incisor
Dictionary:
in·ci·sor (ĭn-sī'zər) 
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n.
A tooth adapted for cutting or gnawing, located at the front of the mouth along the apex of the dental arch.
Related Videos:
incisor |
Dental Dictionary:
incisor(s) |
(insī'zur)
n
n
A cutting tooth, one of the four anterior teeth of either jaw.
Health Dictionary:
incisors |
Veterinary Dictionary:
incisor |
1. adapted for cutting.
2. any one of the six (eight in ruminants but only in the lower jaw) front teeth of either jaw. See also teeth.
Word Tutor:
incisor |
IN BRIEF: The front or cutting tooth.
Some animals have very sharp incisors.
Tutor's tip: This was the final winning word in the 1975 National Spelling Bee.
Wikipedia:
Incisor |
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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
| Incisor | |
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| Permanent teeth of right half of lower dental arch, seen from above. | |
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| The permanent teeth, viewed from the right. | |
| Latin | dentes incisivi |
| Gray's | subject #242 1115 |
| MeSH | Incisor |
Incisors (from Latin incidere, "to cut") are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.
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Contents
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Function
In many herbivorous or omnivorous mammals, such as the human and the horse, they are adapted for shearing sharply. In cats, the incisors are small; biting off meat is done with the canines and the carnassials. In elephants, the upper incisors are modified into curved tusks, just as is the case with Narwhals, where normally one of them develops into a straight and twisted tusk. The incisors of rodents grow throughout life and are worn by gnawing.
Number and types of incisors
In humans
Humans normally have eight (8) incisors, two of each type. The types of incisors are:
- maxillary central incisor
- maxillary lateral incisor
- mandibular central incisor
- mandibular lateral incisor
In Non-human animals
Among other animals, some other primates, cats and horses have twelve. Rodents have four. Rabbits and hares (lagomorphs) were once considered rodents, but are distinguished by having eight—1 small pair, called "peg teeth" is directly behind the most anterior pair.
Additional images
 Mouth (oral cavity) |
 Left maxilla. Outer surface. |
 Base of skull. Inferior surface. |
See also
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
incisor |
Incisor
Français (French)
n. - (Dent) incisive
Deutsch (German)
n. - Schneidezahn
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κοπτήρας
Italiano (Italian)
dente incisivo
Português (Portuguese)
n. - dente (m) incisivo
Русский (Russian)
передний зуб
Español (Spanish)
n. - incisivo, diente incisivo
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - framtand, skärtand
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
门牙, 前齿
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 門牙, 前齒
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) السن القاطعه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - שן חותכת
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Learn More
 | central incisor |
| lateral incisor |
| anterior teeth |
 | What are incisors and what are they used for? Read answer... |
| What do your incisors in your mouth do do? Read answer... |
| What do the incisors and the premolars do? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
 | What is the fuction of incisors? |
| When this is useful incisor? |
| Do muskrats have incisors? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Health Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Incisor". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
Related answers
- What do the incisors do?
- What are incisors?
- Where do you find your incisor?
- Why do you have 4 incisors?
- What do incisors teeth do?
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