Help with some dental terms in English

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gmureddu

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Hello, first post here.

First of all, I am terribly sorry if this is not the right place for such questions as this. I need to know the definitions (in English) of a few tecnical terms. I am a resident in Mexico City, but some terms found in the literature are giving me a head ache to translate or properly understand.

In the context of orthodontics: What is proclination?

In the dental context: What is tooth tapping, this one has proven to be especially ellusive (or vague) in what I have been able to dig up with google, as applied to the context of the particular article I am reading doesn't seem to quite fit... All I've been able to see about this is "a repetitive movement of the jaw causing teeth to intermittently contact with their corresponding teeth on the maxilla and jaw" My question, I guess would be: Does this definition applies to any context for tooth tapping?

Thanks in advance.

Dr. Gian Paolo Mureddu MD
 
Hello, first post here.

First of all, I am terribly sorry if this is not the right place for such questions as this. I need to know the definitions (in English) of a few tecnical terms. I am a resident in Mexico City, but some terms found in the literature are giving me a head ache to translate or properly understand.

In the context of orthodontics: What is proclination?

In the dental context: What is tooth tapping, this one has proven to be especially ellusive (or vague) in what I have been able to dig up with google, as applied to the context of the particular article I am reading doesn't seem to quite fit... All I've been able to see about this is "a repetitive movement of the jaw causing teeth to intermittently contact with their corresponding teeth on the maxilla and jaw" My question, I guess would be: Does this definition applies to any context for tooth tapping?

Thanks in advance.

Dr. Gian Paolo Mureddu MD

proclination- simply refers to the labial tipping of the tooth
pro- forward
cline - to lean

tooth tapping
Maybe this is referring to the procedure done during clinical examination which is commonly called as PERCUSSION where the examiner or clinician tap or strike the tissues with fingers or instrument so she/he can listen for the resulting sounds. This is valuable for the evaluation and localization of inflammation of the periodontal ligament and secondary pulpitis.
Hope this helps.
 
Tooth tapping just refers to the process of lightly biting together a few times, usually with marking paper placed between the teeth, to examine a patient's dental occlusion (the fit of the upper & lower teeth against each other). It's a quick, simple way to evaluate someone's occlusion for obvious problems (e.g., if a crown is too tall after cementing, the bite paper will leave marks only on the crown and not on the other teeth).

The description of proclination is accurate.
 
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