home > resources > dental dictionaries
Dental Dictionaries and Glossaries
Shady dental terminology explained (if you're lucky... thank God for Google!). And: what do those numbers your dentist calls out mean? Find out about tooth numbering and dental charting systems!
Dictionaries and Glossaries
bracesinfo.com Dictionary of dental terms Contains a good section on names of teeth.
Tooth Anatomy Not a dictionary, but a diagram showing different parts of the tooth.
Toothbrush Express Dental Dictionary A somewhat eclectic dental dictionary.
dentistry.com Glossary A no-frills guide to dental terms.
Dental Implant Glossary A glossary of dental implant related words.
Tooth charts
U.S. Tooth Numbering Chart The American system of numbering teeth from 1 to 32 can hardly be described as "elegant"... but this handy tooth chart explains it all! As an interesting aside, the system was developed by the United States Government and is also termed the "universal system" (even though it's not used outside the US...).
Palmer Notation Method This tooth numbering system is simplicity itself - the mouth is divided into 4 quadrants (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right), and teeth are numbered 1-8 going from the front tooth to the wisdom tooth in each quadrant.
Tooth Numbering This site compares the "universal" system, the Palmer system, and the FDI Two-Digit Notation system (where the first digit denotes the quadrant and the second digit, like the Palmer method, denotes the type of tooth).