Glossary

Select a letter to view the corresponding glossary of terms.

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L

Labial: The tooth surface nest to your lips or things mounted on the tooth surfaces next to your lips. Laminate Veneer: Thin porcelain, composite resin, or preformed plastic to the tooth. Laminating: Applying a thin veneer of porcelain, composite resin or preformed plastic to the tooth. Least Cost Alternative: A clause in the policy that allows an insurance company to pay for the least expensive treatment. Ligating: An adjective used to describe components used to attach arch wires to brackets. For example a ligating module is a small plastic piece that goes over the brackets to hold your arch wires. Ligating Module: A small plastic piece, shaped like a donut, which is used to hold the arch wires in the brackets on your teeth. Ligation: A process where an archwire is attached to the brackets on your teeth. Limited C.O.B.: When the patient has two dental plans, the plan that is billed second (secondary) will pay one of the following ways: Lingual: The tooth surface next to your tongue or things mounted on the tooth surfaces next to your tongue. Lingual Appliance: Orthodontic appliance fixed to the inside of your teeth. I.e. Lingual appliances are attached to the part of your teeth next to your tongue. Lingual Arch: An orthodontic wire attached from molar to molar in the inside of your teeth. Lingual Retainers: A variation of the lingual arch going from cuspids to cuspid. Lip Bumper: A lip bumper is used to push the molars on your lower jaw back to create more space for the other teeth. Lip bumper consists of an arch wire, which is attached to a molded piece of plastic. You mount the arch wire in the buccal tubes on your lower jaw. Local Anesthesia: Relieves the sensation of pain in a localized area. Low Lip Line: When the widest mile barely reveals the bottom edges of the upper front teeth and no gum or interdental tissue shows. Lucency: Dark spot on an x-ray stemming from a body's relative inability to block the transmission of radiant energy. Luxate: To move out of place as in the traumatic luxation of a tooth or joint.

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