Ch.11 - Overview of the Dentitions Key terms

Concave

Curved inward.

Convex

Curved outward.

Maxillary

The upper jaw.

Contact area

Area of the mesial or distal surface of a tooth that touches the adjacent tooth in the same arch.

Functional occlusion

Contact of the teeth during biting and chewing movements.

Curve of Wilson

Cross-arch curvature of the occlusal plane.

Apical third

Division of the root nearest the tip of the root.

Labial surface

Facial surface closest to the lips.

Line angle

Junction of two walls in a cavity preparation.

Buccolingual Division

Lengthwise division of the crown in a labial or buccolingual direction, consisting of the facial or buccal/labial third, middle third, and lingual third.

Succedaneous teeth

Permanent teeth that replace primary teeth.

Facial surface

Tooth surface closest to the face. Facial surfaces closest to the lips are called labial surfaces, and facial surfaces closest to the inner cheek are called buccal surfaces; therefore, the term facial can be substituted for labial and buccal, and vice versa.

Buccal Surface

Tooth surface closest to the inner cheek.

Incisal surface

Chewing surface of anterior teeth.

Occlusal surface

Chewing surface of posterior teeth/

Occlusocervical division

Crosswise division of the crown that is parallel to the occlusal or incisal surface, consisting of the occlusal third, middle third, and cervical third.

Curve of spree

Curvature formed by the maxillary and mandibular arches in occlusion.

Middle third

Division of the root in the middle.

Cervical third

Division of the root nearest the neck of the tooth.

Mesiodistal Division

Lengthwise division of the crown in a mesiodistal (front-to-back) direction, consisting of the mesial third, middle third, and distal third.

Palatal surface

Lingual surface of the maxillary teeth.

Centric Occlusion

Maximum contact between the occluding surfaces of the maxillary and mandibular teeth.

Dentition

Natural teeth in the dental arch.

Malocclusion

Occlusion that is deviated from a class 1 normal occlusion.

Quadrant

One quarter of the dentition.

Sextant

One sixth of the dentition.

Deciduous

Pertaining to first detention of 20 teeth; often called "baby teeth" or primary teeth.

Linguoversion

Position in which the maxillary incisors are behind the mandibular incisors.

Nasmyth's membrane

Residue from epithelial tissue on the crowns of newly erupted teeth that may become extrinsically strained.

Lingual surface

Surface of mandibular and maxillary teeth closest to the tongue; also called palatal surface.

Mesial Surface

Surface of the tooth toward the midline.

Distal surface

Surface of tooth distant from the midline.

Angle's Classification

System developed by Dr. Edward H. Angle to describe and classify occlusion and malocclusion.

Mesioclusion

Term used for class 3 malocclusion.

Interproximal space

The area between adjacent tooth surfaces.

Masticatory

The chewing surface of the teeth.

Primary dentition

The first set of 20 primary teeth.

Labioversion

The inclination of the teeth to extend facially beyond the normal overlap of the incisal edge of the maxillary incisors over the mandibular incisors.

Mandibular

The lower jaw.

Occlusion

The natural contact of the maxillary and mandibular teeth in all positions.

Permanent dentition

The set of 32 secondary teeth.

Proximal surfaces

The surfaces next to each other when teeth are adjacent in the arch.

Anterior

Toward the front.

Posterior

Towards the back.

Embrasure

Triangular space in a gingival direction between the proximal surfaces of two adjoining teeth in contact.

Distoclusion

A class 2 malocclusion in which the messiobuccal cusp of the maxillary first molar occludes

Mixed dentition

A mixture of permanent teeth and primary teeth that occurs until all primary teeth have been lost, usually between the ages of 6 and 12.

Neutroclusion

An ideal mesiodistal relationship between the jaws and the dental arches.

Point angle

Angle formed by the junction of three surfaces.