| tooth | Pl> Teeth . [OE. Toth,tooth, AS. T; akin to OFries. Tth, OS. & D. Tand, OHG. Zang, zan, G. Zahn, Icel. Tnn, Sw. & Dan. Tand, Goth. Tumpus, Lith. Dantis, W. Dant, L. Dens, dentis, Gr, Skr. Danta; probably originally the p. Pr. Of the verb to eat. 239. Cf. Eat, Dandelion, Dent the tooth of a wheel, Dental, Dentist, Indent, Tine of a fork, Tusk. 1. <anatomy> One of the hard, bony appendages which are borne on the jaws, or on other bones in the walls of the mouth or pharynx of most vertebrates, and which usually aid in the prehension and mastication of food. The hard parts of teeth are principally made up of dentine, or ivory, and a very hard substance called enamel. These are variously combined in different animals. Each tooth consist of three parts, a crown, or body, projecting above the gum, one or more fangs imbedded in the jaw, and the neck, or intermediate part. In some animals one or more of the teeth are modified into tusks which project from the mouth, as in both sexes of the elephant and of the walrus, and in the male narwhal. In adult man there are thirty-two teeth, composed largely of dentine, but the crowns are covered with enamel, and the fangs with a layer of bone called cementum. Of the eight teeth on each half of each jaw, the two in front are incisors, then come one canine, cuspid, or dog tooth, two bicuspids, or false molars, and three molars, or grinding teeth. The milk, or temporary, teeth are only twenty in number, there being two incisors, one canine, and two molars on each half of each jaw. The last molars, or wisdom teeth, usually appear long after the others, and occasionally do not appear above the jaw at all. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have a thankless child !" (Shak) 2. Taste; palate. "These are not dishes for thy dainty tooth." (Dryden) 3. Any projection corresponding to the tooth of an animal, in shape, position, or office; as, the teeth, or cogs, of a cogwheel; a tooth, prong, or tine, of a fork; a tooth, or the teeth, of a rake, a saw, a file, a card. 4. A projecting member resembling a tenon, but fitting into a mortise that is only sunk, not pierced through. One of several steps, or offsets, in a tusk. See Tusk. 5., one of the appendages at the mouth of the capsule of a moss. See Peristome. 6. <zoology> Any hard calcareous or chitinous organ found in the mouth of various invertebrates and used in feeding or procuring food; as, the teeth of a mollusk or a starfish. In spite of the teeth, in defiance of opposition; in opposition to every effort. In the teeth, directly; in direct opposition; in front. "Nor strive with all the tempest in my teeth." . To cast in the teeth, to report reproachfully; to taunt or insult one with. Tooth and nail, as if by biting and scratching; with one's utmost power; by all possible means. "I shall fight tooth and nail for international copyright." . <medicine> Tooth coralline See Red-gum. To show the teeth, to threaten. "When the Law shows her teeth, but dares not bite." . To the teeth, in open opposition; directly to one's face. "That I shall live, and tell him to his teeth ." . Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| tooth abnormalities | Congenital absence of or defects in structures of the teeth. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth abrasion | The pathologic wearing away of the tooth substance by brushing, bruxism, clenching, and other mechanical causes. It is differentiated from tooth attrition in that this type of wearing away is the result of tooth-to-tooth contact, as in mastication, occurring only on the occlusal, incisal, and proximal surfaces. It differs also from tooth erosion, the progressive loss of the hard substance of a tooth by chemical processes not involving bacterial action. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth abscess | A localised pus-forming bacteria infection adjacent to the tooth or root. Large tooth abscesses may require surgical drainage, root canal or a tooth extraction. See: apical abscess. (27 Sep 1997) |
| tooth apex | The tip or terminal end of the root of a tooth. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth arrangement | The placement of teeth on a denture base with definite objectives in mind. The setting of teeth on temporary bases. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tooth attrition | The wearing away of a tooth as a result of tooth-to-tooth contact, as in mastication, occurring only on the occlusal, incisal, and proximal surfaces. It is chiefly associated with aging. It is differentiated from tooth abrasion (the pathologic wearing away of the tooth substance by friction, as brushing, bruxism, clenching, and other mechanical causes) and from tooth erosion (the loss of substance caused by chemical action without bacterial action). (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth avulsion | Partial or complete displacement of a tooth from its alveolar support. It is commonly the result of trauma. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth bleaching | The use of a chemical oxidizing agent (sometimes in combination with heat) to lighten tooth discolorations. (boucher's clinical dental terminology, 4th ed, p34) (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth bud | The primordial structures from which a tooth is formed; the enamel organ, the dental papilla, and the dental sac enclosing them. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tooth calcification | The process whereby calcium salts are deposited in the dental enamel. The process is normal in the development of bones and teeth. (boucher's clinical dental terminology, 4th ed, p43) (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth cement | <dentistry> A bony substance covering the root of a tooth. (08 Jan 1998) |
| tooth cervix | The constricted part of the tooth at the junction of the crown and root or roots. It is often referred to as the cementoenamel junction (cej), the line at which the cementum covering the root of a tooth and the enamel of the tooth meet. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth components | The anatomical components of a tooth, its tissues, and correlated parts. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tooth crown | The upper part of the tooth, which joins the lower part of the tooth (tooth root) at the cervix (tooth cervix) at a line called the cementoenamel junction. The entire surface of the crown is covered with enamel which is thicker at the extremity and becomes progressively thinner toward the cervix. (12 Dec 1998) |
| acrylic resin tooth | A tooth made of acrylic resin. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| ankylosed tooth | <dentistry> Bony union of the radicular surface of a tooth to the surrounding alveolar bone in an area of previous partial root resorption. Extracapsular ankylosis, stiffness of a joint due to induration or heterotopic ossification of the surrounding tissues. Synonym: spurious ankylosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apex of cusp of tooth | The tip of the peaklike projections from the crown of a tooth. Synonym: apex cuspidis dentis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apical foramen of tooth | The opening at the apex of the root of a tooth that gives passage to the nerve and blood vessels. Synonym: foramen apicis dentis, apical dental foramen, root foramen. (05 Mar 2000) |
| baby tooth | A tooth of the first set of teeth, comprising 20 in all, that erupts between the mean ages of 6 and 28 months of life. Synonym: dens deciduus, baby tooth, deciduous dentition, dens lacteus, first dentition, milk tooth, primary dentition, primary tooth, temporary tooth. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bicuspid tooth | A tooth usually having two tubercles or cusps on the grinding surface and a flattened root, single in the lower jaw and upper second premolar, and furrowed in the upper first premolar. There are four premolars in each jaw, two on either side between the canine and the molars; there are no premolars in the deciduous dentition. Synonym: dens premolaris, bicuspid tooth, dens bicuspidus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| buck tooth | An anterior tooth in labioversion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| canine tooth | <dentistry> A tooth having a crown of thick conical shape and a long, slightly flattened conical root; there are two canine teeth in each jaw, one on either side adjacent to the distal surface of the lateral incisors, in both the deciduous and the permanent dentition. Synonym: dens caninus, canine, cuspid tooth, cuspidate tooth, cuspid, dens angularis, dens cuspidatus, eye tooth. (05 Mar 2000) |
| carnassial tooth | A tooth adapted to shear flesh; the last upper premolar or first lower molar tooth of certain carnivores. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ghost tooth | A tooth with reduced radiodensity seen in regional odontodysplasia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vestibular surface of tooth | The surface of a tooth that faces the buccal or labial mucosa of vestibule of the mouth; opposite to the lingual surface of tooth. Synonym: facies vestibularis dentis, facies facialis dentis, buccal surface, facial surface of tooth, facies buccalis, facies labialis, labial surface. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cavity of tooth | The central hollow of a tooth consisting of the crown cavity and the root canal; it contains the fibrovascular dental pulp and is lined throughout by odontoblasts. Synonym: cavitas dentis, cavity of tooth, cavum dentis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital tooth | A tooth with a living pulp. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pegged tooth | A conical tooth whose sides converge from the cervical to the incisal region. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cervical margin of tooth | The slightly constricted part of a tooth, between the crown and the root. Synonym: cervix dentis, cervical margin of tooth, cervical zone of tooth, collum dentis, dental neck. (05 Mar 2000) |