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TOOTH NUMBERS DIAGRAM
When the dentist is explaining things to you, ever feel lost when they start using the names and numbers of teeth? What's a MOLAR? PREMOLAR? CANINE? INCISOR? Worse when they throw in the letters? Here are some diagrams to show which teeth are which, and how the teeth are numbered. RIGHT AND LEFT: RIGHT and LEFT referrals are ALWAYS THE PATIENT'S RIGHT AND LEFT. NUMBERS: Teeth are numbered 1-16 from the UPPER RIGHT TO UPPER LEFT, and 17-32 from LOWER LEFT TO LOWER RIGHT. Teeth #1, 16, 17, 32 are the WISDOM TEETH, and are often EXTRACTED.
PRIMARY TEETH: PRIMARY TEETH are LETTERED A-J, from UPPER RIGHT TO UPPER LEFT, and K-T, from LOWER LEFT TO LOWER RIGHT. PERMANENT PREMOLARS erupt IN PLACE of PRIMARY MOLARS. PERMANENT MOLARS erupt BEHIND PRIMARY MOLARS.
*Pictures by Stephen F. Gordon, 1993.
MESIAL: The mesial (MEE-ze-ul) side of a tooth is the side closest to the center of the mouth. For example, in the above diagram, the mesial side of #3 is the side that touches #4, the mesial side of #4 is the side that touches #5, and so on. On the other side however, the mesial side of #14 is the side that touches #13, the mesial side of #13 is the side that touches #12, and so on. DISTAL: The distal (DIST-ul) side of a tooth is the side furthest from the center, which is also the opposite of mesial. OCCLUSAL: The occlusal side of the posterior teeth is the side that chews the food, and the side that contacts the teeth in the opposing arch. INCISAL: The incisal side is the edge of the front 6 upper and lower teeth that you bite off food with. It is analogous to the occlusal surface in the posterior teeth. FACIAL or BUCCAL or LABIAL: This is the outer side of the teeth that people see when you smile. Facial refers to the side of the tooth that your face is on, buccal refers to the side of the tooth that contacts your cheeks, and labial refers to the side of the tooth that contacts your lips. All three of these terms are used pretty much interchangeably. LINGUAL: This is the side of either your upper or lower teeth that is opposite the facial side, or the side that people do not see when you smile. Lingual refers to the tongue side of the tooth. PALATAL: This is the same as the lingual side above, but is only used when talking about the upper teeth, since the palate is the general area of the roof of your mouth.
When fillings are done, the dentist will talk about which surfaces the filling will involve. MO = MESIAL + OCCLUSAL DO = DISTAL + OCCLUSAL MOD = MESIAL + DISTAL + OCCLUSAL So when you see your bill, and see a bunch of letters as above, you'll know what was involved. For example, For Tooth #13, MO filling, This is a filling on tooth #13 that involved the mesial and occlusal surfaces.
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