IX (Diseases of the Teeth, Pharynx, and Esophagus), page 179:

Many chinchillas suffer from carious-like changes of the cheek teeth and odontoclastic resorptions close to the gingiva[…]. While carious defects typically lead to localized, brownish discolorations of the occlusal surface and the interproximal area, odontoclastic resorption of the teeth is characterized more by an appearance of the lateral surfaces of the teeth resembling moth damage[…].

2015, Estella Böhmer, “Changes of the Cheek Teeth”, in Dentistry in Rabbits and Rodents, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, page 179, column 1:

Having caries (bone or tooth decay); decayed, rotten.


cariostat

A machine for detecting dental caries, especially in children.


vestibular

(dentistry) Of or pertaining to the surface of a tooth that is directed outward toward the vestibule of the mouth, including the buccal and labial surfaces, and opposite the lingual (or oral) surface.


bridgework

en-noun

bridgework (countable and uncountable, plural bridgeworks)

Just think. If you were some big shot like a casting director or something, I'd be staring into your bridgework, saying, 'Yes, Mr. Smearkase; no, Mr. Smearkase; not really, Mr. Smearkase. Oh! Mr. Smearkase, that's my knee!'

(dentistry) A partial denture that is anchored to existing teeth.


crista

crista (plural cristae or (obsolete) cristæ)

cristae (plural)
cristæ (obsolete plural)


carnassial

/kəˈnɑːsɪəl/

One of the teeth used by a carnivore for shearing flesh, being the last upper premolar and the first lower molar.


macrodontia

(pathology, dentistry) The medical condition of having unusually large teeth.


flexus

A flexid or flexus is said to abut when the enamel of the flexid or flexus touches the enamel of the opposite side of the tooth. The distal end or termination of the flexid or flexus is described as flattened, rounded or narrowed.

1955, Joseph Augustine Cushman, Raymond Cecil Moore, John Bernard Reeside, Journal of Paleontology, volume 29, page 130:

(dentistry) In infolding of enamel that separates lophs on an upper tooth.


fossette

French, diminutive of fosse (“a fosse”).

(dentistry) A small depression in the crown of a tooth


oral hygiene

The practice of keeping the mouth clean in order to prevent cavities (dental caries), gingivitis, periodontitis, bad breath (halitosis), and other dental disorders.


electric toothbrush

electric toothbrush (plural electric toothbrushes)

A toothbrush that uses electric power, usually supplied by a battery, to move the brush head rapidly.


periodontist

A dentist whose speciality is periodontics


malocclusion

malocclusion (countable and uncountable, plural malocclusions)

First attested in 1888. Formed as mal- (“wrong”, “improper(ly)”: ultimately from the Classical Latin male, “badly”, “wrongly”; from malus, “bad”; compare the ben- element in benocclusion) + occlusion (“alignment of the teeth in closed jaws”).

(dentistry) A misalignment of the upper and lower sets of teeth.


protocone

(anatomy) A cusp in the corner of an upper molar tooth in mammals.


gonial

"We have seen that the gonial diameter, being related to the head breadth, is higher among the northern groups and especially among Mongols."

1925, Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich Shirokogorov, Anthropology of Eastern China and Kwangtung Province, page 79:

(anatomy, dentistry) Of or pertaining to the gonion, the point at the apex of the mandible, or lower jaw.


bad breath

bad breath (countable and uncountable, plural bad breaths)

(medicine, dentistry, informal) Breath that produces an unpleasant or foul-smelling odor when exhaled.


LANAP

(dentistry) Acronym of laser-assisted new attachment procedure.


MOB

(dentistry) Initialism of mesio occlusal buccal.


amalgamator

(dentistry) A device for preparing amalgam.


deciduous tooth

deciduous tooth (plural deciduous teeth)

(anatomy) Any tooth that falls out as later teeth grow in or as other existing teeth move to take its place.

(particularly) (anatomy) A baby tooth or milk tooth which is replaced by later permanent teeth in animals displaying diphyodonty.


canine tooth

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So called because canine teeth are prominent in dogs.

One of the pointed teeth behind the incisors and in front of the premolar teeth.


interdental

After he was struck by lightning, Melnyk suffered chronic problems with his teeth, despite brushing and flossing and using interdentals and even a Water Pic.

2012, The Malahat Review, numbers 178-181, page 79:

(dentistry) A small toothbrush for cleaning in between adjacent teeth.


pedodontist

A dentist who specializes in pedodontics, the care of children's teeth.


pedodontics

A branch of dentistry that specializes in the care of children's teeth.


palatal expander

palatal expander (plural palatal expanders)

(dentistry) A device used to widen the upper jaw so that the bottom and upper teeth will fit together better.


expander

(dentistry) A device used to widen the upper jaw so that the bottom and upper teeth will fit together better; a palatal expander.


discoid

(dentistry) A disk-shaped dental excavator designed to remove the carious dentin of a decayed tooth


underbite

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A malocclusion, in which the lower teeth extend past the upper ones

underbid

condition of lower teeth extending past upper ones


gnathodynamometer

(dentistry) An instrument used to measure the force applied in closing the jaws.


bimeter

It is unfortunate that the bimeter cannot be used in dentulous cases.

1951, Jerome Meyer, Oral Rehabilitation, page 528:

(dentistry) A type of gnathodynamometer having an adjustable central-bearing point.


dry socket

The severe pain of a "dry socket" after tooth extraction can be relieved by injections of vitamin B₁ (thiamine hydrochloride) Dr. Joseph P. Osterloh, of San Francisco, reports.

1942 August 8, “Vitamin B Relieves Pain After Tooth Extraction”, in The Science News-Letter, volume 42, number 6, page 89:

(dentistry) An inflammation, usually acutely painful, of the alveolar bone following extraction of a tooth.


animal dentistry

The field of dentistry applied to the care of animals.

odontologia veterinária

the field of dentistry applied to the care of animals


tricuspid

(dentistry) Having three cusps, e.g. a molar tooth


pulpotomy

(dentistry) The surgical removal of part of the dental pulp


pulpectomy

(dentistry) The surgical removal of all of the dental pulp.


temporary tooth

temporary tooth (plural temporary teeth)


periodontium

From peri- + Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús) + -ium.

af

Ancient Greek <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">ὀδούς</i> (odoús)

The specialized tissues that both surround and support the teeth, maintaining them in the maxillary and mandibular bones; the tissues including alveolar bone, cementum, gums and periodontal ligament.


periodontitis

en-noun

periodontitis (usually uncountable, plural periodontitides)

From Ancient Greek περί (perí, “around”) + ὀδούς (odoús, “a tooth”) + -itis.

An untreated gingivitis may lead to periodontitis, both forms of periodontal disease.

Schlein reports favorable results from the use of Besredka's antivirus in cases of ulcerous stomatitis, acute pulpitis and periodontitides.

1932, The Journal of Periodontology, volume 3, page 29:

(periodontology) A serious form or stage of periodontal disease which may lead to loss of bone and falling out of teeth.


procumbent

en-adj

procumbent (comparative more procumbent, superlative most procumbent)

more procumbent (comparative)
most procumbent (superlative)

From Latin pro (“forward”) + cumbĕre (“to lie down”).


diphyodonty

Ancient Greek διφυής (diphuḗs, “double”) + ὀδόντος (odóntos) (genitive of ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”)).

uder

The condition, in some animals, of having only one set of replacement teeth following a first erupted set.


opaquer

(dentistry) A substance used to block out dark colours of staining, underlying dental work, etc.


nonvital

Such an occurrence could provoke a vital response from a patient when a nonvital tooth was being tested (a "false-positive").

1998, J.W. Myers, “Demonstration of a possible source of error with an electric pulp tester”, in Journal of Endodontics, volume 24, number 3:

(dentistry) Not containing living nerve tissue


antiplaque

en-adj

antiplaque (comparative more antiplaque, superlative most antiplaque)

more antiplaque (comparative)
most antiplaque (superlative)

The extract of one plant common in Illinois, Sanguinaria canadensis, or bloodroot, is an ingredient in brand name antiplaque toothpastes; and the National Cancer Institute has contracted with the University of Illinois to help test the antitumor properties of tropical plants.

1988 April 15, James Krohe Jr., “Where Has All the Flora Gone?”, in Chicago Reader:

(dentistry) Acting to prevent or remove plaque.


hypsodont

(dentistry) Describing teeth that have large crowns (characteristic of herbivores)


buccolingual

/ˌbʌkoʊˈlɪŋɡwəl/

(dentistry) Relating to buccal (inner cheek) and lingual (tongue) surfaces, as:

(dentistry) In a location on the buccal and lingual aspect (of a tooth or its socket).

(dentistry) In a direction with buccal and lingual vectors.


teledentistry

information technology
information technology

The use of information technology and telecommunications for dental primary care, consultation, education, and public awareness in the same manner as telehealth and telemedicine.

telestomatológia

the use of information technology and telecommunications for dental primary care, consultation, education, and public awareness in the same manner as telehealth and telemedicine


plugger

A dental instrument used to insert fillings.


mesioproximal

mesiodistal

near neither the speaker nor the addressee but not far off

(dentistry, prosthodontics) Of or relating to the mesial and the proximal surfaces of a tooth.


aerodontalgia

en-noun

aerodontalgia (countable and uncountable, plural aerodontalgias)

(dentistry) Pain in the teeth caused by changes in air pressure.


articulator

(dentistry) A mechanical device to which casts of the teeth are fixed, reproducing recorded positions of the mandible in relation to the maxilla.

artikulaattori

dentistry: mechanical device to which casts of the teeth are fixed


limaille

This absence of blood, which was in accordance with the external phenomena, led to the disuse of mercury, and to the substitution of the internal use of iron, ( limaille porphyrisée, ) in the dose of a “gros" daily, under the form of opiate, with tonics.

1833, John Forbes, The Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine:

[I]f, therefore, a measured half-pint of limaille be submitted to the process, however rich or poor in quality, four fluid ounces of hydrochloric acid and sixteen of water would be such proportions as I think would meet every case.

1858, Transactions of the Odontological Society of Great Britain, page 19:

I have with much pleasure listened to Mr. Bennett's paper on refining gold, and the reduction of limaille, but as I consider every dentist may not have the means of applying the dry process, allow me to state the mode I recommend, as being the less elaborate, and the less expensive. Limaille generally consists of gold, silver, iron, lead, tin, zinc, and bone filings.

1858, Quarterly Journal of Dental Science - Volume 1, page 379:

(dentistry, obsolete) Bits of waste metal mixed with bone, dust, etc.; lemel.


supereruption

/ˌsuːpəɹɨˈɹʌpʃn̩/

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tonsillolith

In a 2008 case report from India, doctors described removing a giant tonsillolith that was making it painful for a young patient to swallow.

2009 September 1, Elizabeth Svoboda, “In Tonsils, a Problem the Size of a Pea”, in New York Times:

(dentistry) A calculus that forms in the rear of the mouth, in the crevasses of the palatine tonsils.


pulpitis

(dentistry) A reversible or irreversible inflammation of the tooth pulp which is in most cases of endodontic origin but can also be of periodontal origin too. It can lead to apical periodontitis, cysts and tooth loss if not treated.


bucco-

From buccal, from Latin bucca (“mouth; cheek”).

(anatomy, medicine, dentistry) buccal; related to the cheek.

(anatomy, medicine, dentistry) (rarely; historically) oral; related to the mouth, especially the oral cavity.


labially

en-adv

labially (comparative more labially, superlative most labially)

more labially (comparative)
most labially (superlative)

Transillumination of anterior teeth, using the composite curing light placed labially to shine through the tooth and be viewed using the mouth mirror, shows up any cavities as dark interproximal shadows.

2013, Carole Hollins, Questions and Answers for Dental Nurses, page 44:

(linguistics, dentistry) In a labial manner; by means of the lips.


buccally

Banded molars can be rotated, moved buccally and lingually, extruded on one side, and intruded on the other side in ways that are not desired.

2010, Robert N. Staley, Neil T. Reske, Essentials of Orthodontics: Diagnosis and Treatment, →ISBN, page 86:

(dentistry, medicine, referring to force, movement, or both) In the buccal direction; toward the cheek.

(dentistry, medicine) Via buccal administration; via absorption through the mucosa of the cheek.


gubernaculum

From Latin gubernāculum (“a helm, rudder”).

A part or structure that serves as a guide:

(dentistry) (more fully gubernaculum dentis) A cord or sheath of connective tissue that connects the sac of an unerupted permanent tooth with the surface of the gum.


luting

en-noun

luting (countable and uncountable, plural lutings)

(dentistry) The process of cementing or bonding dental restorations, such as crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, and veneers, to the natural tooth structure or dental implant abutments.


cementation

cementation (countable and uncountable, plural cementations)

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(dentistry) The use of a cement or adhesive to fasten orthodontics or to restore chipped or broken teeth


aurification

Any of several processes, especially in dentistry, that involve working with gold.


anticaries

(dentistry) Preventing or countering caries.


dilaceration

dilaceration (countable and uncountable, plural dilacerations)

(dentistry) An angular distortion affecting a tooth.


supragingival

(anatomy, dentistry, prosthodontics) Above the gumline (gingival margin).


keyway

(dentistry) A slot into which a precision attachment (a key) is fitted.


snaggletooth

snaggletooth (plural snaggleteeth or snaggletooths)

snaggleteeth (plural)
snaggletooths (plural)

(plural: snaggletooths) A predatory fish of the genus Astronesthes, so-called because of its teeth.


periodentosis

(dentistry) Inflammation of soft tissues around one's teeth such as the gums.


wangtooth

From Middle English wangtooth, from Old English wangtōþ (“molar, grinder”), equivalent to wang (“cheek”) + tooth. More at wang, tooth.

All at once, an epiphany of sorts, his wangtooth roving through the binding caught upon a manuscript fragment which to all appearances is the missing conclusion of the Hous.

1976, Bartlett Jere Whiting, Respectfully and Finally Submitted:

Then he asked leave a third time, and the youth, knowing that, if the Khalif assented yet once more, it would be the signal of his death, laughed till his wang-teeth appeared; […]

2006, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night:


contrude

en-verb

contrude (third-person singular simple present contrudes, present participle contruding, simple past and past participle contruded)

contrudes (present singular third-person)
contruding (participle present)
contruded (participle past)
contruded (past)

She now needed braces, as her teeth were contruded.

Were it not for this attachment on the bow, the force of the elastic upon the cuspid over which it would pass would contrude it, unless it was secured to the bow with a band attachment.

1635, Calvin Case, A Practical Treatise on the Technics and Principles of Dental Orthopedia and Prosthetic Correction of Cleft Palate:

(transitive, intransitive, dentistry, rare) to crowd or push together (in senses relating to teeth)

to create an abnormal inward curve of any portion of the line of the dental arch


crownwork

en-noun

crownwork (countable and uncountable, plural crownworks)

(dentistry, uncountable) The addition of a crown.


-odontia

Formed from the suffixation of ὀδόντ- (odónt-), the stem of the Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”), with the English suffix -ia; compare the Latin -odontia and the French -odontie.

(dentistry and medicine):
(forms nouns) branch of dentistry

(dentistry and medicine):
(forms nouns) condition of the teeth


mesiolingual

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the mesial and lingual surfaces of a tooth.


megadontia

Dens in dente, peg-shaped lateral incisors, microdontia, megadontia, fusion, gemination and connation, talon cusp, taurodontism, etc. Recognised by their appearance

2008, R. A. Cawson, E. W. Odell, Cawson's Essentials of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, 8th edition, Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, page 22:

Isolated megadontia in the permanent dentition has been estimated to occur in approximately 1% of patients. The condition may be symmetrical. Generalized megadontia has been reported in association with pituitary gigantism, unilateral facial hyperplasia, and hereditary gingival fibromatosis.

2012, P. J. M. Crawford, M. J. Aldred, “Anomalies of tooth formation and eruption”, in Richard Welbury, Monty S. Duggal, Marie Thérèse Hosey, editors, Paediatric Dentistry, 4th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 257:

With the thresholds added on the curves it also accounts for the higher prevalences of hypodontia and microdontia in females and the higher prevalences of megadontia and supernumeraries in males.

2014, AH Brook, J Jernvall, RN Smith, TE Hughes, GC Townsend, “The dentition: the outcomes of morphogenesis leading to variations of tooth number, size and shape”, in Australian Dental Journal, volume 59, number s1, page 136:


cementogenesis

These enamel-like aberrations in cementogenesis are intriguing and could offer new insights and strategies to regenerate acellular cementum.

2002, John Ide Ingle, Leif K. Bakland, Endodontics, volume 1, page 28:

Evidence supporting a role for EMPs^([enamel matrix proteins]) in cementogenesis has been accumulating from investigations employing immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and in vitro assays, all supporting EMP expression by HERS^([Hertwig's epithelial root sheath]) cells in several species[…].

2007, Brian L. Foster, Tracy E. Popowics, Hanson K. Fong, Martha J.Somerman, “Advances in Defining Regulators of Cementum Development and Periodontal Regeneration”, in Gerald P. Schatten, editor, Current Topics in Developmental Biology, volume 78, page 68:

Cementogenesis persists throughout the life of the tooth, allowing for continuous reattachment of the periodontal ligaments.

2010, Peter S. Ungar, Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, page 23:

(anatomy, dentistry) The process of the development of cementum.


decrown

en-verb

decrown (third-person singular simple present decrowns, present participle decrowning, simple past and past participle decrowned)

decrowns (present singular third-person)
decrowning (participle present)
decrowned (participle past)
decrowned (past)

From de- + crown, or French découronner.

(transitive, dentistry) To decoronate (a tooth).


odontograph

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(historical, dentistry, mechanical engineering) An instrument for marking or laying off the outlines of teeth of gear wheels.


incisory

en-adj

incisory (comparative more incisory, superlative most incisory)

more incisory (comparative)
most incisory (superlative)

an incisory tooth

(archaic, dentistry) Having the quality of, or adapt t, cutting; incisive.


rosehead

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The rosehead is a most effective gouge for removing carious bone, as well as a very convenient instrument for enlarging cloacae to allow of an exploration for sequestra.

1864, Timothy Holmes, A System of Surgery, page 1044:

The rosehead bur is used to remove bone and the flat fissured bur to bisect a tooth for easier removal.

2017, Nicola Rogers, Cinzia Pickett, Basic Guide to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, page 50:

A long shank micromotor carbide rosehead no. 6 bur is the most appropriate bur used to perform coronectomy mounted on a contra angle micromotor hand piece as it facilitates inducing the cut in the third molar better as compared to the straight bone cutting handpiece due to inaccessibility of the area in which procedure is being performed.

2020, Nishant Raj Chourasia,Vastani Ankita,Vajpayee Samarth, Coronectomy for Mandibular Third Molars, page 45:

(dentistry, surgery) A bur or gouge that has a spherical head and curled blades, resembling the curled petals of a rose.


disclusion

From Latin disclusio, from discludere, disclusum (“to separate”). See disclose.

(dentistry) A separation of the teeth when the jaw is slightly opened.

(dentistry) Especially, a separation of posterior teeth when the lower jaw moves forward, as a natural result of the alignment of the anterior teeth.


tuscor

(obsolete) a tush (canine tooth) of a horse.


bleachorexia

People who want teeth whiter than nature intended, reaching repeatedly for the peroxide, suffer from "bleachorexia," a word coined by the American Dental Association.

2009 September 24, Deirdre Kelly, “Price choppers: Get pearly whites for 99 bucks”, in The Globe and Mail:

An unhealthy obsession with whitening one's teeth.


superplant

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In a unilateral superplant, where there are two abutment teeth, often two teeth can be placed on the saddle without using an implant.

1961, L. Izikowitz, “Report on Superplants”, in Journal of Implant Dentistry, volume 7, number 1, page 24:

The superplant reduces the transversal movements of the root as compared with the single tooth in Figure 287, but the movably attached saddle increases the movements as compared with the single root.

1964, Charles Goodliffe Darlington, George W. Wilson, The Year Book of Dentistry, page 458:

A unilateral lower jaw superplant has free-end saddles and an intermediary saddle;

1970, Oral Research Abstracts - Volume 5, page 165:

(dentistry) A type of prosthesis composed of a fixed saddle rigidly connected to one or more abutments, especially one with subperiosteal implants.


mesodont

(dentistry) Having teeth of moderate size.

(dentistry, of a tooth) of moderate size.


palatal hook

For quotations using this term, see Citations:palatal hook.

(orthodontics) A small hook for attaching elastic bands on the internal side of braces fixed to the upper teeth.


plicidentine

(dentistry) A form of dentin which shows sinuous lines of structure in a transverse section of the tooth.


caried

a caried tooth

(dentistry) Of a tooth: affected by caries; decayed.


temporization

en-noun

temporization (countable and uncountable, plural temporizations)

(dentistry) The application of a temporary piece of dental work that will later be removed.


brush one's teeth

en-verb

brush one's teeth (third-person singular simple present brushes one's teeth, present participle brushing one's teeth, simple past and past participle brushed one's teeth)

brushes one's teeth (present singular third-person)
brushing one's teeth (participle present)
brushed one's teeth (participle past)
brushed one's teeth (past)

To clean one's teeth, especially by using a toothbrush and toothpaste. (This entry is a translation hub.)


hypoconid

Differs from Catopithecus and Oligopithecus by the retention of P 2 2, its single-cusped P 4, its P 3-4 of about the same size, its hypoconid nontwinned with entoconid on lower molars, its upper premolars without inner cusps, and by its broader upper molars with only very slight hypocone swelling.

1999 October 15, J.-J. Jaeger et al., “A New Primate from the Middle Eocene of Myanmar and the Asian Early Origin of Anthropoids”, in Science, volume 286, number 5439, →DOI, pages 528–530:

(dentistry) One of the main cusps, at the posterolabial side.


hypoconulid

Two upper incisors vertically implanted with I 1 slightly larger than I 2 (judging from the remaining roots), strong vertical upper and lower canine with rounded crown sections, reduced and single-rooted P 2, P 3 as large as P 4, simple with their crown obliquely orientated and high protoconid, M 1 with low paraconid, metaconid widely separated from protoconid, and buccodistally projecting hypoconulid.

(dentistry) The distal cusp of a lower molar.


mesiobuccal

Molar buccal cingulae are absent except for tiny remnants at the base of the buccal cleft and on the mesiobuccal surface of the protoconid of M 1 .

1999 August 27, Steve Ward et al., “Equatorius: A New Hominoid Genus from the Middle Miocene of Kenya”, in Science, volume 285, number 5432, →DOI, pages 1382–1386:

(dentistry) Of or relating to the mesial and the buccal surfaces of a tooth.


mesiodistal

However, Afrotarsius displays lower molars with much more acute cusps, a more protruding shelf-like paraconid, a metaconid opposite to the protoconid, a mesiodistal cristid obliqua, a strong labial cingulum, and a more distal entoconid.

(dentistry) Of or relating to the mesial and distal surfaces of a tooth


metaconid

(dentistry) The mesiolingual cusp of a lower molar tooth.


metaconule

Very reduced P 2, broad upper molars with welldeveloped cingulum surrounding the crowns, very slight hypocone swelling on M 1 and M 2 and strongly reduced paraconule and metaconule, lingually bent paracone and metacone on M 2 .

(dentistry) The distal intermediate cusp of an upper molar tooth


crossbite

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-crossbite.wav

(dentistry) An occlusal irregularity where a tooth (or teeth) has a more buccal or lingual position than its corresponding antagonist tooth in the upper or lower arcade.


amelocemental

(anatomy, dentistry) Relating to the enamel and cement.


amelodentinal

(anatomy, dentistry) Relating to the enamel and dentin.


amelo-

(anatomy, dentistry) involving tooth enamel


archwire

(dentistry) An orthodontic wire conforming to the alveolar or dental arch.

arco

an orthodontic wire conforming to the alveolar or dental arch


posterostyle

(dentistry) A crest on the posterolabial corner of the molar.


protolophule

(dentistry) A small crest in the paraflexus, connected to the protocone.


anteroloph

(dentistry) A crest between the paracone and the anterolabial conule that may connect to a parastyle.


metaloph

(dentistry) A crest attaching the paracone to the hypocone.


mesostyle

(dentistry) A style at the labial margin between the paracone and metacone.


protostylid

(dentistry) A stylid in front of the protoconid, in the protoflexid.


protolophulid

(dentistry) A small crest in the mesoflexid, connected to the protoconid.


hypoflexid

(dentistry) A flexid between the protoconid and the hypoconid.


mesoloph

(dentistry) A crest in front of the metaflexus, connected to the median mure.


anteroflexid

(dentistry) A flexid between the anterolophid and the anterolingual conulid.


protoflexid

(dentistry) A flexid between the protoconid and the anterolabial conulid.


metalophule

(dentistry) A small crest attached to the front side of the metacone


metaflexid

(dentistry) A flexid in front of the metaconid.


metastylid

(dentistry) A stylid in front of the metaconid.


anterolophid

(dentistry) A crest between the metaconid and the anterolabial conulid that may connect to a metastylid.


metalophid

(dentistry) A crest attaching the metaconid to the protoconid or the anterior murid.


ectostylid

(dentistry) A stylid between the protoconid and the hypoconid, in the hypoflexid.


anteroconid

(dentistry) A cusp at the front of the tooth that may be divided into anterolabial and anterolingual conulids.


mesoflexid

(dentistry) A flexid between the mesolophid and the paraconid.


mesoconid

(dentistry) A conulid in the median murid where the mesolophid is attached to it.


ectolophid

(dentistry) A crest connecting the ectostylid to the mesoconid.


protoconid

(dentistry) One of the main cusps, at the anterolabial side.


posterolophid

(dentistry) A crest at the back of the molar, connected to the hypoconid.


paralophule

(dentistry) A small crest attached to the back side of the paracone.


entoflexid

(dentistry) A flexid in front of the entoconid.


parastyle

(dentistry) A style in front of the paracone.


entoconid

(dentistry) One of the main cusps, at the posterolingual side.


metalophulid

(dentistry) A small crest attached to the back side of the metaconid.


hypolophulid

(dentistry) A small crest in the posteroflexid attached to the posterolophid.


entolophulid

(dentistry) A small crest attached to the front side of the entoconid.


posteroflexid

(dentistry) A flexid between the posterolophid and the metaconid.


mesostylid

(dentistry) A stylid at the labial margin between the metaconid and entoconid.


entolophid

(dentistry) A crest attaching the entoconid to the hypoconid or median murid.


anterocone

(dentistry) A cusp at the front of the tooth that may be divided into anterolabial and anterolingual conules.


protoflexus

(dentistry) A flexus between the protocone and the anterolingual conule.


mesocone

(dentistry) A conule in the median mure where the mesoloph is attached to it.


enterostyle

(dentistry) A style between the protocone and the hypocone, in the hypoflexus.


metaflexus

(dentistry) A flexus in front of the metacone.


posterostylid

(dentistry) A crest on the posterolingual corner of the molar.


enteroloph

(dentistry) A crest connecting the enterostyle to the mesocone.


paraflexus

(dentistry) A flexus in front of the paracone.


procingulum

(dentistry) The front part of the tooth, before the anterior murid.


hypoflexus

(dentistry) A flexus between the protocone and the hypocone.


anteroflexus

(dentistry) A flexus between the anteroloph and the anterolabial conule.


paraloph

(dentistry) A crest attaching the paracone to the protocone or the median mure.


mesoflexus

(dentistry) A flexus between the mesoloph and the paracone.


posteroflexus

(dentistry) A flexus between the posteroloph and the metacone.


protostyle

(dentistry) A style in front of the protocone, in the protoflexus.


posteroloph

(dentistry) A crest at the back of the molar, connected to the hypocone.


mesolophid

(dentistry) A crest in front of the entoflexid, connected to the median murid.


antero-

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting a New Latin combining form, from Latin anterior.

(anatomy, dentistry) anterior; front; forward

ventri-

same direction in bipeds; homologous direction in nonbipedal animals


mesioincisal

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the mesial and incisal surfaces of a tooth.


distobuccal

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the distal and buccal surfaces of a tooth.


distofacial

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the distal and facial surfaces of a tooth.


mesiofacial

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the mesial and facial surfaces of a tooth.


distoincisal

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the distal and incisal surfaces of a tooth.


distolingual

(dentistry) Of, pertaining to or connecting the distal and lingual surfaces of a tooth.


gap-toothed

From Middle English gap tothed, gapt tothed (also gaptothe), alteration of earlier gat-tothed (literally “gate-toothed”), equivalent to gap + toothed.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, another gap-toothed woman, appears in a clip from her address to the Salvation Army.

1997, Sharon R. Sherman, Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture, →ISBN, page 118:

Exhibiting a gap between the teeth, especially between the two upper central incisors.


conid

This high crowned tooth presents a complex pattern of conids, conulids, accessory tubercles and valleys.

1987, Rajan Gaur, Environment and ecology of early man in northwest India:

At the end of the oblique cristid there is only a very faint swelling which might be called the mesolingual conid. The anterolingual conid is not well developed.

1989, Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, page 226:

PUPC 96/44 is an isolated first molar of left mandibular ramus and all the four conids are fully developed.

2007, Pakistan Journal of Zoology, volume 39, page 335:

(dentistry) One of the vaguely cone-shaped bumps (cusps) that appear on the surface of a lower molar.


abocclusion

From ab- (“not”) + occlusion (“teeth alignment”).

prefix

(dentistry) Condition in which the upper and lower teeth are not in contact.


diphyodont

a diphyodont mammal; diphyodont dentition

(anatomy) Having two successive sets of teeth (deciduous and permanent), one succeeding the other.


recalcification

en-noun

recalcification (countable and uncountable, plural recalcifications)

(medicine, dentistry) The restoration of calcium or calcium compounds to a tissue that is decalcified.


guidewire

(medicine, dentistry) A wire used to restrict and control the movement of other equipment, such as a catheter being inserted into the body.


typodont

(dentistry) A model of the mouth, including teeth, gingiva, and the palate, used as an educational tool.


medifossette

(dentistry) A fossette associated with the medisinus


hypolophid

(dentistry) A fusion of the entoconid and the hypoconid in some animals


metastyle

(dentistry) A ridge, covered with enamel, on the outer side of a molar tooth in animals such as the horse.


paraconid

(dentistry) The mesiobuccal cusp of a lower molar tooth


pseudometaloph

(rare, dentistry) A structure resembling a metaloph


subhypsodont

(dentistry, of a herbivore) Describing teeth that have smaller than usual crowns


bitewing

(dentistry) A radiograph taken to visualize the crowns of the posterior teeth and the height of the alveolar bone in relation to the cementoenamel junctions, commonly used to examine for interdental caries and recurrent caries under existing restorations.


cementoenamel

(dentistry) Relating to the enamel and cementum.


anodontia

anodontia (countable and uncountable, plural anodontias)

/ˌæn.əˈdɑn.ʃə/

From an- (prefix meaning ‘lacking, without’) + -odontia (suffix forming nouns denoting the condition of teeth).

confix

(dentistry, teratology) The congenital absence of some or all primary or permanent teeth, caused by a rare genetic disorder.


pericoronitis

(dentistry) An acute infection causing swelling or inflammation of gums and surrounding soft tissues of a partially erupted tooth.


laceback

(dentistry) A kind of ligature for the canine teeth, shaped like a figure eight.


nightguard

(dentistry) A guard worn on the teeth to prevent damage from bruxism during sleep.


paradental

(dentistry) Of or relating to a family of inflammatory odontogenic cysts that typically appear in relation to crown or root of partially erupted molars.


meth mouth

en-noun

meth mouth (usually uncountable, plural meth mouths)

(slang, dentistry) Extreme tooth decay resulting from the long-term use of methamphetamine.


antigingivitic

(pharmacology, dentistry) Countering gingivitis.


monocortical

(dentistry) Connected to a single cortical plate


bicortical

(dentistry) Connected to two cortical plates


nanohydroxyapatite

(dentistry) A very fine hydroxyapatite powder used, mixed with other materials, to help remineralization


mesioangular

a mesioangular impacted tooth

(dentistry) Angled fully 90 degrees sideways.


distoangular

a distoangular impacted tooth

(dentistry) Angled backward, towards the rear of the mouth.


dental hygienist

dental hygienist (plural dental hygienists)

A licensed dental professional who specializes in preventive oral health, typically focusing on techniques in oral hygiene.


dental formula

dental formula (plural dental formulas or dental formulae)

dental formulas (plural)
dental formulae (plural)

(anatomy, dentistry, zoology) A brief notation used by zoologists to denote the number and type of teeth of a mammal.