Did you know that dental teeth numbers chart differently? Well, let me show you how they do it and why they do it this way. First of all, dentists number teeth on a chart from the front of the mouth to the back of the mouth as shown in the picture below…
It Starts With The Letter I
Okay, before we get started, let’s dispel one myth. It’s true that dentists begin numbering with me for Incisors and M for Molars. But if that’s where they stop it would be next to impossible to remember anything about what tooth is what. Not only are there four Incisors in each quadrant of your mouth (1,2,3 and 4), but there are different types of Incisors. Your upper right front tooth is called an Incisor — unless it’s not!
The Lower Jaw Has Another Letter I
The word Incisor can be confusing because incision and incisor sound so similar. When it comes to teeth, however, they’re two different words for two different things. An incision is a cut into tissue and an incisor is one of four types of front teeth that look like mini chisels with pointed edges. The third letter of your lower jaw is an Incisor (sometimes listed as either: I or F). This letter represents any tooth whose name begins with In-, such as Inferior Alveolar Nerve, Inferior Alveolar Foramen, Intermediate Cervical Vertebrae, etc.
The Upper Jaw Has U And L Sections
When looking at teeth names chart and trying to figure out which tooth belongs where it’s best to first look at whether or not they are U-shaped (perpendicular to your gumline) or L-shaped (parallel to your gumline). The top row of your jaw has three U sections: one for upper incisors, one for upper cuspids, and one for lowers. The bottom row of your jaw has four L sections: one for lower incisors, one for lower cuspids, one for premolars, and one for molars. This numbering system applies to both the left and right sides of the mouth.
The Top Sixteen Teeth Are Labeled From A-J
The top sixteen teeth are labeled A-J. The first two, upper and lower right central incisors, are called 1 and 2. The next two lower left central incisors are also labeled 3 and 4. All other teeth are then numbered as they go across your mouth in order: 5 (upper right lateral incisor), 6 (lower right lateral incisor), 7 (upper left lateral incisor), 8 (lower left lateral incisor), 9 (upper canine or cuspid) 10 (lower canine or cuspid) 11-15 (upper bicuspids), 16-19 upper molars 20-21 lower molars 22–25 (second premolar tooth). And finally 26–28 second bicuspids.
Then Comes K, L, M, N, O, And P
Our unique numbering system starts with K and then M. Then, when K and M have been used up, we jump to L, then N, O and P for an infinite variety of options. So why did we skip over I and J? Because they are not part of our dental nomenclature. We do not use an I or J because there is no tooth in that location. An upper right tooth is known as a right 2nd molar (commonly referred to as a wisdom tooth). Similarly, if you have three lower left molars (commonly called premolars), your dentist will refer to them as 4-6-8—not 4-7-9 or 3-6-9.
Section Q Has Every Other Tooth In Each Quadrant
The first tooth in each quadrant is numbered 1, and then every other tooth is numbered 2, 3, 4, and so on. Each row begins with tooth #2 and then continues with 3, 4, 5, and so on until it gets to 12 for that quadrant. The next row moves back to tooth #1 in that new quadrant, followed by 2 again. If a patient has four missing teeth from one side of their mouth (12 missing from their entire mouth), it would be recorded as 4 12 or 4×12 when written down.
Lastly, There Are Z1 And Z2
These are known as wisdom teeth, and they usually come in around age 18-25. They’re located at the back of your mouth, under where your molars are. Z1 is for your first set of wisdom teeth and Z2 is for your second. If you’re concerned about them coming in or having trouble with your existing wisdom teeth.
