teethis

Teethis is a neologism occasionally used in dental anthropology and paleontology to denote the system of dentition of an organism—the pattern, number, arrangement, eruption timing, and wear of teeth. Unlike the broader terms dentition or odontology, teethis is intended to describe the dentition as a functional unit, including both dental arches and their occlusal relationships.

Origin and usage: The term appears sporadically in niche discussions, blog posts, and some speculative papers. It has not achieved formal acceptance in standard dental nomenclature and is not widely standardized. Advocates say it provides a compact way to discuss comparative dentition across species or developmental stages; critics note the risk of redundancy with established terms and possible confusion with ordinary “teeth.”

Characteristics and scope: Teethis covers the total complement of teeth—incisors, canines, premolars, and molars—together with their relative positioning, eruption order, wear patterns, and occlusal contacts. In practice, researchers might use it to summarize complex dentition data in cross-species analyses or developmental studies of individuals.

Relationship to related terms and usage notes: It is sometimes contrasted with, or conflated with, dentition, occlusion, and dental arch configuration. Because the term is not widely adopted, scholars typically define it clearly at the outset of any work in which it appears to avoid ambiguity.

See also: Dentition, Occlusion, Dental anthropology, Paleontology.