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Dental Dictionaries and Glossaries

Shady dental terminology explained (if you're lucky... thank God for Google!). And: what do those numbers your dentist calls out mean? Find out about tooth numbering and dental charting systems!


Dictionaries and Glossaries

answers.com Dental Dictionary (Mosby's Dental Dictionary, Elsevier)    A huge collection of dental terminology, not always explained in plain English.

bracesinfo.com Dictionary of dental terms    Contains a good section on names of teeth.

Tooth Anatomy    Not a dictionary, but a diagram showing different parts of the tooth.

Toothbrush Express Dental Dictionary    A somewhat eclectic dental dictionary.

dentistry.com Glossary    A no-frills guide to dental terms.

Dental Implant Glossary    A glossary of dental implant related words.


Tooth charts

Palmer Notation Method    This tooth numbering system (which is very popular in the U.K.) is simplicity itself - the mouth is divided into 4 quadrants (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right), and teeth are numbered 1-8 going from the front tooth to the wisdom tooth in each quadrant:

Illustration of the Palmer Notation Method











U.S. Tooth Numbering Chart ("Universal" system)    The American system of numbering teeth from 1 to 32 can hardly be described as "elegant"... but this handy tooth chart explains it all:

Illustration of the Universal Tooth Numbering System































FDI Two-Digit Notation system    The first digit denotes the quadrant and the second digit, like the Palmer method, denotes the type of tooth:

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