Dental Glossary

62 terms

Lab & CAD/CAM

5-axis milling

A mill that moves the bur along five axes at once, so it can reach undercuts and angled surfaces a three-axis machine cannot. Required for full-arch and implant-bar work.

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Implants

Abutment

The connector that screws into the implant and sticks up through the gum. Everything you can see — a crown, a denture attachment — mounts onto the abutment, not onto the implant directly.

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Imaging

ALARA

'As Low As Reasonably Achievable' — the radiation-safety principle behind taking the smallest field of view and the lowest dose that will still answer the clinical question.

Also called: low dose protocol

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Implants

All-on-4

A fixed full-arch bridge carried by four implants, with the back two angled to avoid the sinus and nerve. Usually involves reducing the bony ridge to make room for the prosthesis.

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Implants

All-on-6

The same idea as All-on-4 with six implants instead of four, spreading chewing load further. Often chosen for heavy bites or softer upper-jaw bone.

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Implants

Bar-retained denture

An overdenture that clips onto a custom metal bar joining several implants, instead of onto individual attachments. Splinting the implants together spreads load, at the cost of a bulkier design.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Bite registration

A record of how your upper and lower jaws meet. Without it a technician can build beautiful teeth that do not fit the way you actually close.

Also called: occlusal record

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Imaging

Bitewing X-ray

A close-up of the crowns of upper and lower back teeth in one shot. The standard way to catch decay between teeth and check bone levels at routine visits.

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Implants

Bone graft

Adding bone material to a site that has lost too much volume to hold an implant. It is a separate procedure with its own healing period before the implant can be placed.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Bone resorption

The gradual loss of jawbone volume after teeth are removed. Tooth roots load the bone every time you chew, and that load is what keeps it dense — remove the roots and the ridge slowly flattens.

Also called: ridge resorption, jawbone shrinkage

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Restorative & Crowns

Bridge

A run of joined crowns that replaces one or more missing teeth by anchoring to the teeth or implants on either side of the gap.

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Gums & Prevention

Bruxism

Habitual grinding or clenching, usually during sleep. It flattens enamel, cracks restorations, and is the most common reason a well-made crown fails early.

Also called: teeth grinding, clenching

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Lab & CAD/CAM

CAD/CAM dentistry

Computer-aided design and manufacturing. The restoration is designed on screen from a digital scan, then cut by a milling machine — no physical model, no hand-carved wax.

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Gums & Prevention

Calculus (tartar)

Plaque that has mineralised into a hard deposit bonded to the tooth. Brushing no longer touches it — it has to be scaled off with instruments.

Also called: tartar

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Imaging

CBCT

Cone beam computed tomography — a 3D X-ray that shows bone volume, nerve position, and sinus anatomy. It is what makes implant placement a measured plan rather than an estimate.

Also called: cone beam CT, 3D dental scan

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Restorative & Crowns

Composite bonding

Sculpting tooth-coloured resin directly onto a tooth in one visit to close a gap, rebuild a chip, or reshape an edge. Reversible and the least invasive cosmetic option.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Conventional denture

A full denture that rests on the gums, held by suction and adhesive. The most affordable replacement for a full arch, and the only option that does nothing to slow bone resorption.

Also called: traditional denture, full denture, false teeth

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Restorative & Crowns

Crown

A cap that covers the whole visible part of a tooth, restoring its shape and strength after a fracture, a large filling, or a root canal.

Also called: dental cap, tooth cap

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Implants

Dental implant

A titanium post placed into the jawbone to replace a missing tooth root. It is the anchor; the crown, bridge, or denture that attaches to it is a separate part.

Also called: tooth implant, titanium post

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Digital impression

The 3D file an intraoral scan produces. It can be stored, re-sent, and re-milled indefinitely, unlike a silicone impression that distorts and must be retaken.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Digital wax-up

A on-screen preview of the proposed final teeth, designed before any tooth is touched. It is what lets you approve the shape and length in advance rather than after.

Also called: digital smile design, mock-up

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Imaging

Field of view

How much anatomy a 3D scan captures. A small field for a single implant keeps the dose down; a full-arch case needs a larger one.

Also called: FOV

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Flange

The lip of pink acrylic on a denture that extends over the gum ridge. It provides seal and lip support; a fixed prosthesis usually needs far less of it.

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Gums & Prevention

Gingivitis

Inflammation of the gums from plaque at the gum line — red, puffy, bleeding when brushed. It is fully reversible, which is what separates it from periodontitis.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Glazing

The final firing that seals the surface of a ceramic restoration and sets its shine. Also where individual staining is added so the piece is not flatly uniform in colour.

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Imaging

Guided surgery

Placing implants through a custom surgical guide printed from the CBCT plan, so the drill follows the position decided on screen rather than being judged freehand.

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Gums & Prevention

Gum recession

Gum margin migrating down the root, exposing a surface that has no enamel. It causes sensitivity, is prone to decay, and does not regrow without grafting.

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Implants

Healing abutment

A temporary cap screwed onto an implant while the gum heals around it, shaping the cuff of tissue the final crown will emerge through.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Immediate denture

A denture made in advance and fitted the same day teeth are removed, so you are never without teeth. It needs relining later as the ridge heals and reshapes.

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Implants

Immediate load

Attaching a temporary prosthesis to implants on the day they are placed, rather than waiting for osseointegration. Possible only when the implants are stable enough at placement.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Implant-retained denture

A removable overdenture that snaps onto implants. You take it out yourself to clean it. The implants hold it down; your gums still carry much of the chewing load.

Also called: snap-on denture, snap-in denture, removable overdenture

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Implant-supported denture

A fixed prosthesis that only your dentist removes. The implants carry the chewing load rather than your gums. The word patients most often confuse with 'implant-retained' — the difference is who can take it out.

Also called: fixed denture, non-removable denture

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Restorative & Crowns

Inlay and onlay

Partial-coverage restorations bonded into a prepared tooth. An inlay sits within the cusps; an onlay also covers one or more of them. Both preserve more natural tooth than a full crown.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Intraoral scanner

A handheld wand that photographs your teeth thousands of times a second and assembles a 3D model. It replaces impression trays and the setting paste that causes gagging.

Also called: digital scanner, 3D scanner

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Restorative & Crowns

IPS e.max

A lithium-disilicate glass-ceramic prized for scattering light the way natural enamel does. The usual choice for front teeth and veneers, where appearance matters more than raw strength.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

LOCATOR attachment

A low-profile stud-and-socket connector that screws onto an implant. A matching nylon insert in the denture clicks over it, which is where the 'snap-on' description comes from.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

LOCATOR FIXED

A fixed prosthesis that seats on the same LOCATOR abutments a removable overdenture uses. Because the attachments are shared, patients who already have four well-placed implants can often convert from removable to fixed without new surgery.

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Restorative & Crowns

Margin

The join where a restoration meets the tooth. A margin that is not sealed to within microns is where recurrent decay starts, which is why fit matters more than appearance.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Milling

Cutting a restoration out of a solid block of ceramic with rotating burs, rather than building it up by hand. Subtractive manufacturing, which is why fit is repeatable to the micron.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Monolithic restoration

A crown or bridge milled from one solid block rather than layered with porcelain on a substructure. Fewer interfaces means fewer places to chip.

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Implants

Osseointegration

The process by which living bone grows directly onto the surface of an implant and locks it in place. It typically takes three to four months and is why implants are not loaded immediately in most cases.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Overdenture

A denture that sits over something holding it down — implants or retained tooth roots — rather than resting on gum alone. The umbrella term for the snap-on designs below.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Palate coverage

The acrylic plate covering the roof of the mouth in an upper denture. It provides suction but blunts taste and triggers gagging — removing it is the change most patients notice first after implants.

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Imaging

Panoramic X-ray

A single flat image of both jaws, the sinuses, and the joints. Excellent for an overview, but it flattens depth — it cannot tell you how wide the bone is where an implant needs to go.

Also called: OPG, pano

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Implants

Peri-implantitis

Inflammation and bone loss around an implant, caused by plaque left at the gum line. It is the main reason a well-placed implant fails years later, and it is largely preventable with cleaning and recall visits.

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Imaging

Periapical X-ray

A close-up of one tooth from crown to root tip, used to look for infection at the root end. The standard image before and after a root canal.

Also called: PA

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Gums & Prevention

Periodontitis

Gum inflammation that has spread to the bone holding the teeth, and the bone has started to go. The lost bone does not grow back on its own — treatment stops the loss rather than reversing it.

Also called: gum disease

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Gums & Prevention

Plaque

The soft, sticky bacterial film that forms on teeth within hours of brushing. Everything else on this list starts here — it is the only cause you can remove yourself, daily.

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Restorative & Crowns

Pontic

The false tooth in the middle of a bridge — the part that spans the gap and touches gum without being anchored into it.

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Restorative & Crowns

Provisional restoration

A temporary crown or bridge worn while the final one is made. When a restoration is milled in-house the same day, there is no provisional stage at all.

Also called: temporary crown, temp

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Reline

Resurfacing the tissue side of a denture so it matches a ridge that has changed shape. Routine maintenance rather than a failure — the jaw keeps remodelling underneath.

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Dentures & LOCATOR

Retention insert

The colour-coded nylon ring inside a snap-on denture that grips the attachment. Different colours give different holding strength, and they wear out every 12 to 18 months — a five-minute replacement.

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Restorative & Crowns

Root canal treatment

Removing infected pulp from inside a tooth, disinfecting the canals, and sealing them. It saves the tooth; a crown afterwards is usually what keeps it from fracturing.

Also called: endodontics, RCT

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Same-day dentistry

Scanning, designing, milling, and bonding a final restoration in one appointment. It requires a lab on site — the wait in conventional treatment is shipping and queueing, not clinical time.

Also called: one-visit crown, same day crown

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Gums & Prevention

Scaling and root planing

A deep clean below the gum line that removes calculus from the root surfaces and smooths them so gum tissue can reattach. Usually done under local anaesthetic, a quadrant at a time.

Also called: deep cleaning, SRP

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Restorative & Crowns

Shade matching

Choosing the colour, translucency, and surface texture of a restoration so it disappears next to your own teeth. Best done in natural light beside the tooth itself, not from a chart alone.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Sintering

Firing a milled zirconia restoration in a furnace so its crystals fuse and it reaches full strength. The piece shrinks by roughly 20% during firing, which the design compensates for in advance.

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Implants

Sinus lift

A graft that raises the floor of the maxillary sinus to create height for implants in the upper back jaw, where bone is often thinnest.

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Implants

Torque

The measured tightening force applied to an implant screw, in newton-centimetres. Too little and the screw loosens; too much and it fractures — which is why it is set with a calibrated wrench, not by feel.

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Lab & CAD/CAM

Try-in

Seating an unfinished prosthesis to check fit, bite, and appearance while it can still be changed. The last chance to move a tooth before the piece is finished.

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Restorative & Crowns

Veneer

A thin ceramic facing bonded to the front of a tooth to change its colour, shape, or alignment. It covers the visible surface only, unlike a crown.

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Restorative & Crowns

Zirconia

A very fracture-resistant ceramic used for back teeth, bridges, and full-arch prostheses where bite forces are highest. Stronger than glass-ceramic, slightly less translucent.

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