Talking to Your Dental Provider

Identify which tooth

Learn the numbers of the teeth you'll talk about during your dental visit:

note: your orthodontist may have removed some of your premolars. Ask your dentist which ones were removed.
(original image from wikipedia, image same license as original)

Refer to each tooth surface

Facial - surfaces facing the cheek and lips. (To be more technical and specific: ...more)

Lingual - surfaces facing the tongue. (To be more technical: use palatal for the upper teeth.)

Surfaces facing other teeth:

occlusal - biting surface of the molars and premolars
incisal - biting surface of the incisors and cuspids
distal, mesial (see image: surfaces facing the direction of the arrows)

Types of teeth

posterior: molar, premolar (bicuspid)
anterior: incisor, cuspid (canine)

Now that you're empowered: Dos and Don'ts

Don't: say "the back of the tooth". For a cuspid (canine), for example, the dentist won't know if you mean the distal or lingual/palatal surface
Do: say "the lingual (or palatal) surface" (what you probably meant by "back")

Do: say "the occlusal surface of number 15"
Don't: stick your finger into the back of your mouth (you look like a dork, and the dentist can't see there with your hand in the way)

Do: say "the mesial surface of number 17"
Don't: gesture around like an idiot (like I did)