Shorthand Numbering Systems for the Permanent Maxillary Incisors

Maxillary Central Incisors

Maxillary Lateral Incisors

The longhand nomenclature for the maxillary incisors are the permanent maxillary right and left central incisors and the permanent maxillary right and left lateral incisors. The order should be set>arch>side>type for consistency. The three most common shorthand numbering systems for this tooth are described.

The three most common shorthand notations are the F.D.I., Universal and the Palmer systems. Other shorthand notations have been proposed but their use is either limited or currently non-existent. The Universal (American) numbering system is the shorthand system used in the United States. Common to other numbering systems, teeth in the secondary (permanent) dentition are numbered in a clockwise fashion from the maxillary right third molar (1) to the mandibular right third molar (32). This system does not use quadrant numbering but uses consecutive numbers from 1 to 32 to number the permanent teeth. The permanent maxillary right central incisor in the Universal system is tooth number 8 while the permanent maxillary left central incisor is tooth number 9. The permanent maxillary right lateral incisor in the Universal system is tooth number 7 while the permanent maxillary left central incisor is tooth number 10. The numbers 7 (permanent maxillary right lateral incisor), 8 (permanent maxillary right central incisor), 9 (permanent maxillary left central incisor) and 10 (permanent maxillary left lateral incisor) are shorthand numbers unique to the Universal system and no comparable numbers are found in the F.D.I. system.

The Palmer or Palmer/Zsigmondy numbering system uses one of 4 quadrant symbol designations for each of the four quadrants. The maxillary right quadrant is represented by the symbol . The maxillary left quadrant is represented by the symbol . The mandibular left quadrant is represented by the symbol . The mandibular right quadrant is represented by the symbol . Each quadrant in the secondary (permanent) dentition has eight teeth. The teeth are numbered from 1-8 in each quadrant with 1 representing the central incisor and 8 representing the third molar.

The International (or F.D.I. or Fédération Dentaire Internationale) shorthand system is used throughout the world as the shorthand method of choice except in the United States. This system has two numbers for each tooth. The first number represents the quadrant. Quadrants are numbered in a clockwise manner from the maxillary right to the mandibular right. The quadrants for the secondary dentition in this system are 1 (maxillary right), 2 (maxillary left), 3 (mandibular left) and 4 (mandibular right). The second number in this system represents the secondary tooth from 1 (central incisor) to 8 (third molar). The International system may or may not have a "period" between the quadrant and the tooth. The "official" F.D.I. system does not use a period between the quadrant and the specific tooth. The NDEB (National Dental Examining Board of Canada) utilizes a period between the two numbers. Although not officially correct, this modification does serve to clearly visually differentiate the F.D.I. numbering system from the Universal numbering system. Both forms of the F.D.I. numbering (with and without the period) will be used in this course.