Starting dental school with a little bit of knowledge can help to decrease the new stress of having to learn a large amount of new material. I hope that this new section called ‘education’ will provide a good overview of concepts and terminology you can use before or after you start dental school. I figured I would start on something simple and increase the knowledge bank from here.
These terms are basically beat into you the first semester (at least at Temple) of dental school and if not, then you should know them by the end of the first year. They are pretty basic and knowing them ‘cold’ will help in all aspects of dentistry. In fact they should be second nature after your first semester of dental school.
Facial – towards the face. The facial surface of a tooth is the side next to the cheeks or lips. The side you see in a normal smile.
Buccal – another term for facial usually denoted for posterior teeth, or teeth located next to the cheek. Do not use this term for incisors or canines. Bucca is Latin for cheek.
Labial – the term used for the facial aspect of anterior teeth, or incisors and canines. Do not use this word for posterior teeth (premolars or molars). Labia is Latin for lips.
Anterior – nearer to the front. A canine is more anterior than a premolar or molar. Anterior teeth include the incisors and canines.
Posterior – in the back. A molar is more posterior than an incisor. Posterior teeth include premolars and molars.
Occlusal – the chewing surface of posterior teeth. The top ‘flat’ part of the tooth. Anterior teeth have an edge and are designated differently.
Incisal – The edge of anterior teeth, used to cut food.
Lingual – The tongue side of the tooth.
Palatal – Only used for the teeth in the maxillary arch (upper teeth) and also refers to the tongue side of the teeth. This term can also be used because these teeth are adjacent to the palate.
Proximal – the sides of the teeth that usually are in contact with one another. The side in between adjacent teeth.
Mesial – The proximal aspect of the tooth closer to the midline of the face.
Distal – The proximal aspect of the tooth further from the midline of the face.
These are the general terms and during your first semester learning these will not be difficult. What gets difficult is putting everything together. All those terms come together at line and point angles of every tooth. For example, where the distal and lingual aspects meet, they will form a line angle called the distolingual line angle. This line angle will ascend and meet with the occlusal surface to create a corner or point called the distolinguoocclusal point angle. Add varying anatomy to each of the 32 teeth in the human mouth and your brain starts doing tricks. Also add that every cusp on the teeth also get a designated directional term along with the anatomy in that tooth. Triangular ridge of mesiolingual cusp for example, or mesial cusp ridge of distobuccal cusp.
It is difficult at first and hopefully a list like this can give you a head start on learning the language of dentistry. One day it will click and by second semester you should be using these terms and associating them with the anatomy of the teeth like it was tying a shoe. When was the last time you had to think while tying your shoe? Exactly. 
When you are in undergraduate class and the professor tells you you have a quiz tomorrow, you usually go home, watch three hours of TV, play with your kids, or hang out with friends, then go to sleep at 10pm. In the morning you wake up and 10 minutes before class you cram 15 facts into your brain and get quized on 10 of them. If you are good, you miss none.
