Dentistry: A to Z 2

Continued from Dentistry: A to Z 1.

Implants Metal – often titanium – ‘screws’ or ‘pegs’ that are used to replace the roots of teeth (not to be confused with posts where the root of the tooth remains). Can be used to support a crown, bridge or denture.

Impression A 3D ‘negative’ of the mouth taken using a putty. The dental technician then pours in a powdered stone mix to obtain an accurate facsimile of the mouth that they can then work on.

In Ceram This was one of the earliest non-metal restorative materials and is a fused glass/ceramic that has largely been superseded by other products.

Incisor The four upper and lower front ‘blade-like’ teeth used for biting.

Interference A concept that teeth can ‘clash’ in the preferred chewing movement of the jaws possibly causing TMJ problems and/or causing damage to the teeth concerned.

Inlay A restoration (often gold or ceramic) that is most often made in a laboratory and cemented into place in the tooth. Requires impressions, two visits and temporary fillings in the interim unless machined in-house from a scanned image of the tooth.

Intravenous sedation A ‘twilight’ anaesthetic used to sedate, but not render the patient unconscious. Can be used for lengthy, unpleasant procedures or where the patient is fearful. Involves an injection in the hand. The sedated person usually has amnesia, forgetting the events before, during or after the procedure also.

Lining A thin layer of material placed over the floor of the cavity to protect the pulp. There is some concern about the toxicity and/or allergenicity of some of the materials used as lining materials.

Local anaesthetic Frequently contains noradrenaline (norephinephrine) to hold the anaesthetic in place long enough to be effective – and to prevent excessive bleeding with surgery and extractions. Some people may react badly to this especially if it is injected directly into the blood vessels (there is no real way of knowing). Works by temporarily blocking the transmission of nerve signals.

Molars The big back teeth meant for crushing and chewing foods. The first molar does the lion’s share of the work. Molars usually have three or four roots although these may be fused in some teeth.

‘Nerve’ The inner living part of the tooth (also known as the pulp) contains nerves, blood and lymph vessels and the remnants of the tissues that originally formed the tooth. Can die and require a root-filling or extraction in certain circumstances.

NICO See Cavitation.

Occlusion The way the teeth intermesh both at rest and during chewing and swallowing.

Oral sedation This is a valium-like sedative given as a tablet prior to treatment. The patient is still fully aware, but less anxious than otherwise would be the case.

Orthodontic ‘Ortho’ means correct and ‘dont’ tooth. These dentists are often specialists that straighten the teeth using braces. They do this either by expanding the dental arches (which have collapsed over evolution since prehistoric times) or by extracting teeth to make space. Braces may be fixed or removable.

Overlays This is like a crown only shallower and the advantage is that it involves removing less tooth. Often done where the tooth is still substantially present but may have required a root-filling or had one or more cusps shear off.

Onlay See Overlay.

Periodontal disease See Gum disease

Periodontist ‘Peri’ means around and ‘dont’ tooth. These are specialists who treat all aspects of gum disease. This may involve deep cleaning under the gum (known as root planing) and/or gum surgery.

Pins Used where a corner or a cusp of the tooth is missing to support the filling material. Known to cause internal crazing within the tooth and possible nerve death.

Plaque A soft deposit of dead bacteria and food. Can be removed by brushing effectively.

Porcelain fused to metal (PFM) This is a type of crown and bridge material where the underlying support is gained from a metal substructure and then porcelain is baked on for aesthetics.

Posts Usually either prefabricated or cast metal. These are inserted into the root-filled canals of dead teeth to provide some support for a crown or bridge. Some non-metal posts are now available.

Premolars See Bicuspids

Procera This is an aesthetic crown material which involves fabricating an underyling ‘core’ from an aluminium or zirconia material for strength and then layering regular porcelain for aesthetics over the top.

Pulp See ‘Nerve’

Relative analgesia This is a nitrous oxide gas and oxygen mix such as used by women in labour. It reduces anxiety and relieves pain, but a local anaesthetic is usually still required.

Retrograde root-filling This is often performed where normal access to the root canal system is blocked by posts. It involves a mini-operation and attempting to remove the tip of the root of the tooth, clean it and seal it. Historically usually involved the use of dental amalgam.

Root-fillings See Endodontic treatment.

Sinus Two meanings. One refers to the air-filled cavities in the skull eg: maxillary or frontal sinus. The other refers to an infection that is draining from a tooth out through a channel in the bone and that will appear like an oozing pimple. These can be intraoral or drain out through the skin.

Tartar Common word for calculus. This is mineralised plaque and needs to be removed professionally.

Temporary crown Made of plastic and cemented into place with temporary cement whilst the permanent restoration is made (or to assess healing, etc).

Tempero-Mandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ) This is the name give to the jaw joint – where the mandible (lower jaw) meets the temple bone of the skull. Dysfunction refers to the fact that in some people this clicks and pops, they may have restricted opening and their lower jaw may deviate on opening or closing and may also get stuck occasionally. Sometimes this is accompanied by constant or occasional pain and headaches.

Wisdom teeth Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt (third molars) and there frequently isn’t room for them which means that they can become impacted and need to be removed, although this practice is currently being discouraged.

X-ray A form of electromagnetic radiation that can penetrate soft tissue and bone and be captured by film or sensitive screens. Denser objects show up as being white (because they blocked the passage of x-rays) and less dense objects as black. So root fillings and metal fillings will show as white and cavities within the bone or around the tip of roots as dark areas.

Zirconia This is the latest aesthetic ceramic dental crown material made of zirconium dioxide. The inner part of the crown is made with zirconia which is white, fits well and which can withstand the pressures likely to be generated in the mouth and then covered with porcelain for optimal aesthetics.

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