Difference between premolars and anterior teeth

Premolars
Oclusal cusps
 Have 1 Buccal or facial cusp
 Most have 1 oral cusp
 Mandibular 2nd premolar has 2 lingual cusps
Marginal ridges
 Most of premolars have marginal ridges in the horizontal plane
 Mandibular 1st premolar has the mesial marginal ridge horizontally and vertically
 Anterior teeth they slope orally
Crown and root length
 Premolar crowns in both arches are shorter then anterior teeth
 1st premolar is longer than 2nd premolar
 Root of the 2nd premolar is longer than the root of 1st premolar
 Maxillary premolar has shorter roots than the maxillary canine but it is similar to the
maxillary incisor root
 Manbilar premolars roots are shorter then mandibular canines, but longer than mandibular
incisor

Height crest of contour

 From mesial and distal view the Facial height of contour in the premolar crowns is in the
cervical 3rd (like in anterior teeth)
 Height of contour in premolars is more oclusal than in anterior teeth
 Bucal height of contour in mandibular 1st premolar is located cervically like in anterior
teeth
 Lingual height of contour is away from the cervix in premolars like in anterior teeth
 Orally it in the middle 3rd and in the anterior teeth it is in the cervical 3rd

Contact area

 Cervical and broader than anterior teeth

Maxillary 1st premolar

They are bicuspid, the buccal cusp is the sharpest
Crown:

 Vestibular sirface has a cuspid outline

 Shorter oclusocervically and not convex
 The slope of M and D cusp ridges are the same length
 From buccal cusp tip the facial ridge goes down cervically

Oral (palatal) surface

 Smaller than facial in all dimensions but similar in outline

 The oral cusp is shorter than the facial cusp and it is M to the middline of the tooth
 Mesial surface:
 Rectangular in outline
 Facial and oral outline are convex
 The facial part is concave above the cervical margin
 Root extends on the mesial surface (mesio-developmental depresion or groove or
mesial concavity

Distal surface

 Same as marginal surface but without the concave area above the cervical margin