Dental Terms

Your jaw joint is located where the temporal bone of your skull connects with your mandible (lower jaw). You have one joint on each side of your head.

The temporomandibular joint is a complex structure that can move your lower jaw up and down, forward and backward, and side-to-side. The lower jaw extends upward to a condyle on each side. This allows the jaw to pivot and slide along the base of the skull. Muscles, cartilage, a cushioning disk (meniscus), and fibrous capsules containing fluid help the joints function correctly and smoothly. If any part of the jaw joint is damaged, the joint may no longer function properly.

Tartar is the hard deposit of mineralized plaque that forms on the area of a tooth above the gumline (crown) and/or tooth roots. Tartar ranges from yellow to brown in color and forms on teeth when proper oral hygiene habits and regular dental visit recommendations are not followed.

Children 13-19 should have a firm understanding of the steps they need to take to keep their mouths healthy, but there are roadblocks along the way that can make it easy to slip up. Their mouth and jaws are still developing, they are gaining more independence, and they are being introduced to trends and lifestyle choices that can have long-lasting effects on their oral health.

Teledentistry has been a growing trend with effective results for many years. It has proven to be a helpful tool for dental emergencies, consultation and treatment planning. Recently, its use has increased greatly due to the social and economic impacts of Covid-19. Teledentistry uses audio-visual technology to exchange dental information and images over remote distances. Interactions can be conducted live through the internet or phone (synchronous), or through email or text (asynchronous).

Discussions can occur between you and your dentist, you and another dentist or specialist for second opinions, or between dentists for consultation on specific issues. Teledentistry has the ability to:

• Improve access to and delivery of oral healthcare, and lower its costs.
• Reduce disparities in access to care between rural and urban communities.
• Assist patients and families that move often, such as members of the military and ex-patriots.

Dental practices also use teledentistry to save patients an unnecessary trip to the dental office for issues that may not require an immediate in-person visit. For example, pain relief or infection control of a toothache or other issue may easily be solved with over-the-counter medications or prescribed antibiotics until you can get in to see the dentist. Ultimately, you should expect to see a dentist in-person to fully examine the issue and provide additional treatment if needed.

If you wear a complete denture, the soft tissues and bone underneath the denture typically shrink over time. The denture will then begin to fit poorly. It may need to be relined and eventually replaced.

If your traditional denture needs to be replaced, an option is to replace it with an implant-supported fixed or removable denture. However, it can take three to six months for the bone around the implants to integrate enough to support the denture. While healing occurs around the implants, your dentist can place temporary mini implants in your mouth and modify your existing denture with special attachment fittings to secure it to the mini implants. Once the healing phase is complete, your dentist will remove the temporary implants and restore the permanent implants with either fixed or removable dentures.

Thrush is a fungal infection of the mouth most commonly seen in infants and toddlers, although it can be a symptom of an underlying systemic disease in people of any age. Certain classes of medication such as antibiotics, asthma and COPD drugs, and cancer treatment drugs are also known to cause thrush. Thrush typically presents itself as white, raised lesions on the tongue and cheeks. It is typically simple to treat with prescription medication.

Tobacco can have serious, negative effects on your oral health. Tobacco use of any kind, including cigarettes, cigars, chew, snuff, pipes, vaping (e-cigarettes), or betel nut, immediately affects your mouth's soft tissues, jawbones, lips, and throat.

Tobacco counseling helps patients to understand the risks associated with tobacco or nicotine use in any form. You should not misinterpret your dentist's suggestions as a lecture on unhealthy habits. They are simply providing you with information you may not know, and can serve as a step to helping you quit. The assistance your dentist provides may prevent you from possibly acquiring other illnesses. It may also help you avoid the need for treatment that might otherwise have been avoided.

A tomographic series is a set of cross-sectional X-ray images that, taken together, give your dentist an accurate three-dimensional picture of a specific area. They are prescribed any time a single two-dimensional image (like a panoramic X-ray image) would give an incomplete representation of the problem being examined.

For example, your dentist might take a tomographic series of images to evaluate the damage to the ball portion of your jaw joints. Your dentist may also take tomographic images to check if a dental implant in the upper jaw might penetrate the maxillary sinus. Your dentist may be able to address this issue with a sinus augmentation after the implant procedure, but can develop a better plan if that possibility is known in advance.

Tooth decay is one of the most common diseases globally, and if you have teeth, you are not immune to it. Decay is caused by bacteria that live on sugar and produce acids that create tiny holes in tooth enamel and exposed tooth root surfaces. Direct exposure to acids commonly present in certain foods and drinks also causes tooth decay.

There are many reasons why your teeth and gums can become discolored or stained. Tobacco use or consumption of coffee, tea, wine, or soda, or starchy foods like pasta or potatoes are common causes of tooth discoloration. Vitamin deficiencies, eating disorders, or medical conditions such as liver disease and celiac disease can also cause changes in tooth color, along with medications such as tetracycline, chlorhexidine, antihistamines, and antipsychotics. Excessive fluoride consumption (most commonly seen in young children) can lead to white or discolored spots or streaks on developing permanent teeth. This condition is called fluorosis. Tooth discoloration may require whitening products or professional procedures to help restore normal appearance.

If you are missing teeth, it is a condition known as edentulism. Partial edentulism is the absence of one or more teeth. Total edentulism is the absence of all teeth. Edentulism is a potentially serious condition that should be addressed as soon as possible. Failure to replace a missing tooth can impact your oral and overall health. The impact continues to increase with the more teeth you lose.

Tooth pulp is located in the root canals of a tooth. It contains blood vessels, nerve tissue, and living cells that produce dentin and maintain the health of the tooth.

The cells of the pulp rely on proper blood circulation through the root tip and normal blood pressure inside the tooth to remain healthy. Deep decay, cracks or traumatic injury can impact blood flow or blood pressure, which can cause tissue and cells in the tooth pulp to die. This can make the hollow root canal and pulp chamber susceptible to bacterial infection, resulting in pain, swelling and infection. Serious or life threatening infections can result when bacteria spread from the tooth into the jaw bone.

Teeth can become too extensively damaged from tooth decay, infection, or trauma to be saved. When this happens to one or more teeth, your dentist will often recommend removing the affected teeth. Tooth removal is also frequently recommended for children with severely crowded teeth that cause discomfort or have impacted wisdom teeth. Removing a tooth or teeth can help avoid or simplify orthodontic treatment.

The decision to remove a tooth is sometimes based on cost because it is often less expensive than restoring a natural tooth. This can be a short-sighted decision in terms of the long-term cost of additional treatments. Failure to replace a missing tooth can also impact your long-term health. It is important to understand these consequences.

The part of the tooth that extends into the jaw bone and holds the tooth in place.

If your tooth has been displaced from its normal position in the jaw, your tooth's root may start to dissolve (resorb). This can occur when the periodontal ligament has been injured and the pulp tissues are dead. As your body attempts to repair the damage, the area usually becomes inflamed and painful.

Depending on where the inflammation originates, it can arise either inside of or around a tooth. The repair process can be so aggressive that some or all of a tooth's root can be dissolved. This is known as inflammatory resorption.

Tooth wear is the slow destruction of the biting surfaces of teeth and dental restorations. Tooth wear is caused by friction or an acidic diet. Excessive tooth wear may also be a symptom of a larger problem such as disease or a habit of grinding or clenching the teeth. If overlooked or undiagnosed, this can result in failing restorations that were performed to fix the worn areas of the teeth. You and your dentist should identify and address the source of the tooth wear as soon as possible. If the issue is not addressed, it can lead to:

• Tooth loss.
• Bite collapse.
• Trouble chewing.
• Changes to the appearance of the face.
• Facial muscle and nerve pain.
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction.

Tooth whitening is a cosmetic dental procedure used to lighten the color of teeth and remove stains.

Your dentist may apply a gel to the soft tissues over the injection area to minimize discomfort. For most people, the topical gel makes injection of the local anesthetic much more comfortable. However, topical numbing gels can cause sensitivity in teeth with exposed roots or tooth decay near the injection site.

The most common sedation methods for dental procedures are:

• Nitrous oxide
• IV sedation (intravenous)
• Oral sedation
• General anesthesia

Regardless of the type of sedation you receive, your dentist will also typically administer a local anesthetic to minimize bleeding and relieve pain.