Human Dentition Lesson No. 4

Incisors

Single rooted teeth, located in the front of the mouth and designed to cut food

Canines (also known as “cuspids”)

Single rooted teeth, located at the “corner” of the arch, designed for tearing and cutting food. It has the longest root of the human teeth. It is also the most stable tooth in the mouth and usually last to be lost

Premolars (also known as “biscuspids”)

Have cusps for grasping and tearing food. It has a somewhat broad surface for grinding food

Molars

Have more cusps than other teeth in the mouth. Broad and short cusps translate into a wider chewing surface used for grinding hard masses of food

Mandibular Arch

Lower Arch- Movable

Maxillary Arch

Upper Arch- Not capable of movement and fixed to the skull

Occlusion

The contact between maxillary and mandibular teeth during function

Midline

An imaginary line which divides which divides wach arch into mirrored halves

Quadrants

Two arches that are divided into halves create four quadrants

Sextants

The dentition is sometimes divided into six parts

Anterior

Incisors and Canines

Posterior

Premolars and Molars

Labial Surface

Facial surface of anterior teeth closest to the lips

Buccal Surface

Facial surface of posterior teeth closest to the cheeks

Masticatory surface

Chewing Surface

Incisal Surface

Chewing surface of anterior teeth

Occlusal Surface

Chewing surface for posterior teeth

Lingual Surface

Surface closest to the tongue

Mesial Surface

Surface closest to the midline

Distal Surface

Surface farthest from the midline

Proximal Surface

Surface of a tooth facing the adjacent tooth

Interproximal Space

The area between adjacent tooth surfaces

Apical Third

Closest to the apex of the tooth

Apex

Middle third

Cervical Third

Closest to the Cervix (neck of the tooth)

Occlusocervical Division

Division parallel to the chewing surface of the tooth

Mesiodistal Division

Division lengthwise in a mesial-distal(front to back) direction

Buccolingual Division

Lengthwise division in facial-lingual direction