dentition

American  

[den-tish-uhn] / dɛnˈtɪʃ ən /

noun

1. the makeup of a set of teeth including their kind, number, and arrangement.

2. the eruption or cutting of the teeth; teething; odontiasis.

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dentition British  

/ dɛnˈtɪʃən /

noun

1. the arrangement, type, and number of the teeth in a particular species. Man has a primary dentition of deciduous teeth and a secondary dentition of permanent teeth

2. teething or the time or process of teething

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dentition Scientific  

/ dĕn-tĭsh′ən /

1. The type, number, and arrangement of teeth in an animal species. In mammals, dentition consists of several different types of teeth, including incisors, canines, and molars. The dentition of toothed fish and reptiles usually consists of only one kind of tooth.

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Etymology

Origin of dentition

1605–15; < Latin dentītiōn- (stem of dentītiō), equivalent to dentīt ( us ) (past participle of dentīre to cut teeth, teethe) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

The discovery of teeth on the tenaculum has reopened that debate, prompting researchers to ask how widespread such features might be and what they reveal about the history of vertebrate dentition.

From Science Daily • Oct. 16, 2025

Pondering extraterrestrial dentition is just one of the byproducts of working on the series for more than five years.

From Salon • Jul. 21, 2025

The fossil dolphin’s dentition was unlike anything seen in living cetaceans.

From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2023

Corpus Christi A young man recently released from dentition passes himself off as a parish priest in a small village in this Academy Award-nominated drama.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2020

With the period of the first dentition certain mental and nervous stigmata manifest themselves.

From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Talbot, Eugene S.