dental anatomy part 2

General Oral and Dental

Anatomy
A. Dental Structures:
• 1. Anatomical crown - That portion of the
tooth which is covered by enamel
• 2. Clinical crown - That portion of the
tooth which is visible in the mouth
“the clinical crown may be an ever
changing entity throughout life, while the
anatomical crown is a constant entity”
• 3. Anatomical root - That portion of the
tooth which is covered with cementum
• 4. Clinical root - That portion of the tooth
which is not visible in the mouth
“Again, the clinical root is an ever changing
entity, and may, or may not, correspond to
the anatomical root.”
• In the dental literature, the modifying terms
"clinical" and "anatomical“ are not often
used with crown or root, but the intended
meaning is most often "anatomical" and so
will be used in this manner hereafter
• 5. Enamel - The hard, mineralized tissue which
covers the dentin of the anatomical crown of a
tooth. It is the hardest living body tissue.
• 6. Dentin - The hard tissue which forms the
main body of the tooth. It surrounds the pulp
cavity, and is covered by the enamel in the
anatomical crown, and by the cementum in the
anatomical root
• 7. Cementum - The layer of hard, bonelike
tissue which covers the dentin of the anatomical
root of a tooth
• 8. Cervical line - The identifiable line around the
external surface of a tooth where the enamel
and cementum meet. It is also called the
cemento-enamel junction or CEJ.
• 9. Dentino-enamel junction or DEJ - The
internal line of meeting of the dentin and enamel
in the anatomical crown of a tooth
• 10. pulp - The living soft tissue which occupies the pulp
cavity of a vital tooth. It contains the tooth's nutrient
supply in the form of blood vessels, as well as the nerve
supply
• 11. Pulp Cavity - The entire
internal cavity of a tooth which
contains the pulp. It consists of the
following entities:
a) Pulp canal(s) - That portion
of the pulp cavity which is
located in the root (s) of the
tooth. and may also be called
the root canal
b) Pulp chamber – The portion of
the pulp cavity which is found
mostly in the crown of the tooth
c) Pulp horns - The usually
pointed incisal or occlusal
elongations of the pulp
chamber which often
correspond to the cusp
B. Supporting Structures
1. Alveolar process - The entire bony entity which
surrounds and supports all the teeth.
2. Alveolus - The bony socket, or portion of the
alveolar process, into which an individual tooth is set.
3. Periodontal ligament (membrane) - The fibrous
attachment of the tooth cementum to the alveolar bon
4. Gingiva - the fibrous tissue that covers the alveolar
processes and surrounds the necks of the teeth
• 1. Anterior teeth - The teeth which are toward
the front of the mouth. In both the deciduous and
permanent dentitions, the anterior teeth include
the incisors and canines.
• 2. Posterior teeth - The teeth which are toward
the back of the mouth. In the deciduous
dentition, this includes the two molars. In the
permanent dentition, this includes both
premolars and molars.
Tooth surfaces:
• Anteriors - All anterior teeth exhibit four
surfaces and one edge on their crowns. They
are named as follows:
a. Mesial - The surface toward the midline.
b. Distal - The surface away from the midline.
c. Labial -The "outside" surface which is toward
the lips.
d. Lingual - The "inside" surface which is toward
the tongue. In the maxillary arch, the lingual
surface is sometimes called the palatal surface. .
e. Incisal edge (or ridge) - The biting edge
• Posteriors - All posterior teeth exhibit five
surfaces on their crowns:
a. Mesial. distal, and lingual - These surfaces
may be defined like the corresponding surfaces
of anterior teeth.
b. Buccal - The "outside" surface which is toward
the cheek, and corresponds to the labial surface
of the anterior teeth. The term facial surface
may be used for either the labial surface of
anterior teeth or the buccal surface of posterior
teeth.
c. Occlusal - The chewing surface.
• Roots - Root surfaces are named exactly
like the surfaces of crowns, except there is
no incisal edge or occlusal surface.
• The termination or tip of the root is termed
the apex.
• Proximal - This term refers to any surface
between two teeth, so proximal surfaces,
by definition, are normally only mesial or
distal surfaces.
• Line angle - The line, or angle formed by
the junction of two crown surfaces.
• its name is derived by combining the
names of those two surfaces and dropping
the ”al" from the end of the first surface
and substituting an "0”.
Line angles of anterior teeth:

mesiolabial labioincisal
mesiolingual linguoincisal
distolabial mesioincisal
distolingual distoincisal
Line angles of posterior teeth:

mesiobuccal bucco-occlusal
mesiolingual linguo-occlusal
distobuccal disto-occlusal
distolingual mesio-occlusal
• Point angle - The point which is the junction of
three crown surfaces

Point angles of anterior Point angles of posterior

teeth: teeth:
1. mesiolabioincisal 1. mesiobucco-occlusal
2. mesiolinguoincisal 2. mesiolinguo-occlusal
3. distolabioincisal 3. distobucco-occlusal
4. distolinguoincisal 4. distolinguo-occlusal