dentition

American  

[den-tish-uhn] / dɛnˈtɪʃ ən /

noun

1. the makeup of a set of teeth including their kind, number, and arrangement.

2. the eruption or cutting of the teeth; teething; odontiasis.

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dentition British  

/ dɛnˈtɪʃən /

noun

1. the arrangement, type, and number of the teeth in a particular species. Man has a primary dentition of deciduous teeth and a secondary dentition of permanent teeth

2. teething or the time or process of teething

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dentition Scientific  

/ dĕn-tĭsh′ən /

1. The type, number, and arrangement of teeth in an animal species. In mammals, dentition consists of several different types of teeth, including incisors, canines, and molars. The dentition of toothed fish and reptiles usually consists of only one kind of tooth.

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Etymology

Origin of dentition

1605–15; < Latin dentītiōn- (stem of dentītiō), equivalent to dentīt ( us ) (past participle of dentīre to cut teeth, teethe) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Imagine a walrus-like creature with dentition remarkably similar to modern walruses: A quartet of post-canine teeth, a large lower canine tooth and a short, fused vertical midline on their lower jaw.

From Salon • Aug. 15, 2024

Using the novel technique, the research team tried to determine the closest fit of the teeth's appearance to other dinosaurs with well-known dentition.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2024

Tusks are among the most dramatic examples of mammal dentition: ever-growing, projecting teeth used for fighting, foraging, even flirting.

From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2021

Corpus Christi A young man recently released from dentition passes himself off as a parish priest in a small village in this Academy Award-nominated drama.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2020

A stage in which the food is softened by cooking and the dentition is more or less reduced in size and retrograde in character, as in modernized types of H. sapiens.

From Man, Past and Present by Haddon, Alfred Court