dental

American  

[den-tl] / ˈdɛn tl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the teeth.

2. of or relating to dentistry or a dentist.

3. Phonetics.

   1. (of a speech sound) articulated with the tongue tip touching the back of the upper front teeth or immediately above them, as French t.

   2. alveolar, as English t.

   3. interdental.

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noun

1. Phonetics. a dental sound.

dental British  

/ ˈdɛntəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the teeth

2. of or relating to dentistry

3. phonetics

   1. pronounced or articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the backs of the upper teeth, as for t in French tout

   2. (esp in the phonology of some languages, such as English) another word for alveolar

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noun

1. phonetics a dental consonant

dental Scientific  

/ dĕn′tl /

1. Relating to the teeth.

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Other Word Forms

• dentality
  noun
• dentally
  adverb
• postdental
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dental

1585–95; < Medieval Latin dentālis, equivalent to Latin dent- (stem of dēns ) tooth + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

The adjective dental describes things that have something to do with teeth. Dental floss is the waxed string you use to clean between your teeth. A dental hygienist is the dentist's assistant, the one who cleans and polishes your teeth. When your dentist's office calls to remind you about your appointment, they might say, "You have a dental cleaning scheduled for next week." In phonetics, a dental is a sound that's made with your tongue touching your top teeth, like th-. In Middle French, dental means "of teeth," from the Latin dens, "tooth."

Example Sentences

Dentists’ average age of retirement rose to 68.7 in 2024, according to the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Dental solution sales were $343 million, up 8.6% year over year.

From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026

Shiv Pabary, chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee said "a dental crisis" had come about directly as a result of the contract put in place in 2006.

From BBC • Dec. 16, 2025

"Dental plaque develops in a sequence, much like a forest ecosystem," said Mikael Elias, associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences and senior author of the study.

From Science Daily • Dec. 16, 2025

Their efforts prevailed, and I graduated from the Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati in the spring of 1866—the first woman in the world to take a diploma from a dental college.

From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III by Stanton, Elizabeth Cady