Head, neck & oral landmarks
This is the largest bone of the skull and forms the forehead
What is the frontal bone
The process that destroys or eliminates all forms of microbial life, including bacterial spores.
What is sterilization?
This is the hardest substance in the human body and covers the anatomical crown of the tooth.
What is enamel?
The surface of an anterior tooth that faces the lips.
What is labial?
This federal law protects the privacy and security of patients’ protected health information.
What is HIPAA?
In dental charting, this color is universally used to indicate dental work that has already been completed.
What is blue (or black)?
This specific clinical term describes the rapid, sudden, and extensive formation of carious lesions throughout the mouth.
What are rampant caries?
This key legal term describes the clear framework defining the specific tasks and procedures a dental assistant is legally permitted to perform within their home state.
What is the State Dental Practice Act (or Scope of Practice)?
This butterfly-shaped bone is located at the base of the skull and is important because several cranial nerves pass through/around it.
What is the sphenoid bone?
This type of PPE protects the eyes from splashes, spray, and debris.
What are protective eyewear/face shields?
This layer makes up most of the tooth and lies underneath the enamel and cementum.
What is dentin?
The surface of a posterior tooth that faces the cheek
What is buccal?
A patient’s name, address, treatment information, and dental records can all be considered this under HIPAA.
What is protected health information (PHI)?
This charting symbol—a circle around the tooth or an "X" drawn through the entire tooth—indicates this status.
What is an extraction (or missing tooth)?
This type of decay occurs directly under or immediately adjacent to the borders of an existing dental restoration.
What are secondary (or recurrent) caries?
Voluntary acceptance or standard agreement by a patient to allow a proposed clinical treatment to proceed, finalized only after a thorough verbal discussion of all relevant risks, benefits, and alternatives.
What is informed consent?
This muscle is primarily responsible for closing the jaw and is one of the muscles of mastication.
What is the masseter?
An instrument that penetrates soft tissue or bone is classified as this type of item.
What is critical?
This contains the nerves, blood vessels, connective tissue, and odontoblasts.
What is the pulp?
The surface of a tooth that faces toward the tongue.
What is lingual?
This federal agency establishes and enforces workplace safety standards.
What is OSHA?
When a patient suddenly loses consciousness due to a temporary decrease in blood flow to the brain, they are experiencing this common emergency condition.
What is syncope (fainting)?
These two specific groups of bacteria are the primary causative agents responsible for initiating and progressing dental caries.
What are mutans streptococci and lactobacilli?
This foundational legal concept states that the employer-dentist is ultimately responsible for any negligent or wrongful acts committed by the dental assistant while performing office duties.
What is respondeat superior (let the master answer)?
This major salivary gland is located near the ear and has a duct that opens opposite the maxillary second molar.
What is the parotid gland?
This type of monitoring uses bacterial spores to determine whether a sterilizer is effectively killing microorganisms.
What is biological monitoring (spore testing)?
This is the portion of the tooth that is normally visible above the gingiva.
What is the clinical crown?
The surface of a posterior tooth that contains the cusps and comes into contact with the opposing teeth.
What is occlusal?
Your neighbor asks her adult son's appointment earlier that day and asks about his diagnosis because they're curious, but they’re not involved in the patient’s care. Should you tell them?
What is no?
Patient information should only be accessed/disclosed as permitted and to those who have a legitimate need/right to know.
This component of a vital signs assessment measures the number of beats per minute to evaluate heart rhythm and strength.
Question: What is the pulse rate?
This soft, sticky bacterial mass adheres tightly to tooth surfaces and is also scientifically termed oral biofilm.
What is dental plaque?
This formal programmatic entity serves as the official national body that formally evaluates and accreditates dental assisting, dental hygiene, and dental school programs in the United States.
What is the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)?
Name the three divisions of the trigeminal nerve
What are ophthalmic (V1), maxillary (V2), and mandibular (V3)?
You finish treating a patient and discover that you have a contaminated instrument without gloves on. What should you do?
What is stop, put on appropriate PPE, and safely handle/process the contaminated instrument according to infection-control protocol?
The tissue that covers the anatomical root of the tooth and helps attach the periodontal ligament is called this.
What is cementum?
A restoration is placed on the mesial, occlusal, and distal surfaces of #30. What abbreviation describes these surfaces?
What is MOD?
This crucial safety document provides comprehensive details on chemical identities, hazards, handling, and first-aid measures for dental materials.
What is a Safety Data Sheet (SDS)?
**MEDICAL EMERGENCY
A patient experiencing an acute asthma attack in the dental chair should be administered this specific type of emergency medication via an inhaler.
What is a bronchodilator (or albuterol)?
These three distinct protective mechanisms are naturally produced by saliva to safeguard teeth against acid demineralization.
What are physical, chemical, and antibacterial actions?
This historic 18th-century French physician published The Surgeon Dentist and is universally recognized as the true "Father of Modern Dentistry."
Who is Pierre Fauchard?
This pair of bones forms the upper jaw and contains the air-filled maxillary sinuses.
What are the maxillae (or maxillary bones)?
This type of disease transmission occurs through the droplet spray or mist created by dental handpieces or ultrasonic scalers.
What is airborne (or aerosol) transmission?
These microscopic structural paths or canals extend from the pulp chamber outward through the dentin layer.
What are dentinal tubules?
A restoration placed on tooth #19 involves the surface facing the tongue and the surface closest to the midline. This is abbreviated as this specific two-letter combination.
What is an ML (Mesiolingual) restoration?
This color-coded warning emblem must be prominently displayed on containers holding regulated waste or contaminated items to alert staff to biological hazards.
What is the biohazard symbol?
This clinical chair position places the patient's head lower than their feet and is frequently used to manage an emergency OR surgical access.
What is the Subsupine (or Trendelenburg) position?
This initial, early-stage carious lesion represents a tooth surface that has begun demineralizing before full cavitation has occurred.
What are incipient caries?
This ethical term describes the core moral principles and standards of professional conduct that guide a provider's clinical decisions.
What is ethics?
This specialized joint connects the lower jaw to the temporal bone, allowing for opening, closing, and side-to-side chewing movements.
What is the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)?
This is the household, commercial name for sodium hypochlorite.
What is household bleach?
This is the specific name for the narrow, elongated portion of the pulp cavity that runs through the roots of the tooth.
What is the root canal (or radicular pulp)?
This specific type of crown surface feature on an anterior tooth refers to the convex, rounded prominence located on the cervical third of the lingual surface.
What is the cingulum?
This federal regulatory body is responsible for testing, registering, and regulating all chemical disinfectants utilized in a dental setting.
What is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?
Marked with clear millimeter increments, this handheld diagnostic assessment instrument is used to check the health and depth of the gingival sulcus.
What is a periodontal probe?
These two specific oral conditions represent the two most common dental diseases encountered in human history.
What are dental caries and periodontal disease?
This term describes a legal contract or standard agreement between two or more states that allows a dental professional licensed in one state to practice in another without retaking full board exams.
What is licensure by reciprocity?
This narrow opening or slit-like landmark located behind the central incisors on the hard palate serves as the gateway for the nasopalatine nerve.
What is the incisive foramen?
This chemical agent can leave a stubborn, thick residue buildup on treatment room surfaces if overused continuously.
What is a synthetic phenol compound?
This supportive tissue consists of dense fibrous connective strands that anchor the cementum of the root directly into the alveolar bone socket.
What is the periodontal ligament (PDL)?
This specific term describes the proximal surface of a tooth that faces directly toward the midline of the dental arch.
What is the mesial surface?
his federal agency establishes and enforces strict, legally binding workplace safety and chemical management standards.
What is OSHA?
A diagnostic vital signs reading where the systolic pressure is consistently clocked above 130 mm Hg indicates this common cardiovascular risk condition.
What is hypertension (high blood pressure)?
To ensure optimal preventive exposure, this specific order is recommended when performing home mechanical plaque removal.
What is flossing before toothbrushing?
This form of clinical supervision requires that the dentist be physically present in the treatment facility and personally check the dental assistant's work before the patient is dismissed.
What is direct supervision?
This large, rounded bony projection located just behind the ear on the temporal bone serves as a major attachment point for neck muscles.
What is the mastoid process?
This thin layer of organic matter, such as blood or saliva, must be precleaned from a surface because it can completely inactivate an intermediate-level disinfectant.
What is bioburden?
This is the natural opening at the root tip (apex) of a tooth through which blood vessels and nerves enter the pulp.
What is the apical foramen?
The surface of a posterior tooth that contains the cusps and comes into contact with the opposing teeth.
What is the occlusal surface?
This color-coded warning emblem must be prominently displayed on clinical sharps containers holding regulated hazardous medical waste to alert staff.
What is the biohazard symbol?
This specific term describes the localized numbness, altered sensation, or lingering "tingling" feeling that remains hours or days after local anesthesia should have worn off.
What is paresthesia?
This specific dental condition is caused by chronic excessive systemic exposure to fluoride during the active mineralizing stages of tooth development.
What is fluorosis?
This specific legal term describes a civil wrong or injury committed against a person (such as dental malpractice) that results in harm and can lead to legal action for damages.
What is a tort?
This specific anatomical structure is the small projection of tissue that hangs centrally from the posterior edge of the soft palate.
What is the uvula?
If you are setting up an operatory and notice a surface barrier has become torn or dislodged during treatment, what must you do to the surface beneath?
What is clean and disinfect the underlying surface?
These specialized embryonic cells are responsible for building and laying down the hard enamel matrix during oral development.
What are ameloblasts?
This line marks the exact external micro-junction where the enamel crown and the cementum root meet at the cervix of the tooth.
What is the cementoenamel junction (CEJ)?
Unlike regulatory groups, this advisory agency does not issue fines or law penalties, but it publishes evidence-based clinical recommendations regarding dentistry dental infection control guidelines.
What is the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)?
This dangerous medical condition occurs when a diabetic patient's blood sugar levels drop too low, causing confusion, tremors, and heavy sweating.
What is hypoglycemia (or insulin shock)?
This structural complex consists of the gingivae, epithelial attachment, sulcus, periodontal ligaments, cementum, and alveolar bone.
What is the periodontium?
This primary ethical principle, which translates to "do no harm," mandates that a dental provider must always act to prevent injury to the patient.
What is nonmaleficence?