Each of us was at the dentist and at the same time could hear a set of incomprehensible numbers. In addition, when the doctor mentions that the 36th tooth needs treatment, the patient is perplexed - I have 32 of them! Even children know how many teeth we have, but dentistry uses its own numbering of teeth. This helps other doctors to better navigate and accurately fill out the necessary medical documents. But is it really necessary, or can you do without it?
Why is this needed?
All our teeth are different, and each of them serves its own purpose: some serve to bite off food, others are responsible for chewing it. Assigning a number to the teeth ensures the diagnosis of the oral cavity and the correct completion of the medical record.
According to the international medical classification, each tooth has its own name,which can give complete information about his whereabouts. However, as dental practice shows, such a system is not very convenient for doctors. As a result, precious time is wasted listing special terms. And this greatly distracts the specialist from solving a specific problem.
To simplify the task, a numerical designation was introduced. Names are no longer complicated. In addition, this significantly reduced the time for filling out an outpatient card. Ultimately, visiting the dentist became more functional and streamlined.
But before moving on to the analysis of the numbering of teeth in dentistry, let's analyze what kind of teeth we have and what their purpose is.
Types of teeth and their purpose
Our dentoalveolar organ provides the process of breathing, performs the speech function, and, of course, is responsible for eating and chewing food. Mother Nature truly creates everything at a high level. In our body, almost all systems are symmetrical. And the teeth are no exception - they are arranged in a certain order of 16 pieces on each jaw.
All teeth can be conditionally divided into several types:
- Incisors.
- Fangs.
- Premolars.
- Molars.
They all differ in size, shape, which ensures that they perform the necessary functions.
Incisors
Their location is the front side of the oral cavity (4 pcs.). Their main task is to bite off products, excluding strong pressure. This is possible due to the special structure: flat view, superficial cutsharp, one root. Because of their ability to cut, they got their name.
Fangs
The next numbering of the teeth in adults after the incisors is the fangs, which are also 4 pieces, one on each side. The crown is quite strong, which makes these teeth more powerful. They can tear off pieces of food when force is required.
Among all other units, canines have the longest root process. As a result, they are highly stable. And because they are in third place, they are also called triplets.
Premolars or small hilars
The main purpose of these teeth is to hold food in your mouth, but they also help you chew it. In their form, they resemble a prism. Based on the location, they are called fives and fours. Their surface is wider than that of fangs.
Molars
They are the main chewers. The molars close the dental arch - there are 3 units on each side. Their main role is to crush and grind food with the application of force. The last molars are better known to us as wisdom teeth and are called figure eights. They hardly take part in chewing food.
In addition, sometimes molars can grow in the wrong way or not erupt at all, which makes certain changes in the numbering of a person's teeth. In some cases, only part of the crown is visible. As for the eruption process itself, it is accompanied by pain, swelling of the gums, and the formation of periodontal pockets. Also notrare - the presence of inflammatory processes in the nearby tissue.
Such powerful units have large and wide crowns with tubercles. However, due to its peculiarity, food debris can accumulate in the spaces between the teeth, which eventually begin to rot. The roughness of the surface of the molars often causes caries. As for the roots, the upper ones have 3 of them, while the lower ones have only 2.
Common dentition numbering systems. List
The most popular tooth numbering systems in Russia and European countries were invented at different times, but they have the same essence - to facilitate the process of diagnosis and treatment for doctors. Thus, it is possible to quickly and accurately explain which tooth is susceptible to the disease. How does the numbering work? Now we will study everything. To do this, consider in detail the following systems:
- Viola.
- Zsigmondy-Palmer.
- Haderupa.
- American.
- Universal.
Each of them has its own characteristics.
Viola
The Viola system is considered more optimal and has been used in dental practice in many countries for many years. Its main advantage is ease of understanding. Here's why.
The principle here is as follows. The entire jaw apparatus is divided into 4 parts or segments, and each tooth is assigned a two-digit number. The first of them corresponds to the segment number, and the second to a specific tooth. For example, 17 is 1 sector, 24 is the second, 35 is the third, and 46 is alreadyfourth.
In this case, the numbering starts from the middle of the dentition and follows in the left and right directions. The very first are the incisors (there are two of them), after them the fangs come third, followed by the numbers 4 and 5 - the premolars, then the last two molars - 6 and 7. The honorary 8th place is given to the wisdom teeth on each jaw. Tooth numbering is a bit like a coordinate system that allows you to explain the location of the affected tooth with a high degree of accuracy. You definitely can't get confused here. Only this system is applicable only to adults who already have permanent teeth.
In relation to children, a slightly different principle is used. The first digits that indicate the segment vary between 5 and 8. In other words, the usual unit is the five, the eight corresponds to the four.
Zsigmondy-Palmer system
It began to be used from the end of the 19th century, and it was invented by the doctor Adolf Zsigmondy. Here, too, there is a division into segments, only each has its own corner, at the bottom of which there is a number indicating the position of each tooth. The numbering itself consisted of Arabic numerals for adult patients and Roman numerals for children.
But over time, the imperfection of the system began to come to light - the human factor affected. Often, Arabic and Roman numerals were confused with each other, which led to discrepancies and errors in data transmission. In dental practice, this is unacceptable, especially when it comes to the need for a complex operation.
Korydon Palmer proposed his own version of the numbering of teeth, replacing Roman numerals with Latin letters. Since then, now many orthodontists began to use it in their practice.
Haderoup numbering
This system is practically a copy of Viola, with one exception. The fact is that instead of designating a segment, there is an addition or subtraction sign, in accordance with its peculiarity:
- The plus is the upper dentition, while the minus is the lower.
- At the same time, if the sign is on the left, then it denotes the left side, if it is on the right, respectively, the right side.
For example: there is an entry in the outpatient card "3+", this corresponds to the right canine. The sequence starts from zero, and the order itself is as follows. The numbering of the right segment starts with a character followed by a number. The left segment is exactly the opposite.
As far as children are concerned, there are some differences, but everything else is the same. To indicate milk teeth, a zero is placed in front of the number. The entry "01-" indicates the lower left incisor.
US Dental Standard
This tooth numbering system in dentistry (the photo will be presented below) is successfully used in Western countries. What does she represent? For the numbering of the dentition, the alphanumeric designation is used:
- I (i) - this is how the incisors are designated.
- C (c) are click names.
- P stands for premolars, children don't have them.
- M (m) –name of permanent molars.
In this case, capital letters correspond to permanent teeth, and lowercase letters indicate milk teeth.
However, this system does not take into account the side of the teeth, which can cause certain difficulties.
Universal and simple system
Everything is much simpler here than in other methods of numbering the dentition. Each tooth is assigned a number from one to thirty-two. But this applies only to permanent teeth, while milk teeth are called in Latin letters from A to T. The sequence starts on the right side of the upper jaw from the wisdom tooth and follows in a clockwise direction.
Since there is nothing complicated here, the system is quite popular in many countries around the world. You can verify this by looking at the photo of the numbering of the teeth of this system.
Unusual situations
In the practice of dentists, a variety of cases can occur. And more often than it might seem. With an abnormal arrangement or a non-standard number of teeth, the numbering is performed in accordance with the methodology that is accepted in the clinic. Only in this case, each unit (additional or missing) is described in a separate order. The patient's outpatient chart indicates the location of the anomaly.
The generally accepted order of numbering can be changed when the milk bite is replaced by a permanent one. In this regard, new teeth are numbered in accordance with the adult order, and the remaining milk teeth are numbered according to the children's principle. This allows the doctortrack where a new tooth has already appeared, and where the old one is still located. This can be confusing for the child's parents, especially when two different tooth numbering systems are used, but not a specialist.
It also happens that some adults do not grow wisdom teeth, which is not a deviation from the norm. And although this will be reflected on the map in any case, it is clearly not worth worrying about this.
The fact is that scientists have made one interesting conclusion. As a result of evolution, the need for these teeth has completely disappeared - they practically do not take part in chewing food. For this reason, among adult patients, there are more and more those who do not have eights, or they are not fully developed.
