Dental glossary — terms beginning with K

Caries, destruction of the hard tooth tissue: decay of the enamel with the help of bacteria found in dental plaque. A healthy diet and regular, careful oral hygiene help to prevent caries.

Chewing function, serves to break up food and mix it with saliva. Food is bitten off with the incisors and canines and ground down by the back teeth. The chewing muscles move the lower jaw. Thousands of mucous glands in the lining of the mouth, together with the salivary glands, mix the food with saliva. The tongue acts as a grinding surface for the first stage of breaking food down. Digestion begins in the mouth, which is why it matters greatly that the dentition consists of complete rows of teeth.

Ceramic, used to produce individual crowns and bridges. Ceramic is notable for its long durability and good tolerability.

Jawbone, upper and lower jaw, the upper and lower jaws are the bones of the facial skeleton that carry the teeth. The lower jaw is the only movable bone of the facial skeleton.

Adhesive bridge, a bridge bonded to the neighbouring teeth. Its advantage over a conventional bridge is that the adjacent teeth do not have to be ground down; the bridge is fixed using adhesive technique. bridge

Grinding (bruxism), unconscious grinding movement of the upper and lower jaw against one another. It occurs particularly at night and can seriously damage the teeth and the jaw joint.

Bone loss, when teeth are missing the jawbone is no longer loaded and consequently recedes. Bone substance is then lacking to give implants sufficient hold. In patients with too little bone volume, the bone is rebuilt with the patient's own bone or with bone substitute material.

Bone substitute material, human bone can regenerate itself up to a point, that is, form new bone mass. Bone substitute materials support this process by filling a bone defect or cavity caused by trauma, disease or surgery. The material usually comes in the form of small granules. A distinction is drawn between: the patient's own bone, harvested from elsewhere in their body (the mouth or the iliac crest, for example); material of biological origin, bone taken from cattle or pigs and then cleaned, processed and sterilised; and material of synthetic origin, produced artificially.

Bone regeneration, the formation of new bone. At first soft and fibrous, it later hardens as calcium salts are deposited and new bone forms. A local haematoma encourages new tissue to form.

Crowns, the natural crown of the tooth projects freely from the gum into the mouth and consists of enamel. Where the natural crown is badly destroyed, it is replaced by an artificial one. teeth dental prosthesis

Composite filling, a resin filling material for front and back teeth. In the posterior region materials are used that have been made more resistant to mechanical loads by additives such as quartz or ceramic particles. Such fillings can last about as long as amalgam and are therefore often used as an alternative to it. amalgam

Curettage, scraping out with a sharp instrument, the curette. It removes firmly adhering deposits and diseased tissue between the tooth root and the gum, and so helps preserve the supporting structures and thereby the teeth. periodontitis