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 Oral Surgery Main Article |  Glossary |  Oral Surgery Index 

Oral Surgery Glossary of Terms

The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Oral Surgery article.

Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
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Apnea: An apnea is a period of time during which breathing stops or is markedly reduced. There are two types of apneas, the more common obstructive sleep apnea and the less common central sleep apnea.
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Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for purposes of diagnosis. (Many definitions of "biopsy" stipulate that the sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. This may or may not be the case. The diagnosis may be achieved by other means such as by analysis of chromosomes or genes.)
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Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction, and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.

Cleft lip: The presence of one or two vertical fissures (clefts) in the upper lip -- cleft lip can be on one side only ( unilateral ) or on both sides ( bilateral ) -- resulting from failure of the normal process of fusion of the lip to come to completion during embryonic life.
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Cleft palate: An opening in the roof of the mouth (the palate) due to a failure of the palatal shelves to come fully together from either side of the mouth and fuse, as they normally should, during embryonic development.
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Cysts: Cysts are abnormal, closed sac-like structures within a tissue that contain a liquid, gaseous, or semisolid substance. Cysts can occur anywhere in the body and can vary in size. The outer, or capsular, portion of a cyst is termed the cyst wall.

Denture: An artificial set of teeth that can be removed.
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Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease ; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies . 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
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Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.
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Ear: The hearing organ. There are three sections of the ear, according to the anatomy textbooks. They are the outer ear (the part we see along the sides of our head behind the temples), the middle ear, and the inner ear. But in terms of function, the ear has four parts: those three and the brain. Hearing thus involves all parts of the ear as well as the auditory cortex of the brain. The external ear helps concentrate the vibrations of air on the ear drum and make it vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted by a chain of little bones in the middle ear to the inner ear. There they stimulate the fibers of the auditory nerve to transmit impulses to the brain.
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Graft: Healthy skin, bone, or other tissue taken from one part of the body to replace diseased or injured tissue removed from another part of the body.
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Headache : A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or back ache, has many causes.
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Hygiene: The science of preventive medicine and the preservation of health. From the name of Hygeia, the daughter of Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine (whose staff with entwined snake is the symbol of medicine). Asklepios (known to the Romans as Aesculapius) had a number of children including not only Hygeia but also Panaceia, the patroness of clinical medicine. Hygeia also followed her father into medicine. As the patroness of health, Hygeia was charged with providing a healthy environment to prevent illness. In Greek, "hygieia" means health.

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular condition or circumstance. For example, certain medications are indicated for the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy while others are contraindicated.

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Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
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Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury. The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury. The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma.

Jaw: The bones below the mouth (the mandible) and the bone above the mouth just above the mouth (the maxilla). The word jaw comes from the Anglo-Saxon ceowan meaning to chew.
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Jawbone: 1. As a noun, a bone of the jaw, particularly the mandible.
2. As a verb, to try and influence with words (jawbones) rather than force.

Joint: A joint is the area where two bones are attached for the purpose of motion of body parts. A joint is usually formed of fibrous connective tissue and cartilage. An articulation or an arthrosis is the same as a joint.
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Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures and preparing chemicals, etc. Although "laboratory" looks very like the Latin "laboratorium" (a place to labor, a work place), the word "laboratory" came from the Latin "elaborare" (to work out, as a problem, and with great pains), as evidenced by the Old English spelling "elaboratory" designating "a place where learned effort was applied to the solution of scientific problems."
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Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.
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Laser surgery: A type of surgery that uses the cutting power of a laser beam to make bloodless cuts in tissue or remove a surface lesion such as a skin tumor. There are a number of different types of lasers that differ in emitted light wavelengths and power ranges and in their ability to clot, cut, or vaporize tissue. Among the commonly used lasers are the pulsed-dye laser, the YAG laser, the CO2 (carbon dioxide) laser, the argon laser, the excimer laser, the KTP laser, and the diode laser.

Lesion: Pronounced "lee-sion" with the emphasis on the "lee," a lesion can be almost any abnormality involving any tissue or organ due to any disease or any injury.
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Molars: Molars are the large teeth at the back of the mouth.
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Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and containing the teeth, gums, and tongue. Foodstuffs are broken down mechanically in the mouth by chewing and saliva is added as a lubricant. Saliva contains amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. 2. Any opening or aperture in the body. The mouth in both senses of the word is also called the os, the Latin word for an opening, or mouth. The o in os is pronounced as in hope. The genitive form of os is oris from which comes the word oral.

Nasal: Having to do with the nose. Nasal drops are intended for the nose, not (for example) the eyes. The word "nasal" came from the Latin "nasus" meaning the nose or snout.

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constricted part of a bone or organ that joins its parts as, for example, the neck of the femur bone.
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Oral surgeon: A dentist with special training in surgery of the mouth and jaw.
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Oropharynx: The area of the throat that is at the back of the mouth. The oropharynx is in contrast to the nasopharynx, the part of the throat that lies behind the nose.

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Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia . Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
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Palate: The roof of the mouth. The front portion is bony (hard palate), and the back portion is muscular (soft palate).
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Physical therapy: A branch of rehabilitative health that uses specially designed exercises and equipment to help patients regain or improve their physical abilities. Physical therapists work with many types of patients, from infants born with musculoskeletal birth defects, to adults suffering from sciatica or the after- effects of injury, to elderly post-stroke patients.

Skull: The skull is a collection of bones which encase the brain and give form to the head and face. The bones of the skull include the following: the frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, sphenoid, ethmoid, zygomatic, maxilla, nasal, vomer, palatine, inferior concha, and mandible.
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Sleep : The body's rest cycle.
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Sleep apnea: The temporary stoppage of breathing during sleep , often resulting in daytime sleepiness. Apnea is a Greek word that means "want of breath."
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Snoring: A rough rattling noise made on inspiration during sleep by vibration of the soft palate (the back of the roof of the mouth) and the uvula (the prominent structure dangling down at the back of the mouth).
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Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity by operative or manual methods. A medical doctor specialized in the removal of organs, masses and tumors and in doing other procedures using a knife (scalpel). The definition of a "surgeon" has begun to blur in recent years as surgeons have begun to minimize the cutting, employ new technologies that are "minimally invasive," use scopes, etc.
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Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
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Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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TMJ: Tempero-mandibular joint, the joint that hinges the lower jaw (mandible) to the skull.

Tooth: The structures within the mouth that allow for biting and chewing. Teeth have different shapes, depending on their purpose. The sharp canine and frontal teeth allow for biting, while the flattened, thick molars in the back of the mouth provide grinding surfaces for masticating food. All teeth have essentially the same structure: a hard crown above the gum line, which is attached to two or four roots by a portion called the neck. The roots are covered with a very thin layer of bone, and keep the tooth embedded in the bones of the jaw. The exposed exterior of the tooth is covered with tough enamel. Under the enamel is a thick layer of dentin, and in the center is the pulp. Blood vessels and nerves are found within the pulp.
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Tooth root: The lower two-thirds of a tooth. The roots are normally buried in bone, and serve to anchor the tooth in position. They are covered with a thin layer of bone, and insert into sockets in the bone of the jaw.

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 Oral Surgery Main Article |  Glossary |  Oral Surgery Index 




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  • Sleep Apnea - Learn about sleep apnea, including a description of types of sleep apnea, causes, complications, diagnosis, evaluation, treatments (surgical and non-surgical), and importance of treatment. Source:MedicineNet
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