DictionaryAI

dental

SayDEN-tuhl/ˈdɛn.təl/

Noun pluraldentals

6 meanings of dental

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    About or related to the teeth.

    Eating too much candy is bad for your dental health.

    My grandpa gets dental pain when he bites into something hard.

    Note
  2. 2
    adjective
    About dentistry, the work of dentists.

    My sister works as a dental assistant.

    The dental office is closed on Sundays.

    Note
  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A cleaning and polishing of an animal's teeth, done by a vet.

    Our dog has a dental at the vet next Tuesday.

    The clinic does dentals in the morning so the pets can go home at night.

    Note
  4. 4
    adjective
    Made with the tip of your tongue touching or close to your top front teeth.

    The th sound at the start of "think" is a dental sound.

    In Spanish the t is dental, so your tongue touches your teeth.

    Note
  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A speech sound you make with your tongue against or near your top teeth.

    A dental at the end of a word can be very hard to hear.

    When she speaks Italian, her dentals sound just right.

    Note

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    adjectiverare
    Made with the tip or the front part of the tongue, wherever it touches.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from the Latin word dēns, meaning "tooth".