Introduction
The teeth of each jaw stand in a curved row, the dental arch: the maxillary (upper) arch and the mandibular (lower) arch. How the two arches meet when the mouth closes is occlusion; an imperfect meeting is malocclusion.
Functional groups
Incisors and canines are the anterior teeth; premolars and molars are the posterior teeth. Premolars are new in the permanent set: they erupt where the primary molars stood.
Planes of reference
These planes don't depend on how the head is held, so they describe the teeth the same way every time.
Naming surfaces and directions
A crown is like a cube: one side joins the root and five sides are free.
Mesial and distal together are the proximal surfaces; neighbours touch at contact areas. The mesial of each tooth faces the distal of the one in front, except between the two central incisors, whose mesial surfaces face each other. A gap between neighbours is a diastema.
Numbering systems
Writing "second permanent maxillary left molar" on every chart wastes time, so teeth are coded.
Charts are drawn as if facing the patient, so the patient's right is on your left. The FDI code also shortens notes: caries profunda 23, 26; obturatio dentium 34, 35, 46.