Mandible, Teeth and Temporomandibular Joints

Abstract

The contact surfaces of the teeth with one another may be described using one of the following terms:

• Mesial: the surface facing towards the frontal teeth

• Distal: the surface facing away from the frontal teeth

The position of the other contact surfaces of the teeth could be described as:

• Buccal/labial: teeth surfaces facing the cheeks or lips

• Palatal: maxillary teeth surfaces facing towards the inside or the oral cavity

• Lingual: mandibular teeth surfaces adjacent to the tongue

The specific location of a tooth can be defined by two digits. The first digit refers to the side of the jaw and begins with 1 referring to the right side of the upper jaw, 2 referring to the left side of the upper jaw, 3 referring to the left side of the lower jaw and 4 referring to the right side of the lower jaw, i.e. in a clockwise direction. The second digit refers to the number of the tooth from 1 to 8 starting at the anterior mesial location in the alveolar process. Milk teeth are numbered by digits 5–8.

The inferior alveolar artery, vein and nerve enter the mandible through the mandibular foramen, near the angle of the mandible. They course through the mandible in the alveolar canal and exit through the mental foramen. The cortical boundaries of the alveolar canal are usually well demarcated on CT from the cancellous mandibular bone, and this demarcation will be lost only with advanced mandibular atrophy.