Dental Diseases in English: From Caries to Leukoplakia

Caries, cavity and tooth decay are not three words for one thing: caries is the disease process, a cavity is the hole it leaves, and decay is the everyday term. Mixing them changes what a chart entry means.

This list covers 63 terms: forms of caries, pulpal and periapical disease, non-carious tooth loss, developmental enamel defects, and diseases of the oral mucosa and salivary glands.

Who this is for

  • Dental students — diagnostic nomenclature for exams and textbooks
  • Clinicians — reading English-language records, referrals and journal articles
  • Patients — understanding a diagnosis given abroad

Word list to learn

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Word
dental caries ˈdentəl ˈkeəriːz
tooth decay tuːθ dɪˈkeɪ
cavity ˈkævəti
incipient caries ɪnˈsɪpiənt ˈkeəriːz
arrested caries əˈrestɪd ˈkeəriːz
root caries ruːt ˈkeəriːz
recurrent caries rɪˈkʌrənt ˈkeəriːz
rampant caries ˈræmpənt ˈkeəriːz
demineralization diːˌmɪnərəlaɪˈzeɪʃən
white spot lesion waɪt spɒt ˈliːʒən
pulpitis pʌlˈpaɪtɪs
reversible pulpitis rɪˈvɜːsəbəl pʌlˈpaɪtɪs
irreversible pulpitis ˌɪrɪˈvɜːsəbəl pʌlˈpaɪtɪs
pulp necrosis pʌlp neˈkrəʊsɪs
necrotic pulp neˈkrɒtɪk pʌlp
pulp exposure pʌlp ɪkˈspəʊʒə
dental abscess ˈdentəl ˈæbses
periapical abscess ˌperiˈæpɪkəl ˈæbses
dentoalveolar abscess ˌdentəʊælˈviːələr ˈæbses
periapical periodontitis ˌperiˈæpɪkəl ˌperiədɒnˈtaɪtɪs
periapical granuloma ˌperiˈæpɪkəl ˌɡrænjʊˈləʊmə
radicular cyst rəˈdɪkjʊlə sɪst
cellulitis ˌseljʊˈlaɪtɪs
osteomyelitis ˌɒstiəʊmaɪəˈlaɪtɪs
internal resorption ɪnˈtɜːnəl rɪˈzɔːpʃən
external resorption ɪkˈstɜːnəl rɪˈzɔːpʃən
ankylosis ˌæŋkɪˈləʊsɪs
attrition əˈtrɪʃən
abrasion əˈbreɪʒən
erosion ɪˈrəʊʒən
abfraction æbˈfrækʃən
bruxism ˈbrʌksɪzəm
dentin hypersensitivity ˈdentɪn ˌhaɪpəsensɪˈtɪvəti
cracked tooth syndrome krækt tuːθ ˈsɪndrəʊm
enamel hypoplasia ɪˈnæməl ˌhaɪpəˈpleɪziə
fluorosis flʊəˈrəʊsɪs
amelogenesis imperfecta əˌmeləˈdʒenəsɪs ɪmpəˈfektə
dentinogenesis imperfecta ˌdentɪnəʊˈdʒenəsɪs ɪmpəˈfektə
tetracycline staining ˌtetrəˈsaɪkliːn ˈsteɪnɪŋ
oral candidiasis ˈɔːrəl ˌkændɪˈdaɪəsɪs
oral thrush ˈɔːrəl θrʌʃ
angular cheilitis ˈæŋɡjʊlə kaɪˈlaɪtɪs
aphthous ulcer ˈæfθəs ˈʌlsə
recurrent aphthous stomatitis rɪˈkʌrənt ˈæfθəs ˌstəʊməˈtaɪtɪs
herpes labialis ˈhɜːpiːz ˌleɪbiˈeɪlɪs
primary herpetic gingivostomatitis ˈpraɪməri hɜːˈpetɪk ˌdʒɪndʒɪvəʊˌstəʊməˈtaɪtɪs
oral lichen planus ˈɔːrəl ˈlaɪkən ˈpleɪnəs
leukoplakia ˌluːkəʊˈpleɪkiə
erythroplakia ɪˌrɪθrəʊˈpleɪkiə
oral cancer ˈɔːrəl ˈkænsə
glossitis ɡlɒˈsaɪtɪs
geographic tongue ˌdʒiːəˈɡræfɪk tʌŋ
black hairy tongue blæk ˈheəri tʌŋ
burning mouth syndrome ˈbɜːnɪŋ maʊθ ˈsɪndrəʊm
mucocele ˈmjuːkəʊsiːl
stomatitis ˌstəʊməˈtaɪtɪs
xerostomia ˌzɪərəˈstəʊmiə
halitosis ˌhælɪˈtəʊsɪs
temporomandibular disorder ˌtempərəʊmænˈdɪbjʊlə dɪsˈɔːdə
myofascial pain ˌmaɪəʊˈfæʃəl peɪn
pericoronitis ˌperikɒrəˈnaɪtɪs
sialolithiasis ˌsaɪələʊlɪˈθaɪəsɪs
sialadenitis ˌsaɪələdeˈnaɪtɪs

Useful phrases

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Phrase
You have a cavity in this tooth.
The decay has reached the nerve.
This is early-stage gum disease.
You have an infection at the root of the tooth.
Your gums are inflamed because of plaque build-up.
This tooth has a crack in it.
The enamel is worn down from grinding.
Is it serious?
What happens if I leave it untreated?
Can the tooth be saved?
If we do nothing, you may lose the tooth.
The X-ray shows bone loss around these teeth.
This white patch needs to be checked further.
It is not painful yet, but it will be.

Caries, Erosion or Wear: Why Teeth Break Down

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Patient
Why do I keep getting problems? I brush properly.
Dentist
Not everything here is decay. There are three different processes going on.
Patient
They all look like damage to me.
Dentist
This one is dental caries — bacteria producing acid. But the wear on your upper front teeth is erosion, from acid you're drinking.
Patient
I drink sparkling water all day.
Dentist
At that volume it's acidic enough to matter. Erosion dissolves enamel evenly; caries makes a hole.
Patient
And the notches at the gum line?
Dentist
Abrasion — mechanical, from brushing too hard. A different cause again, so a different fix.
Patient
What about my back teeth? They look flat.
Dentist
That's attrition — tooth against tooth. Do you clench or grind at night?
Patient
My partner says I grind.
Dentist
Bruxism, then. A night guard protects what's left.
Patient
My mouth is also dry all the time.
Dentist
That matters more than people realise. Xerostomia removes saliva's buffering and the caries rate rises sharply. Are you on any medication?
Patient
Antidepressants.
Dentist
A very common cause. We can't change the medication, but we can raise your fluoride and shorten your recall interval.
Patient
Is this white patch on my cheek anything?
Dentist
Probably where the tooth rubs. But any white patch that hasn't resolved in two weeks gets referred — leukoplakia is excluded, not watched.
Patient
So the causes are all different.
Dentist
Which is why the treatments are. Fluoride won't stop erosion, and a night guard won't stop decay.

Common mistakes

Avoid these common mistakes

Wrong The patient was treated for parodontosis last year.
Correct The patient was treated for periodontitis last year.

Two problems in one word. The English prefix is perio- (around), giving periodontium, periodontal, periodontitis, periodontist; paro- comes from the German and Slavic forms and does not exist in English. Secondly, periodontosis is an obsolete label, dropped from classifications decades ago; what was once called that is now periodontitis, or periodontal disease as an umbrella. Continental languages preserve the old term — German Parodontose, Russian пародонтоз, Polish paradontoza — so the error is widespread among European graduates.

Wrong The patient has gingiv-EE-tis and pulp-EE-tis.
Correct The patient has gingiv-EYE-tis and pulp-EYE-tis.

-itis is pronounced /ˈaɪtɪs/ and always takes the primary stress, which shifts the whole word: gingivitis /ˌdʒɪndʒɪˈvaɪtɪs/, periodontitis /ˌperiədɒnˈtaɪtɪs/, pulpitis /pʌlˈpaɪtɪs/, stomatitis /ˌstəʊməˈtaɪtɪs/, cheilitis /kaɪˈlaɪtɪs/, glossitis /ɡlɒˈsaɪtɪs/. Almost every European language pronounces the same Greek suffix with a short i, so the mispronunciation transfers wholesale. Learning the rule once fixes every diagnosis on this page at the same time.

Wrong I have stomatitis again — one small painful spot on my lip.
Correct I have a mouth ulcer again — one small painful spot on my lip.

Stomatitis denotes generalised inflammation of the oral mucosa, so using it for a single lesion overstates the picture. One painful spot is a mouth ulcer in British English, a canker sore in American English, and an aphthous ulcer clinically. The recurrent condition is properly called recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Do not confuse any of these with a cold sore, or herpes labialis, which is viral, appears on the lip border, and starts as blisters rather than an ulcer.

Wrong The notching at the necks from hard brushing is dental erosion.
Correct The notching at the necks from hard brushing is abrasion.

These are aetiological labels, not descriptions of appearance. Erosion is chemical dissolution by acid — soft drinks, citrus, reflux, vomiting. Abrasion is mechanical wear from an external agent, classically a hard toothbrush and abrasive paste, producing notches at the cervical margins. Attrition is tooth-against-tooth wear, the hallmark of bruxism. Abfraction describes cervical lesions attributed to occlusal flexure. Naming the wrong one implies the wrong cause, which sends the treatment plan in the wrong direction.

Wrong The tooth is caried and there is a decay under the filling.
Correct The tooth is carious and there is decay under the filling.

Two form errors in one sentence. The adjective is carious — a carious lesion, carious dentin; caried does not exist. And decay is uncountable, so it takes no indefinite article: there is decay, extensive decay, recurrent decay beneath the restoration. When you need a countable unit, use a cavity or a carious lesion. Note also that caries is unchanged in the plural, like series: one caries, several caries, never a carie or carieses.

About This List

Caries, cavity, decay: three words, three meanings

Dental caries is the disease — the process of tissue destruction. The word is uncountable and takes a singular verb: caries is a bacterial disease, never a caries and never caries are.

A cavity is the result, the cavitated lesion. It is countable: three cavities. Tooth decay is the lay equivalent, used when explaining the process to a patient.

An important consequence: caries exists before any hole appears. A white spot lesion is the earliest visible stage, incipient caries is early disease without cavitation, and at that point remineralisation is still possible. Arrested caries has stopped — dark, hard, needing no treatment.

The remaining forms describe site or pace: root caries on an exposed root, recurrent caries around an existing restoration, rampant caries when it is rapid and widespread.

Six suffixes that decode almost any diagnosis

Learn these and dozens of terms stop needing a dictionary:

  • -itis — inflammation: pulpitis, stomatitis, glossitis, sialadenitis, pericoronitis
  • -osis — a state or process, often non-inflammatory: necrosis, fluorosis, halitosis, ankylosis
  • -iasis — the presence of something: sialolithiasis, a salivary stone
  • -oma — a mass: granuloma
  • -cele — a sac or cavity: mucocele
  • -plasia — formation: hypoplasia, meaning deficient formation

Add the roots: xero- means dry, so xerostomia is dry mouth; -genesis imperfecta means defective formation, giving amelogenesis imperfecta for enamel and dentinogenesis imperfecta for dentin.

Four kinds of tooth wear, separated by cause

All four mean tissue is being lost. The diagnosis depends on the mechanism:

  • Attrition — tooth against tooth, typically with bruxism
  • Abrasion — an external mechanical agent: a hard brush, an abrasive paste
  • Erosion — acid with no bacterial involvement: reflux, citrus, soft drinks
  • Abfraction — cervical loss attributed to occlusal loading

Any of them can end in dentin hypersensitivity, because dentin becomes exposed.

Mucosal lesions and where the red flags are

Some diagnoses look alarming and are benign: geographic tongue, black hairy tongue, mucocele. Others need watching.

Leukoplakia (white) and erythroplakia (red) are potentially malignant, erythroplakia carrying the higher risk. Current usage is potentially malignant disorder; precancerous is considered outdated. Oral lichen planus also warrants follow-up, and oral cancer is the diagnosis itself.

Lay and clinical names pair up: oral thrush and oral candidiasis are the same condition, as are cold sore and herpes labialis. Primary herpetic gingivostomatitis is the first infection, usually in children, and is more severe than a recurrence.

Grammar traps inside the disease vocabulary

  • Caries looks plural but is singular and uncountable; carious is the adjective
  • Decay works as both noun and verb: the tooth is decaying, advanced decay
  • Necrosis is the state, necrotic the adjective — a necrotic pulp has undergone pulp necrosis
  • Abscess is countable and takes a location: periapical, periodontal, dentoalveolar
  • Resorption is internal or external and is never spelled reabsorption in this context
  • Stomatitis is inflammation of the mouth generally; glossitis is specifically the tongue

Frequently Asked Questions

Gingivitis is inflammation confined to the gingiva and is reversible: there is bleeding and swelling, but bone and attachment are intact. Periodontitis involves irreversible attachment loss and bone loss, producing periodontal pockets and eventually tooth mobility. The defining transition is not bleeding but clinical attachment loss, which is why probing depth alone is not enough to diagnose.

The suffix is /ˈaɪtɪs/ and takes the primary stress: gingivitis /ˌdʒɪndʒɪˈvaɪtɪs/, periodontitis /ˌperiədɒnˈtaɪtɪs/, pulpitis /pʌlˈpaɪtɪs/, stomatitis /ˌstəʊməˈtaɪtɪs/, cheilitis /kaɪˈlaɪtɪs/, glossitis /ɡlɒˈsaɪtɪs/. Most European languages give the same Greek suffix a short i, so the error transfers to every diagnosis at once — and one rule corrects them all.

Not in current use. Periodontosis was dropped from classifications decades ago, and the inflammatory disease with attachment loss is periodontitis, with periodontal disease as the umbrella term. Note also that English uses the prefix perio-, never paro-, so parodontosis and parodontitis are both wrong. The cognates survive in German, Russian and Polish, which is where the error comes from.

They are classified by cause. Erosion is acid dissolution — dietary acid, reflux, vomiting. Abrasion is wear from an external agent, classically a hard brush with abrasive paste, giving cervical notches. Attrition is tooth-against-tooth wear and the signature of bruxism. Abfraction describes cervical lesions attributed to occlusal flexure. Choosing the wrong label assigns the wrong cause and misdirects prevention.

In reversible pulpitis the pain is brief and stops when the stimulus is removed; the pulp can recover once the cause is treated. In irreversible pulpitis the pain is spontaneous, lingering, often worse at night and throbbing, and the pulp cannot heal — the tooth needs root canal treatment or extraction. Untreated, it progresses to pulp necrosis and then a periapical abscess.

By stage: incipient caries, also called a white spot lesion, then frank cavitation, and arrested caries where the process has stopped. By pattern: rampant caries for widespread rapid decay, root caries on exposed root surfaces. Around an existing restoration it is recurrent or secondary caries. Remember that caries is invariant in the plural, like series.

An aphthous ulcer — a canker sore in American English, mouth ulcer in British — appears on movable mucosa inside the mouth, is not infectious, and starts as an ulcer. A cold sore, clinically herpes labialis, is caused by herpes simplex, appears on the lip border or perioral skin, starts as blisters and is contagious. Stomatitis properly refers to diffuse mucosal inflammation, not a single lesion.

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