Dental arch

Dentition models, left upper jaw, right lower jaw

The dental arch ( Arcus dentalis inferior or Arcus superior dental ) has in humans the shape of a parabola with the vertex between the teeth 11 and 21 in the upper jaw, or 31 and 41 in the lower jaw. Because in the normal (ideal) case the upper jaw teeth overlap the teeth in the lower jaw in the vestibular direction, the upper dental arch is larger than that of the lower jaw. The dental arches and the teeth-bearing parts of the jawbones delimit the oral vestibule ( vestibulum oris ) from the actual oral cavity (cavum oris proprium).

See also

• Position and direction designations on the teeth
• Tooth scheme
• Lip bumper

source

• Klaus D. Mörike et al .: Textbook of macroscopic anatomy for dentists , Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart