pyorrhea

American  

[pahy-uh-ree-uh] / ˌpaɪ əˈri ə /

Or pyorrhoea

noun

1. Pathology. a discharge of pus.

2. Also called Riggs' disease.  Also called pyorrhea alveolaris.  Dentistry. a chronic form of periodontitis occurring in various degrees of severity, characterized in its severe forms by the formation of pus in the pockets between the roots of the teeth and their surrounding tissues, and frequently accompanied by the loosening and subsequent loss of the teeth.

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Other Word Forms

• pyorrheal adjective
• pyorrheic adjective

Etymology

Origin of pyorrhea

First recorded in 1785–90; from New Latin; pyo-, -rrhea

Example Sentences

The dentist cautions him against pyorrhea, for his teeth are loosening.

From Time Magazine Archive

If used regularly and in time, Forhan's checks or prevents pyorrhea.

From Time Magazine Archive

You have one of the worst pyorrhea cases I have ever seen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Charley's family gathers gloomily around the radio and hears Gabriel Heatter, the doom-laden commentator, warn "of dreaded pyorrhea."

From Time Magazine Archive

If such is the case why could not the existence of pyorrhea and blind abscesses about the roots of the teeth be the source of the toxic factors mentioned by Fischer?

From Glaucoma A Symposium Presented at a Meeting of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, November 17, 1913 by Nance, Willis O.