Official Dental Terminology Thread

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Yah-E

Yah-E

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Alright, lets add more fun to this forum! Here's the name and the game, you must post a dental related word/term that you learned only AFTER you either became interested in the dental profession, after you've started dental school, or once you've entering the practicing world.

After posting the dental word of your choice, you then must describe, explain, and/or inform us what, how, and/or where you were exposed to that dental word/term.

For example, I'll post the word

ARMAMENTARIUM: a word used in all the laboratory courses meaning a list of required materials and instrument you'll need for a particular lab session. I've never heard of this word before prior to my first year of dental school.

Several rules to this game:

1) you may only post one word a day
2) you may only post one word at a time (meaning do not list bunch of new dental vocabularies in one thread)
3) you must give some definition/description/meaning to your word so we all can learn from it
4) no repeats

Lets see how many dental words/terms you've learned?!
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MESIO-OCCLUSAL-DISTAL(MOD): Usually refers to dental caries or a restoration located at the mesial and extending across the occlusal surface to the distal surface.

Was forced to learn this word when registering for Dentaltown!! Unfortunately, I can't visualize the meaning of the term since I haven't had formal training in dental anatomy. Someday.....Someday.....
 
Pontic - The part of a bridge that replaces the missing teeth.
 
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HIPAA - The Health Information Protection and Accountability Act. The recently-enacted law requiring us to protect everything down to our patients' shoe size from prying eyes.
 
cavosurface margin-the junction formed from the union of the external surface of a tooth with a prepared wall. Had to learn this term while learning how to prepare teeth for restorations.
 
sep- short for separation. in a dental office this represents the point where a pediatric patient is willing to accept treatment without the presence of parents. sep is highly desirable, and helps to foster a trust agreement between the child and dental professional. sep is often accompanied by crying, screaming, biting, and mothers that say "dont worry honey, it won't hurt THAT bad."

see other terms: behavior management, vistaril, nitrous oxide.
 
Tofflemire - A device comprising of a specially-designed screw clamp and a metal matrix band, used to adapt restorative materials such as amalgam or resin to the contour of existing tooth structure.

Indispensible for restoring Class-II carious lesions! 😎

See also Automatrix, Mylar Strips, Class-III carious lesions, open contacts, and G.V. Black. 😀
 
Vehee carver - an instrument used in waxups. Has an arrow head on one end and a pointed amalgam carver tip on the other.

I must have used it in the dental anatomy lab for carving out the occlusal surfaces of wax-ups and it also came in very handy in removable prostho lab for gingival contouring after set up of teeth in wax.

In my row, we voted it to be the instrument of the year for D1 :clap:
 
PFM: porcelin-fused metal - one type of crown with porcelin on the outside (for esthetics) fused to interior metal alloy.
 
Apicoectomy - An Apicoectomy, or Root-End Resection, is the removal of the root tip and the surrounding infected tissue of an abscessed tooth. This procedure may be necessary when inflammation and infection persists in the area around the root tip after root canal treatment.
 
Minnesota - Not the state! It's a tissue retractor. Used often in periodontal and oral surgery procedures to pry aside soft tissue in the operating field. 😀
 
Tom:

That is so funny that you've posted that word. I heard it over and over during my OMS mini-externship at Minnesota Dental this past April and I thought it was just call "Minnesota" because we were in Minnesota!! So it's actually a common used term! Cool...see this thread does come in handy.



:laugh:
 
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to Gavin: And provides saliva ejection at the same time! I like that-- Kill 2 birds with 1 stone. 😀

to Andy: Makes me wonder what they call it in other languages! :laugh:

And since it is already technically the next day where I live, here's another:


Mepivicaine - A popular amide-based local anesthetic used in dentistry, usually at 3% (or 54mg per standard 1.8ml carpule) without epinephrine, good for patients who are hypertensive or otherwise reacts negatively towards epinephrine. With a pKa of 7.3, mepivicaine is also more effective in inflammed areas with higher acidity than standard Lidocaine (pKa 7.4). A major disadvantage of mepivicaine is that it reaches toxicity levels faster. Trade name example: Carbocaine.
 
MARSUPILIZATION.
deroofing of cysts. sometimes a teporary procedure, in others a total cure, as in eruption hematoma
 
Triturator - A machine which shakes up capsules of amalgam to ready them for use. Also useful for mixing capsules of pre-packaged glass ionomer cement for fixed prosthodontics.

Kids love to see that thing work. 😀
 
XCP Ring:

X = extension
C = cone
P = parallel

used to guide the correct alignment to taking traditional radiographs (X-ray)

Universal color codes of the XCP rings:
Yellow = posterior teeth
Red = bitewing
Blue = anterior teeth
 
Wow, this is an old thread.

Gamma 2 Phase: The undesireable phase when Tin and Mercury react together, thus resulting in a higher probably for traditional amalgam failure compared to high-Copper amalgams. This is the phase that is reduced/eliminated in high-Copper amalgams, since Copper has a higher affinity for Tin.
 
my favorite:

Cone-cut .... a clear, unexposed area on a dental radiograph due to the incorrect alignment....... of conehead (or PID, position indicating device) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
This is an awesome thread!

Could I request that, for more complex words which are likely to be foreign to the less experienced, people also post a pronunciation key with the word? For example, here are a few of my own conjectures (please tell me if any are right!):

Mepivicaine (meh-PIH-vih-kane?)
Vehee carver (VEE-hee?)
MARSUPILIZATION (mar-SOO-pill-i-ZAY-shun?)
Apicoectomy (AY-pih-co-ECK-teh-mee?)


Thanks, and please keep adding!!
 
DEBRIDEMENT = removal of dead pulp tissue (learned in Endo this year)
 
Frenectomy

A frenectomy is the surgical removal of a frenum in the mouth. A frenum is a fold of tissue that passes from the movable lip or cheek to the gum. When a frenum is positioned in such a way as to interfere with the normal alignment of teeth or results in pulling away of the gum from the tooth surface causing recession, these are often removed using a surgical process known as a frenectomy
 
Originally posted by MarkFitzsimmons
Frenectomy

A frenectomy is the surgical removal of a frenum in the mouth. A frenum is a fold of tissue that passes from the movable lip or cheek to the gum. When a frenum is positioned in such a way as to interfere with the normal alignment of teeth or results in pulling away of the gum from the tooth surface causing recession, these are often removed using a surgical process known as a frenectomy
Click to expand...
I think the term is actually "frenulum," but it's still a good one. I had to get one of those when I was born...I was tongue-tied!

And, just so this post doesn't go completely to waste...

PMMA = poly(methyl methacrylate) = Introduced in the 50's (I think), the original resin base for dental plastics, and still commonly used today.
 
aphistis,
For the most part, the terms "frenum" and "frenulum" are used interchangeably. My dictionary says that a frenulum is simply a small frenum, and it gives the apparatus that anchors the tongue as an example of a frenum.
I've heard both terms used by various lecturers in school.
 
Originally posted by Yah-E
DEBRIDEMENT = removal of dead pulp tissue (learned in Endo this year)
Click to expand...

Also it is the final step in cavity preparation to remove debris and mosture using water and air syringe
 
"Maryland Bridge" A one tooth fixed restoration that is bonded to the lingual surface of the adjacent teeth. Like when someone is missing a lateral incisor and doesn't want to reduce tooth structure on adjacent canine and central.

FYI: the "Maryland" bridge was actually developed at Iowa, and the person who invented it moved to maryland and published from there. So...we call it an Iowa Bridge here. 😀
 
Originally posted by dientesfuertes
aphistis,
For the most part, the terms "frenum" and "frenulum" are used interchangeably. My dictionary says that a frenulum is simply a small frenum, and it gives the apparatus that anchors the tongue as an example of a frenum.
I've heard both terms used by various lecturers in school.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification!
 
Alveolar Osteitis

AKA "Dry Socket" - A very painful condition after tooth extraction, which occurs when a blood clot fails to form in the empty socket and results in bare bone exposed to the oral cavity. Most often caused by patient non-compliance to post-op instructions to avoid smoking, alcohol, and actions which prevent proper blood clot formation. Usual treatment is packing the socket with dressing saturated with oil of cloves for several weeks.

Definitely not pleasant!
 
Originally posted by bitecys
"Maryland Bridge" A one tooth fixed restoration that is bonded to the lingual surface of the adjacent teeth. Like when someone is missing a lateral incisor and doesn't want to reduce tooth structure on adjacent canine and central.

FYI: the "Maryland" bridge was actually developed at Iowa, and the person who invented it moved to maryland and published from there. So...we call it an Iowa Bridge here. 😀
Click to expand...

And currently, Dr. Van Thompson is a biomaterials professor at NYUCD. His lectures are very complex and he definitely knows his stuff!
 
You know, until now I never thought of it like that! :laugh: Even better is it's grouped into the hand tools category.

But you didn't define it.
 
Fulguratio
 
Last edited:
Wedelstat Chisel:

Some thing with two ends on it that you bought two of and caried around in dental school for four years that has absolutely no purpose.

endotom
 
Curve of Spee

Anatomic line begining at the tip of the cuspids and following the buccal cusps of the premolars and molars when viewed from the buccal aspect of the first molars.



Curve of Wilson

Curve that follows the cusp tips,as seen from the frontal view.
 
Originally posted by endotom
Wedelstat Chisel:

Some thing with two ends on it that you bought two of and caried around in dental school for four years that has absolutely no purpose.

endotom
Click to expand...
Seriously, Tom? Maybe it's because you've been doing so much endo the last few years 😉

Seriously though, I get quite a bit of use out of my in beveling margins for resins.
 
Aphisis,

Years later I thought of a use for it:

" If you have a very small dog, you could pound it in the ground and tie your dog to it."




endotom
 
aphistis said:
HIPAA - The Health Information Protection and Accountability Act. The recently-enacted law requiring us to protect everything down to our patients' shoe size from prying eyes.
Click to expand...

hey Bill, you stole my word again. boy did we hear enough of that for the 1st month.
 
aphistis said:
HIPAA - The Health Information Protection and Accountability Act. The recently-enacted law requiring us to protect everything down to our patients' shoe size from prying eyes.
Click to expand...

HIPAA = Health Information Portability and Accountability act.
 
This is an odd thread but I thought I'd contribute. 😀

fremitus - a slight vibration or movement of the teeth under a pressure such as clenching, often detectable only by palpation. Usually this is a sign of excessive occlusal force on a tooth and/or periodontal problems.
 
Didn't read this whole thread so not sure if this was posted already, but if you are headed into the military, public health, or 1 yr GPR/AEGD you will hear this term quite a bit.


WFT - whole F)&*)ing tooth : refers to chamber retained amalgam buildup on endo treated teeth. Usually these WFT buildups will serve as the final restoration, so it better look good.
 
captaintripps said:
HIPAA = Health Information Portability and Accountability act.
Click to expand...


Isn't there also:
HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act ??
 
jayjay said:
Isn't there also:
HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act ??
Click to expand...

I do know of HIPA...

known as Heparin Induced Platelet Antibodies... Patient reacts to heparin when used for iv access device flushes, so use NACL 0.9% instead...
 
VIBRATOR: A device used to pour impressions more accurately...you pervs.
 
Creep - strain or deformation produced by stress which may result in the restoration extending or bulging out of the cavity preparation.

Needed to know this one for my Biomaterials test i took today.
 
"VIBRATOR: A device used to pour impressions more accurately...you pervs."

Would you include "more" to give ratings to the level of accuracy, or should it just be to pour impressions accurately?
 
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