Dentism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The profession or practice of diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders of the teeth and gums
2. The branch of medicine concerned with caring for the teeth, mouth and jaws through examination and repair
3. Dental science together with the work of diagnosing, preventing and correcting problems in the teeth

Etymology: Dentism is a rare noun meaning the practice or profession of dentistry, built from the familiar root "dent-" and the suffix "-ism." The root comes from Latin "dens," meaning tooth, which passed into English through French "dent" and gave us "dental," "dentist," and "dentition." The suffix "-ism" comes from Greek "-ismos" by way of Latin "-ismus," and in English it typically forms nouns for a practice, system, or doctrine, as in "baptism" or "journalism." Dentism thus simply names the activity of dentists, following the same pattern as "dentistry," which is formed from "dentist" plus "-ry." Its rarity means it appears mainly in older or specialized writing, and the more common term has largely displaced it.