Operative dentistry aje qualtrough, jd satterthwaite la morrow, pa brunton

Tooth notation
Several different systems are available for tooth reference; there are
however three systems that most practitioners should be aware of 
in order to be familiar with the increasing internationalisation of 
dental journals, conferences and other forms of communication. Most
systems divide the mouth into four quadrants, which are indicated 
as if one is viewing the patient from the front:
Basic principles


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upper right
upper left
lower right
lower left
Palmer system
The permanent teeth are numbered from 1 to 8, from central incisor to
third molar. Each tooth also has be identified by the quadrant, thus the
upper right first permanent molar is designated 6
|, while the upper
left first permanent molar is designated 
|6:
Patient’s right
87654321
12345678
Patient’s left
87654321
12345678
The primary (deciduous) teeth are represented by the letters A to E,
from central incisor to second deciduous molar and also have to have a
quadrant designation e.g. the upper right deciduous central incisor is A
|.
Patient’s right
EDCBA
ABCDE
Patient’s left
EDCBA
ABCDE
It is advisable to use capital letters when referring to the deciduous
dentition using the Palmer notation. If lower case letters are used, 
b can look like 6, and vice versa. This is especially important when
patients are being referred for dental extractions.
Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) system
This system is commonly used in Europe. Each tooth is given a two-
digit number; the first digit identifies the quadrant in which the tooth
is situated and the second digit identifies the tooth in that quadrant.
In the permanent dentition, the quadrants are numbered from 1 to 4
starting with the upper right, which is quadrant 1, and continuing
round in a clockwise direction to the lower right, which is quadrant 4.
The teeth are numbered from 1 to 8 in each quadrant starting with 1
being the central incisor and continuing to 8 being the 3rd permanent
molar. The permanent dentition is:
Quadrant 1
Quadrant 2
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Quadrant 4
Quadrant 3
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In the deciduous dentition, the quadrants are numbered from 5 to 8
starting with the upper right, which is quadrant 5, and continuing
round in a clockwise direction to the lower right, which is quadrant 8.
The teeth are numbered from 1 to 5 in each quadrant starting with 
1 being the central incisor and continuing to 5 being the second 
deciduous molar. The deciduous dentition is:
Quadrant 5
Quadrant 6
55 54 53 52 51
61 62 63 64 65
85 84 83 82 81
71 72 73 74 75
Quadrant 8
Quadrant 7