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

dentals plural

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

Derived Forms

• dentality
  noun
• postdental
  adjective
• dentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dentals
  plural

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

See Examples For:

dental dentals

Riley wants to keep her mum in the family home, but the caring commitments affect her job as a dental nurse.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

The trial generated the clinical evidence the manufacturer needs to submit a dental caries drug application to the FDA.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Participants were recruited through dental offices, pediatric medical practices, Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Michigan, New York and Iowa.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Murphy, 10, has cherry eye surgery and a dental cleaning at Frosted Faces Foundation in Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues senior dogs, on February 20, 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

I looked down at it after Dr. Fox delivered his dental news to me.

From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo

From a small list gathered by my father I judge that the aspirate is probably similar to the Iowa, and that the subvocal represents Dak and I E dentals.

From The Dakotan Languages, and Their Relations to Other Languages by Williamson, A. W. (Andrew Woods)

He then asked me to pick out the vowels, the consonants, the flats, the sharps, the aspirates, the labials, the palatals, the dentals, and the mutes.

From The Book of the Bush Containing Many Truthful Sketches Of The Early Colonial Life Of Squatters, Whalers, Convicts, Diggers, And Others Who Left Their Native Land And Never Returned by Macfarlane, J.

I would not voluntarily be under his manifold rows of dentals.

From Imaginary Conversations and Poems A Selection by Landor, Walter Savage

Another point to be observed is that the dentals t, d, n, l, require that the tongue touch the teeth, rather than the palate.

From The Roman Pronunciation of Latin Why we use it and how to use it by Lord, Frances Ellen

Those made by the lips are termed labials; those by pressing the tongue against the teeth, dentals; those by the tongue, linguals.

From Hygienic Physiology : with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics by Steele, Joel Dorman