dental

dental — adjective

IPA/ˈdentl/
KK[dˈɛntəl]IPA/ˈdentl/
  • dentalpositive
  • more dentalcomparative
  • most dentalsuperlative

1. connected with the hard white structures in the mouth that people use for biting

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

connected with the hard white structures in the mouth that people use for biting and chewing, or with the medical care of these structures.

Example

Nala brushes her teeth every morning and night for good dental health.

collocation: dental health

The dental clinic on Main Street is open on Saturdays for emergencies.

collocation: dental clinic

Common collocations
  • dental care
  • dental health
  • dental clinic
  • dental hygiene
  • dental appointment
  • dental check-up
  • dental surgery
  • dental treatment
  • dental floss
  • dental insurance
  • dental records
Synonyms
  • oral

    broader — covers the whole mouth, not just teeth (oral hygiene vs. dental hygiene)

Grammar Patterns

dental + noun

Usage Note

Dental in this sense is almost always used before a noun. You can say dental care or dental appointment, but it is not used after a linking verb (*This care is dental).

Common Mistakes

I need to see a dental.
I need to see a dentist.
Dental is an adjective, not a noun meaning 'dentist.'
She had a dental.
She had a dental check-up / appointment.
Dental alone cannot mean a medical visit.

2. describes a type of spoken sound for which the tongue presses against or nearly

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

describes a type of spoken sound for which the tongue presses against or nearly touches the top front row of teeth.

Example

Bilal mastered the dental /θ/ sound by practising in front of the mirror every day.

dental + /θ/ sound

A phonetics tutor showed Noa how to tell dental consonants apart from alveolar ones.

collocation: dental consonant

Common collocations
  • dental consonant
  • dental sound
  • dental fricative
  • dental stop
  • dental articulation

Grammar Patterns

dental + noun (consonant, sound, fricative, stop)

Usage Note

This is a technical term used in phonetics and language teaching. It appears before the noun it modifies: dental consonant, dental fricative, dental stop. A dental sound contrasts with sounds made at other places of articulation, such as bilabial (lips) or alveolar (gum ridge).

Common Mistakes

The English /t/ is a dental.
The English /t/ is an alveolar, not a dental. Dental sounds in English are /θ/ and /ð/.
English /t/ is produced at the gum ridge, not the teeth.

dental — noun

IPA/ˈden.təl/
KK[dˈɛntəl]IPA/ˈden.t̬əl/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Dental and oral both relate to the mouth, but they are not interchangeable. Dental specifically refers to the teeth and their care: a dental X-ray looks at the teeth and roots, and dental insurance covers treatments like fillings and crowns. Oral has a broader scope — it covers the entire mouth, including the gums, tongue, palate, and cheeks. Oral health therefore includes dental health as one part. For everyday use: you visit a dental clinic for tooth problems but see an oral surgeon for issues affecting the broader mouth area. In hygiene contexts, dental hygiene focuses on tooth-brushing and flossing, while oral hygiene also includes tongue cleaning and mouthwash.

dental ↗oral ↗dental hygiene vs. oral hygiene

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanLatinFrenchEnglish

Dental comes from the Latin word dentalis, meaning 'of the teeth.' That word traces back to dens (tooth), which itself comes from an ancient Indo-European root *h₃dónts that also gave us tooth in English and dent in French (as in dentiste 'dentist'). The phonetic sense of dental emerged in the late 1500s, when scholars began classifying speech sounds by where the tongue touches the mouth.