Surfaces of Teeth and Directions in Relation to Oral Cavity
- Axial: A plane parallel to the surface of a tooth.
- Buccal: The side of a tooth adjacent to the inside of the cheek.
- Cervical: The narrowing of the contours of the tooth surface at or near the CEJ.
- Coronal: The direction toward the crown of a tooth.
- Distal: The direction toward the gingiva beyond the most posterior tooth in each quadrant.
- Lingual: The side of a tooth adjacent to the tongue.
- Labial: The side of a tooth adjacent to the inside of the lip.
- Palatal: The side of a tooth adjacent to the palate.
- Vestibular: The side of a tooth adjacent to the inside of the cheek or lips.
Directions in Relation to Midline and Specific Terms for Teeth
- Mesial: The direction toward the anterior midline in a dental arch.
- Distal: The direction toward the gingiva beyond the most posterior tooth in each quadrant.
- Midline: An imaginary vertical line dividing the left and right sides of the mouth at the teeth.
- Superior: The direction toward the head.
- Inferior: The direction toward the feet.
- Incisal: The direction toward the biting surface of anterior teeth.
- Occlusal: The direction toward the biting surface of posterior teeth.
- Proximal: The surfaces of teeth that normally lie adjacent to another tooth.
- Marginal: The edge of tooth structure that is prepared to meet the edge of a prosthetic crown.
- Lateral: A tooth which is away from the midline.
Dental Quadrants and Sextants
- Upper right quadrant: Upper right first incisor to upper right wisdom tooth.
- Upper left quadrant: Upper left first incisor to upper left wisdom tooth.
- Lower right quadrant: Lower right first incisor to lower right wisdom tooth.
- Lower left quadrant: Lower left first incisor to lower left wisdom tooth.
- Sextant: One of six groups of adjacent teeth.
Combining of Terms
- Combining forms can be used to create terms for directions and axes in dentistry.
- Examples of combining forms include 'mesio-' for 'mesial' and 'disto-' for 'distal'.
- The coronoapical axis is the long axis of a tooth.
- Combining forms can be combined to create terms such as 'apicocoronal' (AC) and 'buccoapical' (BA).
- Abbreviations for combined terms should only be used in specific contexts and when explicitly defined.
Abbreviations and Ambiguity
- The abbreviations for combined terms in dentistry are often ambiguous and not specific to these terms.
- Some abbreviations are not even one-to-one specific within the list of combined terms.
- Spelling out the combined terms is generally recommended.
- Abbreviations should be used sparingly and only in restricted contexts.
- The abbreviations can help avoid extensive repetition, especially in academic articles.
Note: The references have been excluded from the groups as they are not directly related to the content organization.
This is a list of definitions of commonly used terms of location and direction in dentistry. This set of terms provides orientation within the oral cavity, much as anatomical terms of location provide orientation throughout the body.
