Identifying the surfaces of the teeth Clark DHO 17.4

Identifying Teeth -The first step is to differentiate between anterior or posterior teeth -Anterior Teeth -central and lateral incisors -cuspids -Posterior Teeth -bicuspids -molars

Identifying Teeth -Each tooth is divided into two main sections - The Crown - The crown is visible in the mouth - The Root - The root is the section that is located below the gums

The Crown surfaces of the anterior teeth ●Labial (La) - Crown surface next to the lips ●Lingual (L) - Crown surface next to the tongue ●Incisal (I)- Cutting edge of the tooth ●Mesial (M) - Side surface closest to the midline ●Distal (D) - Side surface away from the midline

The Crown Surfaces of the posterior teeth ●Buccal (B) - Crown surface next to face or cheek ●Lingual (Li) - Crown surface next to the tongue ●Occlusal (O)- Chewing or grinding surface of the tooth ●Mesial (M) - Side surface toward the midline ●Distal (D) - Side surface away from the midline of the mouth

Line Angles -Line angles form where two crown surfaces meet -The name of each angle is formed by combining the names of the surfaces involved. - Example -- a line angle formed by the mesial and labial surfaces is called mesiolabial.

Point Angles -Point angles form where three crown surfaces meet -The name of each angle is formed by combining the names of the surfaces involved. - Example -- a point angle formed by the distal, labial, and incisal surfaces would be called a distolabioincisal point angle.

Abbreviations Anterior teeth ● Line Angles -Linguoincisal -- Lil -Labioincisal -- Lal -Mesiolabial -- MLa -Mesioincisal -- Ml -Mesiolingual -- MLi -Distolingual -- DLi -Distoincisal -- Dl -Distolabial -- DLa ● Point Angles -Mesiolinguoincisal -- MLiI -Mesiolabioincisal -- MLaI -Distolabioincisal -- DLaI -Distolinguoincisal -- DLiI Posterior teeth ●Line Angles -Mesio Occlusal -- MO -Mesiolingual -- MLi -Mesiobuccal -- MB -Distoocclusal -- DO -Distolingual -- DLi -Distobuccal -- DB -Linguoocclusal -- LiO -Buccoocclusal -- BO ●Point Angles -Mesiolinguoocclusal -- MLiO -Mesiobuccoocclusal -- MBO -Distobuccoocclusal -- DBO -Distolinguoocclusal -- DLiO