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(Redirected from Commonly used terms of relationship and comparison is dentistry)
There are numerous 'commonly used terms of relationship and comparison' that refer to different aspects of teeth and are frequently utilized in articles about dentistry. Many of them are included below as a sort of glossary to assist with understanding the many articles that include these types of words.

Contents

Terms

References

Terms

'Anterior' refers to the direction towards an individuals lips, as opposed to ''posterior'', which refers to the directions towards the back of an individual's head. The term ''anterior teeth'' refers to incisors and canines.
'Apical' refers to the direction towards the root tip(s) of a tooth, as opposed to ''coronal'', which refers to the direction towards the crown. It may also refer to something relating to the roots, such as ''apical support''. This term is nearly synonymous with both ''cervical'' and ''gingival''.
'Axial' refers to a plane parallel to the surface of a tooth. For example, if a drill bur would be inserted into a tooth from any side (''proximal'', ''facial'' or ''lingual'', the depth of the hole is defined by the axial wall of the hole.
'Buccal' refers to the side of a tooth that is adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheek, as opposed to ''lingual'' or ''palatal'', which refer to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the tongue or palate, respectively. Although technically referring only to posterior teeth (where the cheeks are present instead of lips, use of this term may extend to all teeth, anterior and posterior), this term may be employed to describe the ''facial'' surface of (or directions in relation to) anterior teeth as well.
'Cervical', which simply means ''neck'' in Latin (as in cervical vertebrae), refers to the narrowing of the contours of the tooth surface at or near the CEJ, where the crown meets the root. When referring to direction in relation to entities on or of the crown, it is nearly synonymous with both ''apical'' and ''gingival''.
'Coronal' refers to the direction towards the crown of a tooth, as opposed to ''apical'', which refers to the direction towards the tip(s) of the root(s). It may also refer to something relating to the crown, such as ''coronal forces''.
'Distal' refers to the direction towards the last tooth in each quadrant of a dental arch, as opposed to ''mesial'', which refers to the direction towards the anterior midline. Each tooth can be described as having a distal surface and, for ''posterior'' teeth, a ''distobuccal (DB)'' and a ''distolingual (DL)'' corner or cusp.

'Facial' refers to the side of a tooth that is adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheek or lips, as opposed to ''lingual'' or ''palatal'', which refer to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the tongue or palate, respectively. This term is an umbrella term for both the term ''buccal'' and ''labial''.
'Gingival' refers to the direction towards the gingiva, synonymous with ''cervical'' and similar to apical. However, locations on teeth already more ''apical'' to the interface of the crown and root, referred to as the CEJ, tend not to be described using this term, as it would lead to confusion, as the exact definition is ambiguous. Additionally, this term would not be used when referring to a tooth ''ex vivo''.
'Incisal' refers either to the direction towards the biting edge of ''anterior'' teeth or to something relating to this edge, such as the terms ''incisal guidance'' or ''incisal edge''. This is the sister term to ''occlusal'', which related to the analogous location on ''posterior'' teeth.
'Inferior', as usual, refers to the direction towards the feet of an human's body, as opposed to ''superior'', which refers to the direction towards the head. However, use of these terms should enjoy only limited usage when discussing features of a tooth, as, for example, something more inferior on a mandibular tooth will be situated more superior on a maxillary tooth, as they exhibit an inverted relationship. It is for this reason that the terms ''coronal'' an ''apical'' are substitutued.
'Labial' refers to the side of a tooth that is adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the lip, as opposed to ''lingual'' or ''palatal'', which refer to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the tongue or palate, respectively. Although technically referring only to anterior teeth (where the lips are present instead of cheeks, use of the term ''buccal'' may extend to all teeth, anterior and posterior.)
'Lingual' refers to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the tongue, as opposed to ''buccal'', ''labial'' or ''facial'' which refer to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheek or lips, respectively. Although this term is technically specific to the mandible, it enjoys extensive use in reference to the maxilla as well.
'Mandibular' refers to entities related to the mandible.
'Maxillary' refers to entities related to the maxilla.

'Mesial' refers to the direction towards the anterior midline is a dental arch, as opposed to ''distal'', which refers to the direction towards the last tooth in each quadrant. Each tooth can be described as having a mesial surface and, for ''posterior'' teeth, a ''mesiobuccal (MB)'' and a ''mesiolingual (MB)'' corner or cusp.
'Occlusal' refers either to the direction towards the biting surface of ''posterior'' teeth or to something relating to this surface, such as the terms ''occlusal interference'' or ''occlusal surface''. This is the sister term to ''incisal'', which related to the analogous location on ''anterior'' teeth. Restorations are desginated by their location on a tooth, and abbreviated as such. Thus, for example, an amalgam restoration on the distal-occlusal of a tooth would be termed a ''DO amalgam''.
'Palatal' refers to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the palate, as opposed to ''buccal'', ''labial'' or ''facial'' which refer to the side of a tooth adjacent to (or the direction towards) the inside of the cheek or lips, respectively. This term is strictly used in the maxilla.
'Posterior' refers to the direction towards the back of an individual's head, as opposed to ''anterior'', which refers to the directions towards an individuals lips. The term ''posterior teeth'' refers to premolars and molars.
'Proximal' is an umbrella term which includes both ''mesial'' and ''distal'', such as when referring to the ''proximal surfaces'' of teeth.
'Superior', as usual, refers to the direction towards the head of an human's body, as opposed to ''inferior'', which refers to the direction towards the feet. However, use of these terms should enjoy only limited usage when discussing features of a tooth, as, for example, something more superior on a mandibular tooth will be situated more inferior on a maxillary tooth, as they exhibit an inverted relationship. It is for this reason that the terms ''coronal'' and ''apical'' are substitutued.

References

Major M. Ash, Stanley Nelson. WHEELER'S DENTAL ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY AND OCCLUSION, 8th edition.