Do you want to better understand the areas of the mouth that your dentists are referring to when you’re in the office? Use this guide to learn the most common terms.

Alveolar Bone: The bone structure that contains tooth sockets and supports the teeth.

Anatomical Crown: The visible part of a natural tooth covered by enamel.

Arch: An upper or lower denture. 

Bicuspid: A premolar tooth or a tooth with two cusps.

Buccal: The cheek area.

Cementum: Hard connective tissue covering the tooth root.

Cusp: The pointed portion of the tooth.

Cuspid: A tooth with one cusp located between the incisors and premolars. It is also known as a canine tooth.

Deciduous Teeth: The first set of teeth a child gets, also known as primary teeth or baby teeth. There are 20 deciduous teeth which are usually all in place around age 2.

Dentin: The portion of the tooth found beneath the enamel and cementum. A hard, calcified material that makes up the bulk of the tooth.

Enamel: Hard calcified tissue covering dentin on the crown of the tooth.

Gingiva: Soft tissues that lay over the crowns of unerupted teeth, also known as gum tissue.

Interproximal: Between the teeth.

Intraoral: Inside the mouth.

Labial: The area of or around the lip.

Lingual: Of or near the tongue.

Lingual Surface: The side of the tooth facing the tongue.

Mandible: The lower jaw.

Maxilla: The upper jaw.

Molar: The teeth that are posterior to the premolars on either side of the jaw and have broad chewing surfaces.

Occlusal: The relationship between the upper and lower teeth as they come in contact with each other.

Operculum: A flap of gingival tissue over the crown of an erupting tooth.

Oral: Of the mouth.

Palate: The hard and soft tissue formed at the roof of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities.

Pulp: Connective tissue containing nerve tissue and blood vessels that occupy the pulp cavity inside of the tooth.

Quadrant: One of the four equal sections in which the dental arches are divided, typically referred to as the upper and lower right and upper and lower left quadrants.

Root: The portion of the tooth that is located in the socket which is attached by the periodontal apparatus.

Root Canal: The chamber within the root of the tooth that contains pulp.

Sublingual: Under the tongue.

Submandibular Glands: Salivary glands located beneath the tongue.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ): The connecting hinge between the base of the skull and the lower jaw.

Unerupted: Teeth that have not penetrated into the oral cavity.

Wisdom Teeth: The last teeth to come in during the mid to late teenage years. They are also called third molars.