Glossary

See baby teeth ...Continue Reading

Composite Composite fillings are also known as white fillings and are made of composite quartz resin that appears white. Composite fillings are very strong and can produce the same result as amalgam fillings. Composite fillings are commonly used at both the front and back teeth to help ...Continue Reading

Managed care has little to do with managing care and much to do with managing cost. Today more than 85 percent of insured people are enrolled in some kind of managed care plan. These plans establish agreements with physicians hospitals and other health care professionals to provide servi ...Continue Reading

Nerves transmit signals (conveying messages like hot cold or pain) to and from the brain. Nerves are contained in the pulp of the tooth. ...Continue Reading

A molar is a tooth with a broad crown that is used to grind food and is located behind the premolars in the mouth. Molars along with premolars make up the cheek teeth and are adapted to specific tasks. Molars have cusps that are shorter and blunter than other types of teeth howerver mol ...Continue Reading

The maxillae are two large facial bones one on each side of the face that contain the upper teeth and form the upper jaw. Maxilla bones spread below the orbits the bony cavities in the skull where the eyeballs sit and above the jawbone. Each maxilla is hollow and contains a large maxilla ...Continue Reading

A bad bite (malocclusion) is a condition in which a persons teeth are out of alignment crooked or crowded. The way the teeth fit together when the jaw closes and chews is extremely important with regard to the long-term health of your teeth. The muscles that move the jaw are very powerf ...Continue Reading

The Maryland dental bridge is one of a few types of bridges used to replace teeth. Named for the University of Maryland, where it was developed, this bridge is resin-retained and commonly used to replace the front teeth. A pontic (false tooth) is attached to metal bands that are hidden with a white- ...Continue Reading

The mandible also known as the jawbone is the lower jaw of the human skeleton and is the largest and strongest bone of the face. The mandible serves as a fixing area for the lower teeth and consists of a curved horizontal portion called the body and two perpendicular portions called the ...Continue Reading

Nitrous Oxide N2O also called laughing gas is a colourless gas with pleasant sweetish odour and taste which when inhaled produces insensibility to pain preceded by mild hysteria or laughter. Nitrous oxide was discovered by the English chemist Joseph Priestley in 1772 but was named nitro ...Continue Reading