Your Guide to Understanding What Your Dentist is Saying During a Checkup

Every profession has it’s own jargon, but when a dentist is digging in your teeth, it sure is nice to know what all those words mean.

We’re going to help you to better understand your dentist by explaining the most often-used terms by dentists so you can better understand what’s going on with your teeth.

Why we need technical terms

It’s not nice to speak in a language others who don’t speak it – especially when it’s about the person who doesn’t understand. But, we’re not trying to be rude, or spread rumours behind your back, when we use these technical terms. We’re making sure the communication between the dentist and the assistant is as precise and efficient as possible so that you can get the best care, and get out of that chair quicker.

Quadrants

It may make your dentist sound like a member of a swat team in a movie, but breaking your mouth in to quadrants allows them to quickly specify and remember areas where there might be trouble in your mouth.

If you hear your dentist talking about quadrants one or two, we’re referring to one of the two sides of the top of your mouth. Quadrants three and four are on the bottom of your mouth.

A quick diagram will help illustrate this easier. If you imagine yourself as the dentist (and your screen as the patient) the quadrants work like this:

Nose

Quadrant 1 | Quadrant 2

Patient’s Right  Quadrant 4 | Quadrant 3  Patient’s Left 

Chin

Typically, the dentist begins in quadrant 1, then moves clockwise through the quadrants, inspecting each as we go.

Numbers for your gums

Does it confuse you when the dentist starts poking you in the gums and calling out numbers? You’re not the only one. 

Just like a builder with a measuring tape and an assistant, dentists are calling out measurements. All those numbers are measurements in millimetres.

What are we measuring? The gap between the pocket of your gum and your teeth. We use this number to gauge the health of your gums. Healthy gums should have measurements no greater than 1-3 mm.

If you hear measurements of four to five, you may get a warning from your dentist that you’ve got signs of periodontal or possible bone loss. They may also do a check to see how easily your gums bleed. Anything over five and your dentist will suggest you get a deep cleaning, which hopefully will fix the problem. If not, more invasive solutions may need to be tried.

Numbers for your teeth

If you hear your dentist call out ‘23’, it’s probably not a measurement of your gum pocket, so you can relax. We also use a number for each tooth in your mouth. That way instead of saying, ‘there’s a problem with the third molar from the back’, we can simply say ‘cavity in 19.’

Then we know everyone’s on the same page.

In Canada, we use the ISO/FDI system, which assigns a two-digit number to each tooth. The first of the two corresponds to the quadrant the tooth is in. Then, the numbering starts from the front of the mouth. That means, your top front teeth are 11 and 21, while your bottoms are 41 and 31. The second number climbs as the teeth are farther back in your mouth. So, your top left canine is 23.

Understanding what your dentists says

Now that you know what your dentist is talking about, listen in. With this new knowledge, you’ll get a better understanding of where the problems are in your mouth.