It is defined as a qualitative or quantitative deficiency of hemoglobin, a molecule inside red blood cells (RBCs). As hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, anemia leads to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in organs. Since all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia can have a wide range of clinical consequences. Anemia is the most common disorder of the blood. There are several kinds of anemia, produced by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a variety of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs, underlying etiologic mechanisms and discernible clinical spectra.

It is the calcified thin connective tissue layer over the outer surface of root portion of teeth.

These are usually removable dentures made of acrylic resins to restore the dentition in edentulous patients. These can either be of metal base or acrylic base. Fixed complete dentures can also be fabricated with the help of implant abutments.

All root canal treated teeth become brittle and thus have increased tendency of breakage. So they must be covered with a full jacket crown popularly known as Dental Cap. Mutilated, fractured, badly discolored or grossly decayed & restored teeth may also require the same. Crown can be a noble or base metal crown, metal-ceramic or pure ceramic crown. Besides providing strength and durability to teeth, they give them life like appearance also.

It is wonder dental restorative material. It has revolutionized the science of dentistry and has replaced a number of other restorative materials. It comes in various teeth colored shades and is used for cementing, restorative and splinting purposes. Restorations of composite resin are quite stable and give life like appearance. It can either be light cured or self cured.

It is a discipline with in dentistry in which primary focus lies on the modification of appearance of a patient’s teeth and surrounding structures, along with the prevention and treatment of organic, structural or functional oral disease.

It is the pointed portion of occlusal surface of posterior teeth. Single cusp teeth are known as cuspids or canines. Two cusp teeth are known as bicuspids or premolars and four or five cusp teeth are known as molars.

Pathological cavity, usually lined with epithelium, containing fluid or soft matter.

The lay term for carious lesions in a teeth; decomposition of teeth structure. It can be prevented with proper dental care.

They are primary or milk teeth which start erupting at the age of six months. All the milk teeth usually erupt by the age of 2 to 3 years. They are twenty in number. Besides serving the normal function of chewing of food, they are also important for proper development and growth of jaws. They maintain space and path for the permanent teeth. They start shedding at the age of 6-7 years. By the age of 12-13 years, usually all the primary teeth are replaced with permanent ones. Proper care and restoration of any carious lesions of these teeth is as important as that of permanent teeth.

It is a disease of teeth in which there is demineralization and destruction of teeth substance, leading to discoloration, holes or cavities in teeth. It is most prevalent chronic disease affecting the human race. Once it occurs, its manifestations persist throughout life, although the defect is treated. If affects all regions of the world, all races, all socio-economic strata and every age group. It usually begins soon after the teeth erupt in the oral cavity. Bacteria play major role in the initiation and progression of caries. Sugars are also equally responsible for caries production. Refined and pure sugars are more cariogenic. There is general agreement that dental caries occur beneath dental plaque. Proper treatment of all carious lesions, whether small or large, painless or painful is a must to prevent the teeth loss. Initial and painless carious lesions can be treated with simple silver-amalgam restorations or teeth colored composite resin restorations. In case of advanced painful cases, a proper root canal therapy followed by a complete jacket crown may be required.

It is a sort of nylon thread or tape used for cleansing adjacent teeth surfaces. It can be waxed or unwaxed. It comes in the form of reel or single use and throw type. The purpose of flossing is to remove dental plaque, not to dislodge or remove food debris from interdental spaces.

Scaling and polishing procedure performed to remove coronal plaque, calculus, and stains.

It is an artificial device used for replacing one or more missing teeth. It can either be removable or fixed one.

They are aids for cleaning and polishing teeth surfaces. They are mostly used in the form of a paste, but powder and liquid forms are also available. They are also used as vehicles for certain chemotherapeutic agents to inhibit dental plaque, calculus, dental caries or hypersensitivity. There use carries a due importance for proper maintenance of dental health.

That part of teeth that lies beneath enamel and cementum. It is sensitive in nature and less hard than enamel. After reaching this layer carious lesions spread more fast.

An artificial substitute for missing one or more natural teeth along with adjacent tissues. It can either be partial denture or complete denture. Further, it can be fixed partial denture or removable partial denture.

It is characterized by disordered metabolism and abnormally high blood sugar levels resulting from insufficient levels of the hormone insulin, The characteristic symptoms are excessive urine production (polyuria) due to high blood glucose levels, excessive thirst and increased fluid intake (polydipsia) in an attempt to compensate for increased urination, blurred vision due to high blood glucose effects on the eye's optic nerve, unexplained weight loss and lethargy. These symptoms are likely to be less apparent if the blood sugar is only mildly elevated. are likely to be less apparent if the blood sugar is only mildly elevated.

teethless. There are a number of state of the art, affordable dental plans for edentulous patients.

It is the loss of tooth structure (other than carious loss) due to some problem with digestive system, medicinal therapy, field of occupation and dietary habits (excessive use of baking products, citrus fruits and carbonated drinks). Eroded teeth can be restored with tooth-colored light cured composite resin restorations.

Act or process of removing a tooth or tooth parts. It is a completely painless procedure done under local anesthesia. Procedure is carried out in those teeth whose scope of restoration is poor or which are constantly causing problems like impacted wisdom teeth. Some teeth are required to be extracted for some sort of orthodontic treatment.

This malformation is clinically manifested by numerous small furrows or grooves on the dorsal surface of tongue. It is usually painless except in cases where food debris has collected in grooves.

One or more missing teeth can be replaced with a fixed partial denture, popularly known as bridge work. Here teeth adjoining to the missing one are prepared as abutments. In certain cases there can be implant abutments also. Bridge work can be done in noble metal allay, base metal alloy or a combination of metal and ceramics. Ceramics are used for high esthetic results. Bridge work is quite a durable dental solution and may last for tens of years.

Removable partial dentures with flexible denture base material. They are easy to remove and fit snugly. They are usually planned in those cases where dental solution in the form of fixed partial dentures is not feasible.

When we eat or drink something, some food particles are left behind in pits and fissures of teeth, interdental spaces, gingival & periodontal pockets, carious lesions and other defective holes in the oral cavity. These left over food particles disintegrate and get decayed. This is known as food debris. It helps as a store house for harmful bacteria and leads to dental plaque formation.

It is the soft tissue membrane covering the alveolar bone (tooth bearing portion of jaw bone). It is also known as gums.

An overgrowth of gingival tissues due to some disease process.

It is the surgical removal of gingival tissues.

It is a latex type material of plant origin. In dentistry, it is exclusively used as an obturation material in root canal therapy.

It is the increased sensitivity of teeth towards cold, hot or sweet food. It is due to exposure of dentin to oral environment, more precisely, it is due to exposure of nerve endings present in dentinal tubules. This may be due to attrition of enamel or cementum. It causes intense pain which is further aggravated by cold, air pressure, sugar or external forces over the tooth. Application of potassium nitrate, strontium chloride or sodium monofluorophosphate are some common dental solutions for this.

It is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland. Cretinism is a form of hypothyroidism found in infants. Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide.

Removable denture prosthesis fabricated for immediate replacement of natural teeth after their removal.

An unerupted or partially erupted tooth that is positioned against another tooth, bone or soft tissue in such a way that complete eruption is unlikely. Impacted teeth, whenever diagnosed, they should normally be removed.

Material inserted or grafted into tissue. In dentistry, science of dental implantology is reaching new heights day by day. Dental implants are emerging as an ultimate dental solution for missing teeth. Here a specially designed sort of screw is placed surgically in the upper or lower jaw bone, as a means for providing an implant abutment for crown or bridge work. Dental implants can be endosteal, subperiosteal or transosteal.

These are single rooted front teeth, eight in number four in the upper jaw and four in the lower one. The number is same in deciduous as well as permanent dentition.

An indirect intracoronal dental restoration, fabricated outside the oral cavity. It exactly corresponds to the form of prepared cavity and is cemented into the tooth.

Currently there are no common dental terms listed alphabetically under this letter.

Currently there are no common dental terms listed alphabetically under this letter.

It is a small fold of tissue that secures or restricts the movement of upper lip. It is located above and in the middle of upper central incisors. Some times too high or too thick labial frenum leads to the formation of diastema. In such cases frenectomy or frenuloplasty may be required.

In the construction of crowns or pontics, a layer of tooth-colored material, usually made of, but not limited to, composite, porcelain, ceramic or acrylic resin, attached to the surface by direct fusion, cementation, or mechanical retention; also refers to a restoration that is luted to the facial surface of a tooth. It is used to improve the esthetics or protect the damaged tooth surface.

Teeth growing somewhere else than there original position.

It is the scientific name given to lower jaw bone. It is attached to the skull with the help of temporomandibular joint.

It is the name given to upper jaw bone.

It is the extra tooth erupting in between upper central incisors. It may be single or paired. It is a small tooth with a cone shaped crown and small root. But dental treatment for this is simple extraction. Gap left after that can be treated either with orthodontic appliances or with prosthetic work.

They are primary or milk teeth which start erupting at the age of six months. All the milk teeth usually erupt by the age of 2 to 3 years. They are twenty in number. Besides serving the normal function of chewing of food, they are also important for proper development and growth of jaws. They maintain space and path for the permanent teeth. They start shedding at the age of 6-7 years. By the age of 12-13 years, usually all the primary teeth are replaced with permanent ones. Proper care and restoration of any carious lesions of these teeth is as important as that of permanent teeth.

Posterior teeth (behind bicuspids) on either side of jaw used for grinding of food. They are 12 in number and are known as first molars (erupt the age of 6-7 years), second molars (erupt at the age of 12-13 years) and third molars or wisdom teeth ( erupt at the age of 17 to 21 years).

These are heavily glycosylated proteins secreted from mucosal surfaces of body including oral cavity.

It is horseshoe shaped flexible appliance that is worn on either of the upper or lower arch teeth. It has to be fabricated separately for each patient. It helps in reducing clenching, grinding and temporomandibular joint problems.

Noble metals that are resistant to corrosion or oxidation, unlike most base metals. They tend to be precious metals, often due to perceived rarity. Examples include gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium. In dentistry, they are used in fabrication of complete jacket crowns, fixed partial dentures, inlays, onlays

It is sealing of root canals of teeth with root canal sealer and gutta percha during root canal therapy.

It is the contact between biting or chewing surfaces of upper and lower teeth.

An indirect restoration fabricated outside the oral cavity that overlays a cusp or cusps of a tooth and is then cemented to the tooth.

Surgical procedure to reshape bony tissues.

It is a removable denture that lies over and may be supported by retained roots of teeth or implants.

Comprising of hard and soft palate, forms roof of oral cavity, and separates it from nasal cavity.

Therapy, that relieves pain but is not curative.

Pair of major salivary glands located in front and below the ears.

Around the root apex of a tooth.

A suppurative process around the root tips of teeth. It usually arises is a result of infection in carious or traumatically injured teeth. It is also known as dento-alveolar abscess. It may be acute or chronic. In acute cases tooth is extremely painful & tender. Affected tooth is usually treated by immediately making an access opening in pulp chamber for drainage of pus and followed by proper root canal treatment.

An x-ray that shows several entire tooth (crowns and roots) and includes a small area of periapical region (surrounding the root tips).

They are 32 in number and start erupting at the age of 6 years. Lower central incisors erupt first. By the age of 12 to 13 years all the deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent one. Wisdom teeth are the last one to erupt.

These are highly flowable, self cured or light cured composite resins used for sealing deep pits and fissures in order to prevent food lodgment and thereby preventing pit & fissure caries.

An elongated projection fitted and cemented within the prepared root canal, serving to strengthen and retain restorative material and/or a crown restoration.

The use of medications prior to dental procedures.

Complete removal of vital and non vital pulp tissue from the root canal space. The procedure is a part of root canal therapy.

Removal of a portion of the pulp, that is coronal pulp, with the aim of maintaining the vitality of the remaining portion by means of an adequate dressing.

Currently there are no common dental terms listed alphabetically under this letter.

Procedure of replacing the base of a denture.

Artificial denture prosthesis that can easily be removed and reinserted by the patient him/herself. It replaces partially missing one or more teeth. It can either be cast partial denture or flexible denture.

They are saliva producing glands, There are three pairs of major salivary glands parotid glands, submandibular glands and sublingual glands. Numerous minor salivary glands are also present over cheek, tongue, palate and floor of mouth.

Removal of plaque, calculus and external stains from teeth.

Although composite resins have replaced almost 80-90% of restoration work since their advent in seventies. But there are certain areas, which still require that old Gold Silver Amalgam. In posterior teeth, where durability and stress bearing weighs more than esthetics, silver amalgam restoration may still be the answer.

A device used to support, protect or immobilize those teeth which have been loosened, replanted, fractured or traumatized. It can be multilayer fiber splint, acrylic splint or metal splint.

Inflammation of the mucous lining of oral cavity, which may involve cheeks, gums, tongue, lips, throat, flour and roof of the mouth. It may be caused due to poor oral hygiene, illfitting dentures, too hot drinks, certain medications, allergic reactions or some infections. Stomatitis due to smoking or chewing tobacco is known as stomatitis nicotina.

Third and smallest pair of major salivary glands located in the mucosa of the floor of mouth.

Pair of major salivary glands located beneath the tongue and opening under the tip of tongue.

Small structures on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate and epiglottis that provide information about the taste of food being eaten. There are approximately ten thousand taste buds on our tongue.

It is the connecting hinge type mechanism between the base of the skull (temporal bone) and the lower jaw (mandible).

It is a lay term used for the restoration of decayed or lost tooth substance due to various reasons. Tooth filling can be done with noble metals, silver alloys, light cured composite resins or porcelain.

Staining of teeth may be internal or external. The stains which are incorporated into tooth structure are known as internal or intrinsic tooth stains. Whereas external or exogenous stains are superficial. External stains (e.g. tobacco stains) can be removed with scaling and polishing. Special tooth whitening treatment known as tooth bleaching is required for removal of internal stains.

A bony elevation or protuberance of bone. In lower jaw it is known as torus mandibularis, and in upper jaw it is termed as torus palatinus. Sometimes these tori may complicate the fabrication of dentures in edentulous.

Also known as Tic Douloureux, is a neuropathic disorder of the trigeminal nerve that may cause episodes of intense pain in jaws, teeth, forehead, scalp, eyes, nose, check, ears and lips. It is often falsely attributed to be pain of dental origin. Usually patients get their one or more teeth extracted on the affected side, before a proper diagnosis is made.

Also known as lockjaw, is the inability to open the mouth due to certain pathological reasons. Pericoronitis is the most common cause for it. Inflammation of muscles of mastication which is a frequent sequel to surgical removal of mandibular wisdom teeth, peritonsillar abscess and TMJ disfunction are some other common causes of trismus.

Currently there are no common dental terms listed alphabetically under this letter.

In the construction of crowns or pontics, a layer of tooth-colored material, usually made of, but not limited to, composite, porcelain, ceramic or acrylic resin, attached to the surface by direct fusion, cementation, or mechanical retention; also refers to a restoration that is luted to the facial surface of a tooth. It is used to improve the esthetics or protect the damaged tooth surface.

These are third molars, four in number, one on either side of jaw, erupt between 17 to 21 years of age. One, two or all the four wisdom teeth may be missing. Sometimes a wisdom tooth may be partially erupted or may not erupt at all, such a tooth is called impacted tooth.

Dryness of oral cavity due to decreased salivary secretions. It can lead to difficulty in speech and eating. It may also lead to halitosis and increase in the number of carious lesions. Anxiety, certain medications, certain diseases, diabetes and alcohol in take are some common causes of xerostomia.

Currently there are no common dental terms listed alphabetically under this letter.