How To Do Dental Chartings

There are certain procedures that dentists and dental assistants follow to properly note the condition of the thirty-two teeth you have in your mouth. If you are curious about how it works or you are looking for a simple break-down of the process you can find that information here. Here is the concise description of how to do dental chartings.

Learn the labels and quadrants of teeth

• You have the upper arch of the maxillary teeth and the lower arch of the mandibular. 


• Permanent teeth are numbered from the third or innermost molar in the upper right quadrant of the mouth across to the parallel molar in the upper left. Those would be in order from one to sixteen. 


• Seventeen would be the lower left third molar around the arch to the lower right molar. 


• Primary teeth are lettered in the same manner from a to t. 


• The surfaces of the individual teeth are labeled and usually referred to by the first letter of their labels. You have the occlusal, incisal, buccal, facial, mesial, lingual, and distal surfaces. 


• To refer to a tooth needing restoration covering the mesial and occlusal surfaces, a clinician would say “MO on the…” followed by the number of the tooth.

Remember dental notation

• Missing teeth would be marked out first by an “x,” and then eruptions would be shaded or noted by a circle with an altered edge where the eruption is present. 


• Different restorations would be color coded according to the preference of the dentist. 


• Decay and defective restorations would be shaded in with red. 


• A small circle at the root of the tooth would indicate an abscess, while notation for a root canal would be a black line extending vertically from the root upward. 


• Abrasions, erosions, and congenital abnormalities can be noted in provided boxes. 


• Arrows will show the position of drifted or super-erupted teeth and those in unusual positions. 


• Implants, dentures, and bridgework are usually drawn in.

Work with a partner

• While a hygienist is qualified to perform dental charting alone, all clinicians can work with an assistant to save time and prevent inaccuracies. 


• Usually a dentist or hygienist will perform the examination of the teeth while an assistant or technician makes chart notations. 


• While most dental charting is done in pairs, technology has made it possible to utilize software that allows a clinician to perform the examination and voice record notations that can be put into a database for automatic charting or later charting by a technician.