Oral Health Care: A Whole New Language
Terms D-L

Debridement

• The removal of a foreign material, such as calculus or plaque, or removal of necrotic (dead) tissue from or adjacent to a lesion.
• Very commonly this term is used for a goal in nonsurgical periodontal instrumentation.

Dental Caries

(Carious Lesion)

• Tooth decay, which is actually an infection that causes continuing destruction of tooth structure
• A dental cavity
• Caries is both singular and plural; one caries or two caries.

Dentifrice

• Toothpaste

Dentition

• The teeth in the dental arches – top and bottom.

Diastema

• Open contact between teeth.
• Typically occurs between the upper front teeth, the maxillary central incisors

Distal

• Away from the middle; often used to describe the side of a particular tooth that is closest to the posterior or back of the mouth.

Disto-occlusal (DO)

• Usually refers to dental caries or a restoration located at the distal and extending onto the occlusal or chewing surface.

Edema

• Swelling

Edentulous

• Lacking teeth
• Can be area specific or the whole mouth

Enamel

• The hard, outer surface layer of teeth
• Protects against tooth decay
• Tooth enamel is considered the hardest mineral substance in your body, even stronger than bone.

Explorer

• A slender, flexible instrument with a sharp point used to examine teeth for abnormalities and pathology, and to locate calculus through the use of touch.
• Excellent tactile sensitivity must be developed to use an explorer well.

Extraction

• The removal of a tooth or root fragment.

Exudate

• A fluid of epithelial cells, bacteria, serum, and other products of the inflammatory process.
• A polite word for pus.

Facial

• Of or toward the face, used to designate the side of the tooth that is facing away from the tongue side.
• The buccal and labial are both facial surfaces.

Frenum

• A narrow fold of tissue connecting moveable tissue to a more fixed tissue to prevent undue movement.
• Singular form is frenum or frenulum. Plural is frena

Furcation

• The concave area between the roots of a multi-rooted tooth.
  • It is called “bifurcation” if a tooth has two roots.
  • It is called “trifurcation” if a tooth has three roots.

Gingiva

• That part of the oral masticatory mucosa that surrounds the necks of the teeth and is attached to the teeth and the alveolar bone.
• You probably know it better as the gum!

Halitosis/Oral Malodor

• Bad breath

Iatrogenic

• Adverse factors caused by a health care practitioner that result in a negative outcome for the patient.

Incisal

• Toward the cutting edge of anterior teeth

Incisors

• Anterior teeth
• The 2 large front teeth (central incisors) and the tooth on either side (lateral incisors)
• There are 8 incisors, 4 maxillary and 4 mandibular

Inferior

• Below or lower than a specified point of reference

Interdental Papilla

• Gingiva (gum tissue) that fills the space between two adjacent teeth (the space is called interproximal).
• Papilla is usually pointed or pyramidal in anterior teeth and somewhat flatter between posterior teeth. If teeth overlap papilla, it may be tapered and narrow; if teeth do not touch, the papilla may be flat or saddle-shaped.
• There are actually 2 papillae in teeth that contact, one facial and one lingual, which are connected by the col.

Junctional Epithelium (JE)

• Attachment epithelium, where the tooth and gingiva actually first begin to be attached.
• Found at the very bottom of the gingival sulcus or periodontal pocket.
• Think of it like the place in the bottom your pants pocket where you’d find loose change …or lint!

Labial

• Of or toward the lips, used most often to designate the side of the tooth facing the lips, so the term would refer to an anterior tooth.

Lateral

• Toward the side

Lingual

• Of or toward the tongue, to identify the surface of a tooth that faces the tongue.