DH133 Dental Anatomy: Overview of Dentitions and Tooth Numbering Systems

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering dental anatomy basics, dentition periods, tooth types, surfaces, and identification systems.

How is dental anatomy defined?

The area of the dental sciences dealing with the development, morphology, function, and identity of the teeth, as well as the relationships of teeth to each other in the same arch and in the opposing arch.

What are the two dentitions a person has during a lifetime?

Primary dentition and permanent dentition.

What is the mixed dentition period?

A period where both primary and permanent teeth are present. It starts at approximately age six when the first permanent molar erupts and ends around age thirteen when the last primary tooth exfoliates.

What are the alternative names for the primary dentition?

Baby teeth, milk teeth, or deciduous teeth.

How many teeth are in the full primary dentition, and what types are they?

$20$ teeth in total, consisting of incisors, canines, and molars.

How many teeth are in the full permanent dentition, and what types are they?

$32$ teeth in total, including incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.

What does the term 'exfoliate' mean in dental anatomy?

The shedding or loss of primary teeth.

Differentiate between succedaneous and non-succedaneous teeth.

Succedaneous teeth are permanent teeth that replace deciduous teeth; non-succedaneous teeth are permanent teeth that do not replace deciduous teeth (e.g., permanent molars).

What are the four general functions of teeth?

Eating (mastication), Communication (speech), Protection (hard physical barrier), and Aesthetics.

Which tooth type is found only in the permanent dentition?

Premolars.

What are the specific functions of incisors, canines, and molars?

Incisors function for biting and cutting; canines for piercing or tearing; and molars for grinding.

What is the difference between an alveolus and the alveolar process?

The alveolus is the individual tooth socket, while the alveolar process is the tooth-bearing part of the jaw.

Define the Maxillary and Mandibular arches.

The Maxillary arch is the upper arch (maxilla bone), and the Mandibular arch is the lower arch (mandible bone).

What is the occlusal plane?

An imaginary curved plane formed by the incisal edges of the anterior teeth and the occlusal surfaces of the posterior teeth.

When looking into a mouth, how are left and right oriented?

Right and left are reversed.

What does the acronym DAQT represent in tooth identification?

Dentition, Arch, Quadrant, and Tooth.

Differentiate between mesial and distal surfaces.

The mesial surface is the side closest to the midline, while the distal surface is farthest away from the midline.

What are the two specific types of facial surfaces?

Labial surface (closest to the lips) and buccal surface (closest to the cheek).

What is the palatal surface?

The lingual surface of maxillary teeth, which is the surface nearest the palate.

Differentiate the masticatory surfaces of anterior and posterior teeth.

Anterior teeth have an incisal surface (edge), while posterior teeth have an occlusal surface.

How does the Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) system identify teeth?

It uses a two-number system where the first number represents the quadrant and the second number represents the tooth (counted from the midline).

How are teeth numbered in the Universal System (US) for permanent dentition?

They are numbered consecutively from $1$ through $32$ in a clockwise direction, starting with the upper right third molar.

How does the Palmer Notation Method indicate quadrants and teeth?

It uses right-angle symbols for quadrants, permanent teeth are numbered $1$-$8$, and primary teeth are lettered $A$-$E$ starting from the midline.

What do the terms 'apical' and 'coronal' refer to?

Apical refers to the direction towards the apex (tip of the root), and coronal refers to the direction towards the crown of the tooth.

What is dentition?

The natural teeth in a jaw.

- a person has 2 dentitions during a lifetime

What are the different types of dentitions?

1. Primary

2. Mixed

3. Permanent

Types of teeth

1. incisors

2. canine

3. premolars

4. molars

General functions of teeth

1. eating (cutting, holding and grinding)

2. Communication (speech, phonetics, whistling)

3. protection (hard physical barriers to protect oral structure)

4. aesthetics

What is the function of incisors?

To bite, shear and cut food, due to their triangular proximal form.

How many incisors do human have?

8 total.

-Four maxillary and four mandibular.

- central and lateral

What is the function of canines?

tearing, piercing, holding

- due to their tapered (spear head) shape and prominent cusp.

- longest teeth in the dentition

- best-anchored, most stable due to having the longest root

How many canines do human have?

4 Total

- 2 maxillary, 2 mandibular

Which teeth are only found in the permanent dentition?

Premolars.

- not found in primary dentitions

What is the function of premolars?

holding, grinding and piercing

- assist molars in grinding food and canines in piercing and tearing.

how many premolars does a permanent dentition have?

8 total

- 4 maxillary, 4 mandibular (2 in each quadrant)

Which teeth have the largest and strongest crowns?

Molars.

What is the function of molars?

chew, grind and crushing

how many molars can a permanent dentition have?

up to 12

what is a alveolus?

cavity/socket in the alveolar process in which the root of the tooth is held

what is the alveolus process?

Part of the bone in the maxillae and audible that forms the socket for each tooth.

- the bone itself that supports and surround the tooth.

difference between alveolus and alveolus process

alveolus is located in the alveolus process

the alveolus is referring to the socket/cavity itself while the process refers to the bone making this socket

What is the occlusal plane?

An imaginary curved plane separating the maxilla and mandible.

What is the midsagittal plane?

An imaginary plane dividing the skull into left and right sides.

What are the three main tooth designation systems?

1. FDI (Federation Dentaire Internationale)

2. Universal System (US)

3. Palmer Notation Method

How are permanent teeth numbered in the Universal System?

Consecutively from 1 to 32 clockwise, starting with the upper right third molar.

What does the D-A-Q-T system stand for in tooth description?

Dentition, Arch, Quadrant, Tooth.

According to nomenclature rules, which terms always precede all other terms?

Mesial and distal, with mesial taking precedence.

How are two-term dental combinations combined (Rule 4)?

Drop the final letters "al" from the first term and replace with "o".

When is a hyphen used in dental nomenclature combinations (Rule 6)?

When dropping "al" results in a double "o" (e.g., disto-occlusal).

What is dentition?

The natural teeth in a jaw.

- a person has 2 dentitions during a lifetime

What are the different types of dentitions?

1. Primary

2. Mixed

3. Permanent

Types of teeth

1. incisors

2. canine

3. premolars

4. molars

General functions of teeth

1. eating (cutting, holding and grinding)

2. Communication (speech, phonetics, whistling)

3. protection (hard physical barriers to protect oral structure)

4. aesthetics

What is the function of incisors?

To bite, shear and cut food, due to their triangular proximal form.

How many incisors do human have?

8 total.

-Four maxillary and four mandibular.

- central and lateral