| attrition | wearing away |
| benign | not cancerous |
| biopsy | the excision of tissue to establish a diagnosis |
| bruxism | unconscious habit of grinding the teeth |
| carcinoma | a cancerous tumor |
| chancre | an ulcer |
| cleft palate | congenital cleft |
| erosion | a loss of tooth structure |
| fibroma | a benign tumor of white fibrous tissue |
| fluorosis | hypoplasia and discoloration of teeth |
| geographic tongue | wandering inflammation of the tongue |
| glossalgia | pain in the tongue |
| glossitis | inflammation of the tongue |
| harelip | a cleft palate |
| herpes labialis | herpes simplex of the lip |
| hutchinson's teeth | notched or pegged teeth |
| hypoplasia | a defective development of any tissue |
| leukoplakia | white patches on the mucous membranes |
| malignant | cancerous |
| neoplasm | new growth |
| oral pathology | specialty of dentistry that deals with the diagnosis of dental and oral diseases |
| sarcoma | a malignant neoplasm of the connective tissue |
| alveolectomy | surgical excision of the alveolar bone |
| alveoloplasty | surgical repair of the alveolar bone |
| dry socket | osteitis following extraction |
| excisional biopsy | surgical excision of the entire lesion for diagnosis |
| extraction | surgical removal of a tooth from the alveolus |
| fracture | a break in the bone |
| frenectomy | surgical removal of the frenulum from its attachment |
| incisional biopsy | surgical excision of wedge shaped tissue for diagnosis |
| impaction | retarded eruption |
| operculum | a hood of tissue over a partially erupted tooth |
| orthognathic surgery | surgery inwhich the jaws are moved onto proper alignment |
| osteotomy | partial removal of bone |
| pericoronitis | inflammation around the crown of a partially erupted tooth |
| temporomandibular joint | the joint where the mandible meets the maxilla |
| trigeminal nerve | the 5th cranial nerve which supplies the face with sensation |
| trigeminal neuralgia | breakdown of the trigeminal nerve |
| resportion | removal by absorption |