As you know, all things in medicine are straightforward and everyone agrees worldwide (lol). This post will only highlight the tooth numbering system(s) used in the United States:

You may have noticed that your dentist uses numbers when talking about your teeth. For example “I see caries on tooth #6.” Translation: “there is a cavity on the patient’s upper right canine (aka cuspid, dog tooth, sharp tooth).

“Normally” you have 32 Adult Teeth (fewer if you’ve had some removed), and the numbering system looks like this:

And how we classify these teeth:

Easy, right?

Here’s a quiz: When your dentist says “Tooth #3 looks nasty.” What tooth are they talking about?

– ANSWER: The upper right first molar

And if you loose a tooth, are not born with one of these teeth, or have some removed, they don’t get renamed! So if you had your Wisdom Teeth (3rd molars) removed, you now only have upper teeth #2-15 and lower teeth #18-31. But we still like you.

Of course, there is a different system for Primary Teeth (aka “Baby Teeth”).

• Baby Teeth Numbering

And a different system that most Orthodontists (aka “Braces Docs”) use.

• Orthodontic Numbering

And some people have EXTRA Teeth (“Oh no”)!

• Stay tuned for an article about those (and yes, it will include numbering).