Palmer's notation is a widely used method to designate individual teeth. In Palmer's notation, your mouth is divided into four parts called quadrants, that is the upper left quadrant, the upper right quadrant, the lower left quadrant, and the lower right quadrant as illustrated in the figure on the right. Then each individual tooth in the quadrant is given a name. For example the two upper and two lower teeth at the center of your mouth are called central's. One then combines the names of the quadrant and the tooth to come up with a Palmer's notation. For example, the central on the upper right side of your mouth is called an upper right central.
| Central |
The two upper and two lower teeth in the very center of your mouth. More |
| Lateral |
The teeth just adjacent to the centrals. |
| Cuspid |
The pointy teeth just behind the laterals. These teeth have one cuspal (or point). Cuspids are also called canines. |
| First Bicuspid |
The teeth just behind the cuspids. These teeth have two cuspals (or points) |
| Second Bicuspid |
The teeth just behind the first bicuspids. These teeth also have two cuspals (or points). |
| First Molar |
The teeth just behind the second bicuspids. These teeth have a level surface with four cuspals. |
| Second Molar |
The teeth just behind the first. These teeth also have a level surface with four cuspals. |
| Third Molar |
The teeth just behind the second molars. These teeth also have a level surface with four cuspals. |
| Incisor |
Another name for the centrals and laterals |
| Canine |
Another name for the cuspids |
| 6 year molar |
Another name for your first molar |
| 12 year molar |
Another name for your second molar |
| Wisdom Tooth |
Another name for the third molar |
| Anterior Teeth |
Your centrals, laterals, and cuspids. These are the teeth in the front of your mouth |
| Posterior Teeth |
Your bicuspids and molars. These are the teeth in the back of your mouth. |
| Deciduous Teeth |
Your primary, or "baby teeth" |
| Primary teeth |
The first set of teeth which come in. Primary teeth are also called "baby teeth" or deciduous teeth. |
| Secondary Teeth |
Your permenant teeth, i.e. the second group of teeth to come in. |
| Quadrants |
The four parts of your mouth, that is the upper left, the upper right, the lower left, and the lower right. |
| Numerical notation for teeth |
The numerical notation for
teeth is an alternate to Palmer's notation. In this notation, the centrals are
designated as 1's, the laterals as 2's, the cuspids as 3's, the first bicuspids
as 4's, the seond bicuspid's as 5's, etc. |
| Universal numerical notation for teeth |
The universal
numerical notation is an alternative numerical notation for teeth. In this
notation, your upper right third molar is designated as tooth#1, and then
you number each tooth sequentially moving right to left and down across
your mouth. |
| Abutment |
The teeth on either side of a missing tooth. |
| Amalgam |
A silver/mercury mixture which is used for fillings. |
| Anatomy |
1)The arangement of the bones in your skeleton
2) The study of the arrangement of the bones in your skeleton. |
| Antiseptic |
A chemical agent which can be applied to living tissues to destroy germs. |
| Anesthetic |
A drug which a doctor or dentist uses to put
you, your mouth, or some other part of your body asleep so you do not
feel any pain during dental or medical procedures. |
| Anterior |
An adjective used to describe things pertaining
to your your Centrals, laterals and cuspids (your front teeth). |
| Arch |
Collectively, either the teeth or the basal bone of either jaw. |
| Articulator |
A special holder for models of your teeth. The articulator holds the models in the same alignment as your jaw so the
orthodontist can look carefully at your bite. |
| Asepsis |
The avoidance of potentially pathogenic
microorganism. In practice,it refers to those techniques which aims to
exclude all microorganisms. |
| Aspirator |
A tube like a straw which the dentist puts in
your mouth to suck up all the saliva. |
| Aspiration |
Removal of fluids from your mouth with an
aspirator. |
| Bruxism |
Clenching or grinding of your teeth especially at night. |
| Calculus |
A hard deposit that forms when you do not
brush your teeth so the plaque hardens. Calculus is also known as tartar. |
| Caries |
Another name for a cavities (tooth decay) |
| Cavity |
A small hole in one of your teeth caused by tooth decay. |
| Cross contamination |
Passing bacteria, viruses or AIDS
indirectly from one patient to another through the use of improper
sterilization procedures, unclean instruments, or "recycling" of orthodontic
products. |
| Crown |
1) An artifacial tooth, 2) an artificial replacement
for the covering on a tooth. |
| Curettage |
A periodontal procedure where your gums are
scraped to remove bacteria. |
| Decalcification |
The loss of calcium from your teeth. This weakens your teeth and makes them more succeptable to decay. |
| Denture |
A synthetic replacment for all of your teeth in either your upper or your lower jaw. |
| Diagnosis |
the process of identifying the nature of a disorder. |
| Direct contamination |
Direct contact with impurities or germs. (for example by a Patient sneezing on the assistant.) |
| Disinfection |
A cleaning process which destroys of most
microorganism, but not highly resistant forms such as bacterial and
mycotic spores or the AIDS virus. |
| Disinfectant |
A chemical agent which is applied onto
inanimate surfaces, for example chairs, to destroy germs. |
| Disposable materials |
materials intended for one use and discarded. (e.g.: Gloves, paper gowns, cotton rolls, sponges, etc.) |
| Distal |
Behind towards the back of the mouth. For
example you might say that the first bicuspid is distal to the cuspid. |
| Edentulous |
Someone is said to be edentulous whene all
of their teeth are missing from either their upper or lower jaw. |
| Endodontist (Endo) |
A dentist who specializes in root
canals and the treatment of diseases or injuries that affect the root tips or
nerves in your teeth. |
| Erupt, Eruption |
When a new tooth comes in, the tooth
is said to erupt when the tooth breaks through the surface of your gums,
so you can see the tooth in your mouth. |
| Exfoliate |
to fall out. (Your Deciduous teeth exfoliate and
permanent teeth erupt into the space.) |
| Extraoral |
Outside of your mouth. For example, neck
pads are sait to be extra oral products since they go outside of your mouth. |
| Filtrum |
the dimple or indentation under the nose directly
above the upper lip. |
| Fluoride |
A chemical solution or gel which you put on
your teeth. The flouride hardens your teeth and prevents tooth decay. |
| Gingival hypertrophy |
The abnormal enlargement of the
gingiva surrounding the teeth caused by poor oral hygiene. |
| Gingivitis |
The inflammation of your gums caused by
improper brushing. The first sign of periodontal (gum) disease. |
| Impacted tooth |
An unerupted tooth that somehow has
gotten stuck and cannot come in. |
| Implant |
A replacement for one of your missing teeth. The
implant is different than a bridge in that the implant is permenantly
attached into your jaw. |
| Incisal |
The biting edge of your centrals and laterals. |
| Interproximal |
the space between adjacent teeth |
| Intraoral |
Inside your mouth. For example, orthodontic
rubber bands are called intraoral products since the rubber bands are
designed to go in your mouth. |
| Irrigation |
the technique of using a solution to wash out
your mouth and to flush debris. |
| Labial |
The tooth surface next to your lips or things
mounted on the tooth surfaces next to your lips. |
| Lingual |
The tooth surface next to your tongue or things
mounted on the tooth surfaces next to your tongue. |
| Mandible |
Your lower jaw |
| Mandibular |
Pertaining to your lower jaw |
| Masticate |
To chew your food and mix the food with
saliva |
| Maxilla |
Your upper jaw |
| Maxillary |
Pertaining to your upper jaw |
| Mesial |
Forward or front. For example your cuspid is
mesial to you bicuspid. The mesial surface of your bicuspid is the part of
the bicuspid closest to your cuspid. |
| Midline |
A plane through the very center of your mouth
perpendicular to your nose. |
| Mixed dentition |
The situation when both deciduous and
permanent teeth are present. |
| Occlusal |
the chewing or grinding surface of the bicuspid
and molar teeth. |
| Occlusal plane |
the imaginary surface on which upper and
lower teeth meet. |
| Occlusal radiograph |
the only x-ray that is taken without
a precision(tm) x-ray holder. The x-ray film for this procedure is shaped
like a large oatmeal cookie. You are asked to bite on the x-ray film and
the top of the x-ray machine is positioned over your nose for a maxillary
occlusal x-ray or under your chin for a mandibular occlusal film. The x-
ray shows the whole arch. |
| Oral |
pertaining to the mouth. |
| Osteoblasts |
Cells which aid the growth and development
of teeth and bones. |
| Osteoclasts |
Cells which help create the sockets in bones.
For example osteoclasps create the openings in your jaw bone to hold your
teeth. |
| Pathogens |
disease producing organisms that can exist in
many different places. (e.g.: Air, dust, counter top surfaces, the body,
etc.) |
| Pathology |
the study of abnormal (diseased) tissue
conditions. |
| Pedodontist (Pedo) |
A dentist who specializes in the
treatment of children's teeth. |
| Periapical |
x-ray of individual teeth or groups of teeth. |
| Periodontist (Perio) |
A dentist who specializes in the
treatment of diseases of your gums. |
| Plaque |
is a colorless, odorless, sticky substance
containing acids and bacteria that causes tooth decay. |
| Periodontal |
Pertaining to your gums. For example
periodontal desiese is gum disease. |
| Periodontist |
A dentist who specializes in the treatment
of gum disease. |
| Posterior |
An adjective used to describe things pertaining
to the back of your mouth or your back teeth. |
| Prophylaxis |
Cleaning your teeth |
| Prosthodontist |
A dentist who specializes in the
replacement of missing teeth. |
| Proximal |
Refers to the surfaces of teeth that touch the
next tooth; the space between adjacent teeth is the interproximal space. |
| Radiograph |
Another name for an x-ray |
| Root canal |
A procedure where the nerve of a heavily
decayed tooth is removed from the tooth replaced with a filling material |
| Sagittal plane |
The longitudinal vertical plane that divides
the mouth into two halves (left and right.) |
| Sanitization |
A cleaning process which reduces germs to
a "safe" level. |
| Space maintainer |
A gadget used to maintain a space in
your mouth. You would use a space maintainer when you lose one of
your baby teeth. The space maintainer will keep a space in your mouth
until a permenant tooth comes in to fill the space. |
| Sterilization |
A process where a medical material is
treated to remove all possible germs and other forms of life |
| Supernumerary teeth |
Some people have extra teeth. These are called "supernumerary teeth". |
| Tartar |
Another name for calculus |
| TMJ |
An abreviation for the "temporomandibular joint"
The "temporomandibular joint" is the joint where your lower jaw connects
to your skull. |
| Treatment card |
a sheet of paper or special index card
used to record your treatment progress. |
| Appliance |
Anything the orthodontist attaches to your
teeth to move your teeth or to change the shape of your jaw |
| Arch Wire |
A metal wire which is attached to your
brackets to move your teeth. |
| Band |
a metal ring that is usually placed on you teeth to
hold on parts of your braces |
| Bracket |
A metal or ceramic part that is glued onto a
tooth and serves as a means of fastening the arch wire. |
| Breakaway |
A breakaway is a small plastic piece with an
internal spring which is used to provide force on a facebow. |
| Buccal tube |
A small metal part that is welded on the
ourside of a molar bank. The buccal tube contains a slots to hold
archwires, lip bumpers, facebows and other things your orthodontist uses
to move your teeth. |
| Chain, Orthodontic Chain |
A stretchable plastic chain used
to hold archwires into brackets and to moke teeth. |
| Facebow, Headgear |
Facebows are wire apparatus used to
move your upper molars back in your mouth which creates room for
crowded or protrusive anterior teeth. Generally, the facebow consists of
two metal parts which have been attached together. The inner part is
shaped like a horseshoe. This part goes in your mouth and is connected
to your buccal tubes. The outer part has two curves. The curves go
around your face, and connect to the breakaways or high pull headgear. To
properly use the product, the inner bow needs to be inserted into your
buccal tubes. An elastic neck band is placed around the back of the neck
while the triangular cast offs on both sides of neck band are attached to
the outer bow of the headgear. Completing the apparatus is a plastic
safety strap that is placed over the neck band and onto the outer bow of
the headgear. |
| Ligating module |
A small plastic piece, shaped like a
donut, which is used to hold the arch wires in the brackets on your teeth. |
| Lip bumper |
A lip bumper is used to push the molars on
your lower jaw back to create more space for other teeth. The lip bumper
conists of an arch wire which is attached to a molded piece of plastic.
You mount the arch wire in the buccal tubes on your lower jaw, and
plastic piece rests against your lips. When you eat or talk, you push the
plastic piece back which pushes on your molars. That pushes your molars
back. |
| Mouthguard |
A device that is used to protect your mouth
from injury when you are participating in sports. The use of a mouthguard
is especially important for orthodontic patients, to prevent injuries. |
| Neck pad |
A neckpad is a cloth covered cushion which
you wear around your neck when you put on your facebow. Generally, the
breakaways are attached to the neckpad to provide force for the facebow. |
| Palatal Expander |
A device used to make your jaw wider |
| Retainer |
A gadget that the orthodontist gives you to wear
after the orthodntist removes your braces. The retainer attaches to your
upper teeth and holds them in the correct position. You wear the retainer
at night to make sure that none of your teeth move while your jaw hardens
and your teeth get strongly attached to your jaw. |
| Safety Strap |
A plastic strap which prevents a facebow
from coming loose and hurting you. |
| Seperator |
A plastic or metal part which the orthodontist
uses to create space between your teeth for bands. |
| Wax |
A clear wax used to prevent your braces from
irritating your lips when your braces are first put on, or at other times. |
| Acid etch |
A procedure where a weak acid smeared on
your teeth to ready your teeth for brackets. The acid etch helps your
brackets stay on better. |
| Banding |
the process of cementing orthodontic bands to
your teeth |
| Bonding |
the process of attaching brackets to your teeth
using a special safe glue |
| Cephalometric X-Rays |
An x-ray of the head that shows
whether your teeth are aligned properly, and whether they are growing
properly. |
| The Consultation |
A meeting with your orthodontist where
he discusses your treatment plan |
| Debanding |
the removal of cemented orthodontic bands. |
| Debonding |
The removal of the brackets from your teeth |
| Extraoral photograph |
facial photos. |
| Impressions |
The first step in making a model of your
teeth. You bite into a container filled with algenate, and the algenate
hardens to produce a mold of your teeth. |
| Interceptive Orthodontic Treatment |
Orthodontic treatment
usually done when you are 6-8. The objective of interceptive orthodontic
treatment is to expand your palate and make other corrections, so that your
later orthodontic treatment goes quicker and is less painful. |
| Ligation |
A process where an archwire is attached to the
brackets on your teeth. |
| Ligating |
An adjective used to describe components used
to attach archwires to brackets. For example a ligating module is a small
plastic piece that goes over the brackets to hold in your archwires. |
| Panoramic x-ray |
An x-ray taken by a machine that
rotates around your head to give the orthodontist a picture of your teeth,
jaws and other important information. |
| The records appointment |
One of the initial appointments
with your orthodontist. The orthodontist or his/her assistant takes
pictures of you, x-rays, and impressions so that they can figure out
what treatment needs to be done.
You go into the orthodontist's office and the orthodontist's assistant either makes
adjustments to the wires in your
braces, or changes the wires. |
| Wax bite |
A procedure to measure how well your teeth
come together. You bite a sheet of wax and leave bitemark in the wax. The orthodontist looks at the bitemarks to see how well your teeth are
aligned. |
| Archform |
the shape of the dental arch. For example the
orthodontist could say that you have a horseshoe archform or a "v"-shaped
archform. |
| Closed bite |
A malocclusion where your upper teeth cover
your lower teeth when you bite down. This is also called a "deep bite." |
| Crossbite |
A malocclusion where some of your upper
teeth are inside of your lower teeth when you bite down. |
| Crowding |
An orthodontic problem caused by having too
many teeth in two small of a space. |
| Crown angulation |
a tooth movement in which the root
of the tooth is tipped forward or backward to correct the angle of the
crown. |
| Crown inclination |
a tooth movement in which the root
of the tooth is tipped toward cheeks (lips) or toward the lingual (palate) of
the mouth. |
| Deep bite |
excessive overbite; closed bite. |
| Dentition |
the arrangement of the teeth. |
| Diastema |
a space between two teeth. |
| Drift |
Unwanted movement of teeth. |
| Extrusion |
Tooth movement in the direction of eruption.
Natural extrusion: teeth grow until there is contact with another tooth. Mechanical extrusion: to pull the teeth so that it extends farther out of
your gums. |
| Fixed appliance |
any orthodontic component that is
cemented or bonded to the teeth. |
| Flared teeth |
A term used to indicate the position of the
teeth. The upper teeth are flared lingually (toward the lip). |
| Full orthodontic treatment |
Getting braces |
| Inclination |
the angle of the long axis of a tooth from a
particular line of reference; the tilt or tip of a tooth. |
| Interocclusal registration |
a wax bite which is used to see
how your teeth come together |
| Interproximal stripping |
reduction of the enamel of the
teeth on both sides of the tooth. This procedure is preformed to create
space for crowded teeth. |
| Intrusion |
movement of a tooth back into the bone. |
| Lingual appliances |
orthodontic appliance fixed to the
inside of your teeth. i.e. Lingual appliances are attached to the part of
your teeth next to your tongue. |
| Lingual arch |
An orthodontic wire attached from molar
to molar in the inside of your teeth. |
| Lingual retainers |
a variation of the lingual arch going
from cuspids to cuspid. |
| Malocclusion |
Poor positioning of your teeth. |
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| Class I Malocclusion |
A Malocclusion where your bite is OK (your top teeth line up with your bottom teeth) but your teeth are crooked, crowded or turned. |
| Class II Malocclusion |
 A Malocclusion where your upper teeth stick out past your lower teeth. This is also called an "overbite" or "buck teeth" |
| Class III Malocclusion |
 A Malocclusion where your lower teeth stick out past your upper teeth. This is also called an "underbite". |
| Occlusion |
The alignment and spacing of your upper and lower teeth when you bite down. |
| Proper Occlusion |
 A beautiful smile where all of your teeth are straight and your top teeth line up with your bottom teeth |
| Open bite |
A malocclusion in which the teeth do not close or come together in the front of your mouth |
| Orthodontics |
The treatment preformed to correct your bite and make your smile look wonderful. |
| Orthodontist |
A dentist who has been specially trained to do orthodontics. |
| Orthodontia |
Braces |
| Overbite | vertical overlapping of the upper teeth over the lower. |
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| Overjet | horizontal projection of upper teeth beyond the
lower. |
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| Retruded | a term used when your front teeth are slated
lingually (i.e. toward the back of your mouth). |
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| Rotation | a movement in which the tooth turned along the
long axis of the tooth. |
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| Spee | the curve of spee is the curvature of the occlusal
plane of the teeth. |
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| Stop | a bend or auxiliary attachment placed on a wire to
limit the archwire from sliding or moving in the bracket slot of the
bracket. |
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| Tipping | a tooth movement in which the root of the tooth
is tipped labially (lip) or lingually (tongue) to correct the angle of the
crown of the tooth. |
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| Torque | the rotation of a tooth on the long axis moving
the root of the tooth in a buccal or labial direction. |
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| Tracing (cephalometric) | an overlay drawing traced over
a cephalometric x-ray that shows specific structures and landmarks that
provided a basis for orthodontic therapy. |
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| Traction | the act of drawing or pulling the teeth. |
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| Translation | a tooth movement in which the entire tooth
moves forward or backward without tipping or rotating. |
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| Typodont | A plastic model of a typical mouth, showing
the alignment of teeth. A typodont is used to teaching orthodontic
procedures. |
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