Dental alveolus

{{Short description|Tooth socket}} {{Infobox anatomy | Name = Dental alveolus | Latin = alveolus dentalis | Image = Alveole_zahn.jpg | Caption = Alveola of the second premolar tooth in a bovine maxillary bone | Image2 = | Caption2 = | Precursor = | System = | Artery = Anterior superior alveolar arteries, posterior superior alveolar artery, inferior alveolar artery | Vein = | Nerve = Anterior superior alveolar nerve, posterior superior alveolar nerve, inferior alveolar nerve | Lymph = }} [[File:Alveolar process.jpg|thumb|Alveolar process of maxilla, seen from below]]

'''Dental alveoli''' (singular ''alveolus'') are sockets in the jaws in which the roots of teeth are held in the alveolar process with the periodontal ligament. The lay term for dental alveoli is '''tooth sockets'''. A joint that connects the roots of the teeth and the alveolus is called a ''gomphosis'' (plural ''gomphoses''). Alveolar bone is the bone that surrounds the roots of the teeth forming bone sockets.

In mammals, tooth sockets are found in the maxilla, the premaxilla, and the mandible.

==Etymology== 1706, "a hollow", especially "the socket of a tooth", from Latin alveolus "a tray, trough, basin; bed of a small river; small hollow or cavity", diminutive of alvus "belly, stomach, paunch, bowels; hold of a ship", from PIE root *aulo- "hole, cavity" (source also of Greek aulos "flute, tube, pipe"; Serbo-Croatian, Polish, Russian ulica "street", originally "narrow opening"; Old Church Slavonic uliji, Lithuanian aulys "beehive" (hollow trunk), Armenian yli "pregnant"). The word was extended in 19c. anatomy to other small pits, sockets, or cells.

==Socket preservation== Socket preservation or alveolar ridge preservation (ARP)<ref name="PeckMarnewick2011">{{cite journal|last1=Peck|first1=Mogammad Thabit|last2=Marnewick|first2=Johan|last3=Stephen|first3=Lawrence|title=Alveolar Ridge Preservation Using Leukocyte and Platelet-Rich Fibrin: A Report of a Case|journal=Case Reports in Dentistry|volume=2011|year=2011|pages=1–5|issn=2090-6447|doi=10.1155/2011/345048|pmc=3335652|pmid=22567435 |doi-access=free}}</ref> is a procedure to reduce bone loss after tooth extraction to preserve the dental alveolus (tooth socket) in the alveolar bone. A platelet-rich fibrin (PRF)<ref name="KhisteNaik Tari2013">{{cite journal|last1=Khiste|first1=Sujeet Vinayak|last2=Naik Tari|first2=Ritam|title=Platelet-Rich Fibrin as a Biofuel for Tissue Regeneration|journal=ISRN Biomaterials|volume=2013|year=2013|pages=1–6|issn=2314-4025|doi=10.5402/2013/627367|doi-access=free}}</ref> membrane containing bone growth enhancing elements can be stitched over the wound or a graft material or scaffold is placed in the socket of an extracted tooth.<ref>[http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-72/issue-10/917.pdf Tassos Irinakis, Rationale for Socket Preservation after Extraction of a Single-Rooted Tooth when Planning for Future Implant Placement, Journal of Canadian Dental Association 2006; 72(10):917–922]</ref><ref name="FicklZuhr2008">{{cite journal|last1=Fickl|first1=Stefan|last2=Zuhr|first2=Otto|last3=Wachtel|first3=Hannes|last4=Stappert|first4=Christian F. J.|last5=Stein|first5=Jamal M.|last6=Hürzeler|first6=Markus B.|title=Dimensional changes of the alveolar ridge contour after different socket preservation techniques|journal=Journal of Clinical Periodontology|volume=35|issue=10|year=2008|pages=906–913|issn=0303-6979|doi=10.1111/j.1600-051X.2008.01305.x|pmid=18713258}}</ref> The socket is then directly closed with stitches or covered with a non-resorbable or resorbable membrane and sutured.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.surgicalesthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Extraction-Socket-Preservation.pdf |title=Extraction socket preservation: The time is now |access-date=2014-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714210726/http://www.surgicalesthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Extraction-Socket-Preservation.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Pathology== The swelling of the dental alveoli can result in alveolitis, causing pain and discomfort to the mouth.

==See also== * Alveolar ridge * Polyphyodont

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * National Institute of Health, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050503163423/http://crisp.cit.nih.gov/Thesaurus/00002185.htm CRISP Database]

Category:Parts of tooth