Gomphosis

 

The medical world is filled with thousands of different terms and references, that when people hear them, it may sometimes sound as though they're speaking in a different language. Each part of our body has been assigned a name, and although over time, these names have changed in helpful understanding among people, the medical world has remained in using these terms. It's this terminology that helps the art of practicing medicine possible throughout the entire world, a universal language that medical professionals can use in order to help save the lives of individuals no matter where they are or from. In dentistry, this language is the same. The gomphosis to doctors is what we would typically just call the part outside of our teeth.

Dentists are responsible for making sure that our teeth are in perfect condition, and when they're not, it's then their job to provide patients with every possible solution. Among the staff of dentist office, there are the dental hygienists who are the aids to dentists. Their role in the offices are to aid dentists by performing routine cleanings, x-rays, and other performing other dental projects, as well as, assisting in dental procedures. Through our routine cleanings, a dental hygienist will go through the normal procedure of flossing our teeth, brushing them, and scraping out any plaque or other materials that are in patients' mouths. When the routine cleaning is completed, patients sit and wait for the dentist to come and inspect the patients mouth for further examination. They inspect the gums, the teeth on all sides, and any other dental work that may have been done in the past. Sometimes, patients hear the doctors refer to the gomphosis. Simply hearing the term confuses many patients when they are not familiar with this word. Dentists typically know that this is not a term that is simply dropped in everyday conversation, especially when they see the look on their patients faces. The gomphosis the joint that the tooth sits in that connects it to the sockets located within our lower and upper jaw.

Typically, when we talk about our gums, we are not necessarily refering the to gomphosis, although when people pronounce this word, they tend to make this connection that they are one in the same. The gomphosis is located under the surface of the gums. When doctors go to remove a tooth, they are removing the tooth from the gomphosis, which in essence, acts as a holding unit specifically fitted to holding the root of a tooth. Some might get this easily mixed up with it being the sockets in the jaw, and though they would be very close, they are still missing a few key components on understanding the gomphosis. The gomphosis is responsible for connecting the tooth to the socket. Due to the ability of the gomphosis to be moved around when necessary by the use of braces, dentists do not refer to this part of the mouth as a bone, but more of a ligament, to be more specific, it's called a periodontal ligament. Another term that dentists refer to this joint as is a fibrous joint. When these ligaments, for whatever reason, begin to cause individuals pain and discomfort, it can sometimes mean that the joint itself has possibly become infected, which can sometimes lead to dentists removing the tooth altogether.

In some scenarios, the gomphosis can be the cause of why a person's teeth don't grow in straight after losing their baby teeth. For along time, people believed that their baby teeth were connected to their sockets, and they are. But when the teeth begin to loosen, it is simply the tooth being released from the initial root, and this is also done with the help of the gomphosis. Since the gomphosis never moves on it's own, sometimes causing people to have teeth that are not aligned correctly, causing them some medical problems in the future, dentists provide their patients with a famous option, braces. Though there is minimal movement of the gomphosis, dentists are still able to manipulate movement when they apply braces to the teeth. Through added pressure applied through the braces every time they are tightened, the teeth are being forced to move. This type of movement doesn't happen in big increments, which is why patients with braces wind up wearing them for years depending on how much movement is necessary to get their teeth aligned. With this type of pressure being applied to the teeth, dentists are able to get the gomphosis to move and give way to the alignment that both patient and dentists are desiring. Though the gomphosis can move, does not mean that the sockets themselves move. The sockets of the mouth are not granted this type of mobility whatsoever.

When it comes to medical terminology, sometimes it's always easy to understand exactly what they are saying. The gomphosis just happens to be one of those terms that we hear where we have no idea what it is. In discovering that it's apart of the dental the world, and hearing what it's purpose is, leaves people understanding more about their mouths than they expected to learn. In knowing that it is the cause behind having teeth that may or may not be aligned, and why someone might need braces. After learning this term, it'll be one that people will find themselves possibly using in a sentence when they are talking to their dentists for a routine cleaning or when they are getting their braces tightened, etc.

Add Your Comments about Gomphosis: