Fenestration
In dentistry this term refers to the local absence of the bony layer over a part of the tooth root in the form of a crater.
Fissure
In dentistry this term refers to the deep grooves and indentations of the chewing surfaces of the posterior teeth. In the fissures, caries is easily formed in childhood and adolescence.
Fixed Brace
The fixed brace, also called Multi-bracket- or MB-Appliance consists of bonded brackets, occasionally cemented bands, as well as wires and other components. The MB-appliance is the ultimate orthodontic appliance and can be used to carry out most orthodontic treatment procedures within a short time span, causing minimum inconvenience to the patient and producing the best […]
Fixed retainer
Broadly speaking, a retainer is just a brace that is used to stabilise the teeth following orthodontic treatment. The name comes from the verb ‘to retain’ which means to grip. There are both fixed and removable braces. Fixed retainers are usually thin metal wires that are invisible from the outside. They are fixed to the […]
FKO
Abbreviation for functional orthodontics – see there
Fluorides
Fluorides are salts of the element fluorine and occur naturally in different concentrations in water. Because of their caries-inhibiting effect, fluorides are used in dentistry in toothpastes, dental varnishes, mouth rinses or they are available as tablets. The tablet form is no longer considered useful, the local application in the mouth, however, has remained one […]
FMA
See Functional mandibular advancer
Forsus Spring
The Forsus Spring is one of the numerous Herbst-clones that are based on the Herbst-Appliance. It is a forward-acting appliance that is used for the treatment of the retruded lower jaw. The advantage of the Forsus Spring as opposed to the classical Herbst-Appliance is that it can be clipped onto a fixed appliance (multi-bracket appliance). […]
Forward-Pressure Double Plate
The forward-acting double plate, abbreviated VDP, is one of the latest and probably most effective advancements on the numerous double plates. In principle, these are offset activators split into two parts for the upper jaw and two parts for the lower jaw. Just like the double-plate braces, they bring the lower jaw as far forward […]
Frenulae
Frenulae are fine and membranous structures composed of connective tissue which connect the buccal mucosa with the mucosa covering the jawbone. Sometimes they extend directly into the gingiva. Children often show strongly developed frenulae which are often extracted surgically. The extraction of frenulae should be dealt with cautiously, because mostly they don’t cause any harm […]
Front teeth/anterior teeth
Front or anterior teeth are common terms for the incisors and canines.
Function regulator according to Fränkel
The function regulator according to Fränkel is a so-called functional orthodontic appliance and is used for moving the bite where there is a retrusive occlusion (function regulator II) or protrusive occlusion (function regulator III) in the lower jaw. Fränkel I (lack of space) or Fränkel IV (open bite) weren’t used that much. Among the countless […]
Functional diagnostics
Functional diagnostics of the chewing system, which may include the meeting of the arches in statics and dynamics – the occlusion – the condition of the temporomandibular joints and chewing muscles and the analysis of the movements of the mandible. Before comprehensive dental treatment which may include orthodontic treatment, functional diagnostics is recommended.
Functional mandibular advancer
The functional mandibular advancer, abbreviated FMA, is based on the MARA device and is a fixed appliance for moving the bite where there is a retrusive occlusion in the lower jaw (distal occlusion, Angle-Class ll). Read more: MARA.
Functional orthodontics
An orthodontic treatment strategy published around 1935 by Andresen and Häupl with so-called functional orthodontic appliances such as the activator. The concept is to influence facial growth by altering muscle function, ultimately leading to a “biological” correction of tooth alignement. Functional orthodontics was received enthusiastically in National Socialist Germany, dogmatically championed and has dominated German […]
Gingiva
Gingiva is the medical term for gum.
Gingival recession
The gingival recession is a local receding of the gums along one or several teeth leading to exposed tooth necks. The main risk factors for gingival recession are thin bone and soft tissue layers covering the tooth roots and aggressive oral hygiene. Orthodontic treatment, in particular pronounced expansion of the dental arches, can be an […]
Gingivitis
Gingivitis refers to gum inflammation. Without any treatment most of the patients will develop a periodontitis, which is a chronic disease of the tooth supporting connective tissue. Gingivitis is caused by plaque – bacterial stain. Most of the times, it disappears immediately and without consequences if people take a good oral hygiene for serious.
Gnathology
The term gnathology refers to the study of the jaw. Gnathology can be defined as the part of dentistry that deals with the function and dysfunction of the stomatognathic system, i.e. teeth, periodontium, jaws, masticatory muscles and temporomandibular joints. In this sense, all of dentistry would be gnathology, which raises the question of the meaning […]
GOZ
Scale of fees for dentists; the statutory fees for private dental services outside the statutory health insurance
Growth spurt
The growth spurt is an acceleration of growth in adolescence and occurs in girls mostly at 11 to 12 years, in boys at 13 to 14 years, with a wide range of variation. In recent decades, the growth spurt has occurred earlier in most regions of the world (the secular trend). During the growth spurt […]
Habit
Term for harmful habits such as thumb sucking, mouth breathing or placing the tongue between the teeth.
Hand wrist radiograph
It’s obsolete nowadays. Orthodontists believed to be able to predict special growth spurts of their young patients making use of hand wrist radiographs. But details given by those radiographs aren’t sufficiently accurate to be of any value so that they’re not useful in orthodontics. Therefore the hand wrist radiograph hasn’t got any benefit for the […]
Headgear (Occipital Pull Headgear)
The Headgear or Occipital Pull Headgear is an external removable appliance that is anchored to the teeth by metal bands. It is connected to a neck- or head-strap in order to put pressure on the upper jaw and the upper teeth. The Headgear pulls the upper teeth backwards thereby creating extra space in the jaw […]
Headgear-Chin Cup
This is an appliance for treating an overbite in the lower jaw (Angle-Class III, mesial occlusion). It consists of a pad on the chin, a cap on the back of the head and strong elastic straps that hold these parts together. The Headgear-Chin Cup is supposed to restrict the growth of the lower jaw. But […]
Herbst-Appliance
The Herbst-Appliance is a fixed brace used for the treatment of the retruded lower jaw (Angle Class II). A typical Herbst-Appliance consists of two metal rails that are cemented to the upper and lower posterior teeth and two telescopic attachments that, once inserted, immediately bring the lower jaw forwards. The Herbst-Appliance allows both forward and […]
Highpull Headgear
An external appliance which is anchored to the upper molars, held together by a strap at the back of the head in order to put pressure onto the upper teeth. The highpull headgear is an effective orthodontic appliance, but it is unpopular with the young patients who do not wear it for as long as […]
Holistic Orthodontics
An attempt of applying alternative medical concepts to orthodontics. Since alternative medicine predominantly relies on placebo effects, which can have no effect in orthodontics, holistic orthodontics is a misconceived concept that patients have to pay for with excessive treatment duration, high social and financial burden and poor quality of results.
Hyrax
Hyrax is the acronym for hygienic rapid palatal expander. The hyrax appliance is an apparatus for rapid palatal expansion (RPE), was developed by W. Biedermann and marketed by Dentaurum. Today, most RPE appliances look pretty much like the hyrax appliance, so the term has lost its meaning
Impacted teeth
Impacted teeth have not succeeded in eruption and stay in the jaw bone in an abnormal position.
Impaction
Impaction describes the fact that tooth eruption is hindered by adjacent teeth. An impacted tooth cannot erupt by itself, but must be aligned orthodontically, occasionally after surgical exposure.
Implant
A titanium screw which is as big as a natural dental root and is inserted into the jaw bone. The crown is placed on the implant to replace the missing tooth.
Incisal
Towards the incisal edges, belonging to the incisal edges
Interdental
Between the teeth, concerning the interdental space
Interproximal
Belonging to the interdental space
Interproximal Enamel Reduction
The interproximal enamel reduction is a method for reducing the width of teeth through the removal of some tenths of a millimeter of enamel between the teeth. In English the procedure sometimes is called air-rotor stripping (ARS) because the procedure is often done by an air-rotor, in German the abbreviation ASR is used for „Approximale […]
Intraoral
Located inside the oral cavity
Intraoral scanner
A high-precision intraoral camera for use in the oral cavity to create three-dimensional datasets of teeth and jaws. These can be used for diagnostic purposes or for further processing in the dental laboratory. The intraoral scan can replace the traditional impression taking with impression trays and impression material, providing even more accurate results.
Intrusion
Intrusion refers to the vertical movement of teeth while moving them slowly into their alveoles. There’s no shortening of the dental crown because the surrounding tissues like gingiva and jaw bone move with the dental root. Intrusion is usually predictable and can be achieved to a greater extent by using fixed appliances.
Invisalign
This treatment procedure, which was introduced by Align Technologies in the US at the end of the 1990’s, involves the use of transparent, removable appliances which are called aligners. Invisalign and other aligners are barely visible when the person is talking and they do not usually impede speech at all, so they are offered for […]
Invisalign Express
This is a special product from Align Technologies for less common treatment requiring only a few Aligners. The manufacturing costs are a little cheaper than the cost of normal Invaslign procedures. Invisalign i7 and Invisalign lite are special offers from Align Technology for simple orthodontic problems requiring only seven or 14 aligners. In 2019, Invisalign […]
Invisalign Teen
This is a special product from Align Technology for younger patients. In 2019, Invisalign Teen was renamed Invisalign Comprehensive Phase II which unfortunately is a cumbersome term for a simple thing. At the same time, Invisalign was also offered for early treatment in the mixed dentition, named Invisalign First. Invisalign Teen or Comprehensive Phase II […]
Invisalign® Comprehensive
Invisalign® Comprehensive has been the name for Invisalign’s® comprehensive orthodontic treatment since 2019, with an unlimited number of aligners available. The product had been called Invisalign® full up to then.
Invisalign® Comprehensive Phase II
Invisalign® Comprehensive Phase II has been the name for the comprehensive orthodontic treatment of Invisalign® in adolescents since 2019, with an unlimited number of aligners available. The product had been called Invisalign Teen® up to then.
Invisalign® First
Invisalign® First is a 2019 aligner product from Align Technology for the early orthodontic treatment in mixed dentition with Invisalign® which offers an unlimited number of aligners. Since early orthodontic treatment makes sense only in a few exceptional cases, and Aligners are rarely considered for most of the rare indications, Invisalign® First hasn’t been used […]
Irregularity Index
The Irregularity Index defines the added contact point deviations of the mandibular front teeth in the horizontal plane. Developed by Little and Riedel at the University of Washington, it is often used in orthodontics to measure the positional deviations of the mandibular front teeth.
Jasper-Jumper
This is one of the many Herbst clones and is mechanically similar to the Herbst-Appliance. It consists of a plastic-covered spiral spring which clips onto the fixed brace and is used for the treatment of distal occlusion (Angle-Class II retrusive occlusion). Unfortunately, it often breaks and can cause problems in the fixed brace that the […]
Jones-Jig
A fixed appliance used in the upper jaw in order to distalize the first molars with the help of intermaxillary elastics. Since the elastics are fixed onto the labial arch of the multi-bracket appliance, there is little need for the use of the Jones-Jig.
KIG
See: Orthodontic Indication Groups
Kinetor
The Kinetor is another removable appliance based on the Activator that was developed by Hugo Stockfisch and featured upper and lower plates that were joined together by two elastic tubes. The first publication of a dedicated textbook appeared in 1966. This made Stockfisch one of the most prominent authors of the so-called ‘functioning orthodontics’ movement, […]