Practice Admin

Dental procedures and diagnosis can sometimes be referred to with a clinical terminology that not everyone knows prior to working in the dental office. Here are a few of those dental terms:

• Abscess – Acute or chronic localized inflammation, probably with a collection of pus, associated with tissue destruction and, frequently, swelling; usually secondary to infection.
• Biopsy – Process of removing tissue for histologic evaluation.
• Cavity – Missing tooth structure. A cavity may be due to decay, erosion or abrasion
• Crown (Cap) – An artificial replacement that restores missing tooth structure by surrounding the remaining coronal tooth structure, or is placed on a dental implant.
• Dental Implant – A device specially designed to be placed surgically within or on the mandibular or maxillary bone as a means of providing for dental replacement.
• Endo – Endodontic – Root Canal – Root canal treatment is a procedure to relieve dental pain and save your teeth, typically needed when there is inflammation or infection in the roots of a tooth.The procedure removes the pulp inside the tooth, cleans, disinfects and shapes the root canals, and places a filling to seal the space.
• Extraction – removing a tooth (whole or in parts)
• Fracture – The breaking of a part, especially of a bony structure; breaking of a tooth.
• Gingivitis – Inflammation of gingival tissue without loss of connective tissue.
• HX – Hx refers to ‘history’ as in a patient’s medical history.
• Impacted tooth – An unerupted or partially erupted tooth that is positioned against another tooth, bone, or soft tissue so that complete eruption is unlikely.
• Malocclusion – incorrect position of biting or chewing surfaces of the upper and lower teeth
• Maxilla – the upper jaw
• Mandible – the lower jaw.
• Permanent Tooth Numbers – Dental charts are normally arranged from the viewpoint of a dental practitioner facing a patient. The patient’s right side appears on the left side of the chart, and the patient’s left side appears on the right side of the chart. Therefore, teeth numbers 1 – 16 are on the upper jaw, right to left. Teeth numbers 41 – 48 & 31 -38 are in the lower jaw. Teeth numbers 11 – 18 and 21 -28 upper jaw.
• Primary Tooth Letters – These are the first teeth to erupt into the mouth. The primary dentition is comprised of 20 teeth. Often these teeth are referred to as deciduous teeth or baby teeth. The teeth are usually recognized by a letter of the alphabet beginning with “A” (Maxillary right second molar) and ending with “T” (Mandibular right second molar). Upper jaw 51-55 and 61-65. Lower jaw 81-85 and 71-75.

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Appointment Abbreviations:

• NP – shorthand for New Patient and is when the patient has never been seen by your office before.
• FMX – Full mouth X-rays – 20 images composed of 16 periapical and 4 bitewing images.
• BW – x-rays that show teeth above the gum line and the height of the bone between teeth. Bitewings help diagnose gum disease and cavities between teeth. The bitewing X-ray is placed on the tongue side of your teeth and held in place by biting down on a tab. Normally four bitewings are taken as a set.
• VBW – Vertical Bitewings – these are similar to the regular bitewing x-rays but are turned vertically to show more of the teeth and the height of the bone between teeth. With vertical bitewings, typically 7 images are taken as a set.
• Occlusal – Occlusal x-rays show the roof or floor of the mouth and are used to find extra teeth, teeth that have not yet broken through the gums, jaw fractures, a cleft palate, cysts, abscesses or growths.
• PAN – Panoramic x-rays, just like panoramic photos, are used to take images of your entire mouth area. It shows the position of fully emerged, emerging, and impacted teeth, all in one image.
• PA– A periapical (PA) X-ray refers to a single X-ray that is taken to show a specific area of concern.
• TXP – Treatment Plan – The dentist’s plan for the patient that outlines exactly what dental services is recommended and in what timeframe

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