pyorrhea

Or py·or·rhoe·a

[pahy-uh-ree-uh]

noun

1. Pathology.,  a discharge of pus.

2. Also called Riggs' disease. Also called pyorrhea alveolaris. Dentistry.,  a chronic form of periodontitis occurring in various degrees of severity, characterized in its severe forms by the formation of pus in the pockets between the roots of the teeth and their surrounding tissues, and frequently accompanied by the loosening and subsequent loss of the teeth.

Other Word Forms

• pyorrheal adjective
• pyorrheic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pyorrhea¹

First recorded in 1785–90; from New Latin; pyo-, -rrhea

Example Sentences

If such is the case why could not the existence of pyorrhea and blind abscesses about the roots of the teeth be the source of the toxic factors mentioned by Fischer?

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Mr. Terriberry suffered from pyorrhea, and the row of upper teeth which he now displayed in a genial grin looked like a garden-rake, due to his shrinking gums.

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Where Rigg's disease, or pyorrhea, is present, an antiseptic can be used to advantage two or three times daily after rubbing or washing the teeth.

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He was invited to give a clinic upon pyorrhea alveolaris, and he told them of this patient, whom he showed to some fifteen members.

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The most frequent kind of such infection is pyorrhea alveolaris.

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