Oral Vestibular Shield (OVS):
Simple and inexpensive, this removable brace resembles a pacifier, but only consists of a simple silicon or plastic plate, which is located in the oral vestibule between the lips and the incisors. There is usually a handle that protrudes between the lips. The OVS is often used in early treatment of children of primary school […]
Oral vestibule
The oral vestibule is the narrow space between the teeth and jaws on one side and the lips and cheeks on the other side.
Orthodontic appliance
Orthodontic appliances are also called braces in every day language.
Orthodontic Indication Groups
The statutory health insurance pays for orthodontic treatment according to the 2004 orthodontic guidelines. The findings that entitle the patient to orthodontic treatment are regulated by the KIG system. The Orthodontic Indication Groups (KIG) are a system that was introduced in Germany in 2002 to assess the need for treatment in the statutory health insurance. […]
Orthodontic treatment
Orthodontics is a special part of dentistry which is concerned with the diagnostics and treatment of malocclusions (crooked teeth and improper bites). Unlike the other special parts of dentistry, which generally deal with particular diseases, it’s not that clear in orthodontics. For many years, it has simply been assumed that dental and jaw malformations are […]
Orthodontics
In most languages, this is the normal word used to describe the field of orhodontics, although in Germany during the 1930’s, it was replaced by the term “Dento-facial Orthopaedics”. This renaming can only be understood within the context of the euphoria which resulted from the introduction of the so-called Functional Orthodontics in Germany in the […]
Orthodontist
A dentist who is specialized in correcting malpositions of teeth and jaws. The training consists of a study of dentistry, followed, in most German provinces, by one year of general dental work and three years of specialized training. The professional training requires one year of work at a university dental clinic, while the other two […]
Osteotomy
Osteotomy refers to the incision and cutting of bone (e.g. extracting an impacted tooth).
Overbite
In normal layman’s speech, the term overbite refers to the vertical and horizontal overbite of the upper in relation to the lower front teeth. Regarding the neutral occlusion the overbite shows a range from 2mm to 4mm. A large overbite is a sign for retrognathism of the lower jaw (distocclusion, Angle Class II), a reduced […]
Overgrowth
Overgrowth of the lower jaw that is often associated with underdevelopment of the upper jaw or even the entire midface and a crossbite (inverted overbite) of the front teeth. See progenia
Overjet
Overjet is an English technical term and refers to the sagittal overjet of the front teeth. The term is also common in the German technical language.
Palatinal
Palate-related, towards the palate
Panoramic X-ray / Orthopantomogramme
A panoramic x-ray for overview of the jaw and the teeth
Parafunctional activity or habit
The habitual and often impairing exercise of the lower jaw like grinding and pressing of teeth, chewing fingernails/pencils or sucking.
Pendulum
See Pendulum Appliance
Pendulum Appliance
This is a fixed brace for the upper jaw and it is used to distalize (i.e. move backwards) the 1st molars. One of the reasons for undertaking this difficult movement of the teeth is to make room for all the remaining teeth or to correct a distal occlusion. After treating the distalized molars for about […]
Perikymatia
Perikymatia are ridges in the enamel just visible with the bare eye. They develop when teeth grow in the jaw bone. They often disappear because of dental attrition, abrasion and erosion.
Periodontal Screening Index (PSI)
It is an index for the quick estimation of the periodontal health.
Periodontitis
Inflammatory disease of the periodontium with recession of gingiva and degeneration of jaw bone.
Periodontosis
Periodontosis is an obsolete term for periodontitis. The term is inaccurate, because it hints at a degenerative disease, whereas the wide spread periodontitis isn’t degenerative but inflammatory.
Periosteum
A thin layer which covers the bone (bone skin).
Phonetics
Articulation in speech
Plaque
Dental plaque refers to the yellowish-white bacterial stain on tooth surfaces which builds up within a few hours. If plaque is not removed, the layer thickens, covers larger areas and the bacterial flora becomes more aggressive. The main goal of good oral hygiene is the regular removal of plaque with toothbrush and appropriate means for […]
Pont’s Index
This term refers to the relationship between the width of the four upper molars and the width of the teeth quadrants, as was first made public by the French orthodontist A. Pont in 1907. The values that Pont provided from data collected in the south of France were actually replaced in Germany by data produced […]
Positioner
These are removable braces made from flexible material without any wire elements. Introduced by Kesling in 1944, they resemble a sports mouth guard and encompass both teeth quadrants simultaneously although they are sometimes also used for a single teeth quadrant. They were originally made from rubber, although today they are generally made of silicone. The […]
Posterior teeth
The premolars and molars with their occlusal surfaces which bear most of the chewing forces.
Premolars
The fourth and fifth human tooth pairs are called premolars. The teeth have one or two root(s), mostly with two cusps. They bear the chewing forces as well as guiding function.
Prognathism
Prognathism refers to the protrusion of the maxilla.
Prophylaxis
It’s the medical term for prevention.
Protrusion
The term protrusion offers several meanings, which can be used in different contexts. This is an orthodontic condition whereby the front teeth jut out, e.g. bi-maxillary protrusion (Crooked sticking-out front teeth in both dental arches) This term also refers to physically moving a tooth forwards, particularly a front tooth. This is actually a treatment procedure. […]
Radicular
Root-related
Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME)
Rapid maxillary expansion (abbreviated RME) is done by a fixed appliance designed to widen the upper jaw’s bony base. It was first introduced by Angell in 1877. However, he was not taken seriously as the mere possibility of expansion of the bony palate was disputed and the procedure was initially forgotten about for decades. It […]
Retainer
After having completed the orthodontic treatment, the anterior teeth have a lifelong tendency to relapse into the old tooth position. To prevent relapse, permanent stabilization of the anterior teeth in particular is required after active treatment. Fixed and removable retainers Retainers are all braces that are used to stabilize the position of teeth after orthodontic […]
Retention
All measures to stabilize an orthodontic treatment result after the end of active treatment are called retention in orthodontics. Retention is a necessary part of orthodontic treatment because all tooth movements tend to return towards their initial state after the end of treatment. This is especially true for the anterior teeth, whose permanent straightening naturally […]
Retrusion
The term retrusion offers several meanings, which can be used in different contexts. Retrusion of teeth: This is an orthodontic condition whereby the front teeth show a bi-maxillary retrusion (Crooked front teeth tilted backwards in both dental arches) Retrusion of a tooth, so to say physically moving a tooth, particularly a front tooth. This is […]
Root canal
The narrow and fibrous part of the root where blood vessels and nerve tracts are running through.
Root cement
The bone-like, quite soft substance which covers the human dental root.
Root Resorption
Root resorption refers to apical granulomas on the roots of the teeth which can lead to the appearance of small dimples or even to the disappearance of whole root tips. This can of course happen as part of the normal bite, even in the absence of any orthodontic treatment, but it does tend to be […]
Sato-Technique
The Sato Technique isn’t quite the correct term for the version of the MEAW Technique propagated by S. Sato from Japan. This Multiloop Edgewise Archwire Technique (in full string) was originally developed by Y.H. Kim in Korea. So in this case, the wrong author receives the credit.
Scissor Bite
This refers to molars which do not fit together properly, i.e. the chewing surfaces of opposing teeth do not actually touch at all. See nonocclusion.
Sedation
Pharmacological intervention for patients undergoing surgery
Segmented Arch Technique
This term refers to any kind of orthodontic treatment technique that uses fixed braces that have several wire segments instead of a single wire that encompasses all the teeth at once. This technique was first introduced by Charles Burstone in 1960. Some aspects of the Segmented Arch Technique have become quite widespread, for example the […]
Self-ligating brackets
Brackets with a built-in metallic locking mechanism to hold the orthodontic wires in place. The wires are attached to the brackets with ligatures made of elastic material or thin wires in traditional brackets. The great advantage of self-ligating brackets is the faster wire change and the shorter working time in the orthodontist’s chair, while the […]
Sigmatism
The medical term for lisp/lisping
Space deficiency
A disharmony between the dental substance and the space in the jaw bone. It leads to dental crowding.
SPEED Bracket
This is a self-ligating bracket (part of the fixed brace) made by the Strite company in Canada. It is the oldest of all the self-ligating brackets on the market today and has been continuously improved. It is a so-called active self-ligating bracket which means that the locking clip slots into the bracket very easily and […]
Splint
Splint is a commonly used and misleading term for transparent, plastic, removable braces, covering the whole dental arch. There’re active splints for tooth movement, called aligners, (see there), retainers (transparent plastic strips), which are used to stabilize the position of the teeth following orthodontic treatment and occlusal splints (see there), used for the CMD-treatment.
Standard Edgewise Technique
An obsolete technique for multibracket appliances which didn’t offer a proper adaption of the brackets to the different shapes of teeth. In consequence, orthodontists had to compensate this disadvantage by hundreds of manual manipulations of the archwires. When the expensive programmed bracket systems took over the Standard Edgewise Technique became obsolete. Nowadays, it’s hardly in […]
Straight Wire Technique
The Straight Wire Technique was a term for multibracket appliances with programmed brackets. The basic idea to forgo bending of the archwires because of the programmed brackets turned out to be false. Nevertheless, the programmed brackets have prevailed because of simplifying work in comparison to the former Standard Edgewise Brackets. But the term Straight Wire […]
Subgingival
Below the margin of the gums, in the gingival pocket