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pyorrhea

American  
[pahy-uh-ree-uh] / ˌpaɪ əˈri ə /
Or pyorrhoea

noun

  1. Pathology. a discharge of pus.

  2. Also called Riggs' disease.  Also called pyorrhea alveolarisDentistry. 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

Etymology

Origin of pyorrhea

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Everyone else is aware that the spangled comedian has an unhappy love life, a severe case of pyorrhea, and an insatiable appetite for the flesh of the Australian wombat.

From Time Magazine Archive

The dentist cautions him against pyorrhea, for his teeth are loosening.

From Time Magazine Archive

To the "four out of five who have it," gingivitis, forerunner of pyorrhea, is no laughing matter.

From Time Magazine Archive

Without both, a person develops pyorrhea and scurvy.

From Time Magazine Archive

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?

From Glaucoma A Symposium Presented at a Meeting of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, November 17, 1913 by Nance, Willis O.

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