Dental Abbreviations
The medical community often uses abbreviations for commonly used words, phrases, ailments, and body parts. The dental field is no exception. Taking abbreviated notes saves time and allows for better patient and doctor interactions. It also makes patient files smaller for easier transport from practice to practice.
However, the abbreviations used need to be universal across the entire industry or else they will do more harm than good. Confusing one notated word for another could cause expensive and unhealthy mistakes for both the doctor and the patient. Specialized dentists, such as orthodontists or periodontists, need to be able to read notations left on medical charts left by the primary dental provider. Nurses and hygienists need to be able to understand notations in order to care for the patient properly. Even office associates must understand dental abbreviations in order to bill the insurance companies and patients properly.
Knowing the abbreviations commonly used in the dental community can benefit doctors, patients, nurses, and dental students alike. Having a list of abbreviations can aid patients and doctors finding alternative treatments or further information on problems. Patients can also look over their medical records and understand the various notations if they have a list of abbreviations available.
Additional Information on Dental Abbreviations
Dentists should take care when handling patient records and the use of notations. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends keeping records for these reasons:
- Providing the best care for the patient
- Providing a means of communication between patient and doctor and between other doctors
- Providing a means of defense against medical malpractice
- Providing a way to aid in the identification of a dead or missing person, through use of forensic science
Part of keeping appropriate records includes the caveat of not being "ambiguous or contain many abbreviations." Additional recommendations from the ADA regarding abbreviations include that they should be "common in use . . . avoid the use of arcane symbols in record keeping . . . clearly understood by those in the office with access to the record."
List of Commonly Used Dental Abbreviations
This is a list of commonly used dental abbreviations. Because of the changing field of medical dentistry, some abbreviations may be outdated or obsolete. Some groups, such as the Army or even offices within insurance groups, may also maintain their own lists of acronyms. For a list of common abbreviations and acronyms in the UK, see the Faculty of General Dental Practice List of Dental Acronyms.
- abs: abscess
- A.D.A.: American Dental Association
- ADL/ADLs: Area Dental Laboratory/Area Dental Laboratories
- am or amal: amalgam
- ant: anterior
- B: buccal
- B/U: build-up
- BWX: bitewings
- clm: claim
- comp: composite
- Cr: crown
- D: distal
- DB: distobuccal
- DI: disto-incisal
- DK: decay
- DL: distolingual
- dn pmt: down payment
- D/O: dental office
- EOB or predet: estimate of benefits
- F or Fa: facial
- fx off: fractured off
- ga: gage
- Gi cem: gingivitis
- gm(s): grams
- Hg: Mercury
- hx: history
- imp: impression
- L or li: lingual
- M: mesial
- MB: mesiobuccal
- mg: milligram
- MID: mesio-inciso-distal
- min: minute
- ML: mesiolingual
- ml: milliliter
- mm: millimeter
- MO: mesio-occlusal
- MOD: mesio-occulso-distal
- N2O: nitrous oxide
- O: occlusal
- oz: ounce
- pmt: payment
- prophy or pro: prophylaxis
- RC: root canal
- Rx: prescription
- sens: sensitive
- th: tooth
- top: topical anesthetic
- tx or trt: Treatment
This list was compiled using the following resources, and should be referenced for further abbreviations: Medtrng.com, Delta Dental Washington Dental Service, and Dental Corps Abbreviations.
For more information regarding dental terms, visit Dental Dictionary and A Dictionary of Dental Terms, found in the specialty dictionaries section of yourDictionary.com.