Surfaces Of The Tooth

     You're sitting in the dental chair and you hear your dentist tell his chairside assistant, "We're going to be doing the buccal of number 14 today." You know you're scheduled to have a cavity filled, but what's a buccal?     That's one of several words dentists use to refer to the various sides and surfaces of a tooth. Learn them and next time, your dentist's words may make more sense.

                                                                Here's how dentists refer to the tooth's surfaces:

Buccal or Facial or Labial — You might think of this as the "outer" surface of a tooth. It's the side toward your cheeks or lips. The surface of the teeth in the front of the mouth sometimes is called the facial or labial surface.

Lingual or palatal — You might think of this as the "inner" surface of a tooth. It's the side toward your tongue. On your upper teeth, this side is called the palatal surface. On your lower teeth, it's called the lingual surface.

Mesial and distal — The sides facing each other between the teeth. The mesial side faces toward the front of the mouth. The distal side faces the rear.

Occlusal — You might think of this as the "top" of a tooth. It's the surface of the back teeth that's used for biting or chewing.

Cusps — The parts of the occlusal surface that are raised.

Grooves — The parts of the occlusal surface that are indented.

Furcation — The part of the tooth where the roots come together. This area usually is under the gum and bone. Front teeth do not have furcations since they have only one root