The mandibular central incisor is the

tooth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...

located on the jaw, adjacent to the midline of the face. It is mesial (toward the midline of the face) from both mandibular lateral incisors. As with all

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, w ...

s, its function includes shearing or cutting food during

mastication Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, th ...

, commonly known as chewing. There are no cusps on the tooth. Instead, the surface area of the tooth used in eating is called an incisal ridge or incisal edge. Though the two are similar, there are some minor differences between the

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

(baby) mandibular central incisor and that of the permanent mandibular central incisor. The mandibular central incisors are usually the first teeth to appear in the mouth, typically around the age of 6–8 months.

Notation

In the universal system of notation, the deciduous mandibular central incisors are designated by a letter written in uppercase. The right deciduous mandibular central incisor is known as "P", and the left one is known as "O". The international notation has a different system of notation. Thus, the right deciduous mandibular central incisor is known as "81", and the left one is known as "71". In the universal system of notation, the permanent mandibular central incisors are designated by a number. The right permanent mandibular central incisor is known as "25", and the left one is known as "24". In the

Palmer notation Palmer notation (sometimes called the "Military System" and named for 19th-century American dentist Dr. Corydon Palmer from Warren, Ohio) is a dental notation (tooth numbering system). Despite the adoption of the FDI World Dental Federation notat ...

, a number is used in conjunction with a symbol designating in which quadrant the tooth is found. For this tooth, the left and right central incisors would have the same number, "1", but the right one would have the symbol, "┐", over it, while the left one would have, "┌". The international notation has a different numbering system than the previous two, and the right permanent mandibular central incisor is known as "41", and the left one is known as "31".

Anatomy

The central incisors have

fossa Fossa may refer to: Animals * Fossa (animal), the common name of a carnivoran mammal of genus ''Cryptoprocta'' endemic to Madagascar * ''Fossa'', the Latin genus name of the Malagasy civet, a related but smaller mammal endemic to Madagascar Pla ...

on their lingual surfaces. Their mesial and distal proximal contacts are located in the incisal third. The facial and lingual heights of contour are in the cervical third, as is the case with all incisors and canines.

References

*Ash, Major M. and Stanley J. Nelson, 2003. ''Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology, and Occlusion.'' 8th edition. {{Tooth anatomy Types of teeth Human mouth anatomy