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dentist

UK/ˈdɛntɪst/US/ˈdɛntɪst/
nounA2+Very common — you will meet it every day · #2,285 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: dentists

A dentist is the person who looks after your teeth — checks them, cleans them, fills the holes, and pulls one out when it cannot be saved. You lie back in the chair, the little light swings over your face, and someone asks you a question you cannot possibly answer.

Mind the grammar: in British English you go to the dentist or to the dentist's, never "to dentist". The place is a dental practice or a surgery, the work is dental (dental floss, dental records), and the person who scrapes and polishes is a dental hygienist. A dentist who straightens teeth is an orthodontist, and one who operates on the jaw is an oral surgeon. Nobody says tooth doctor. The subject itself is dentistry, which is what you study for five years to become one.

U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Eric A. Clement. · Public domain

Definitions of dentist

  1. 1noundentistA person qualified to examine, treat and repair people's teeth.A2+

    “The dentist found two small holes and filled them the same afternoon.”

Where it comes from

  1. French

    dentiste

  2. English, today

    dentist

Borrowed from French dentiste.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Body & Health, Work & Careers, Jobs & Professions

Practise this word

dentist in the wild

  • Most dentists either work in private practices (primary care), dental hospitals, or (secondary care) institutions (prisons, armed forces bases, etc.).

    Dentistry

  • Lucy Hobbs Taylor was an American dentist, known for being the first woman to graduate from dental school.

    Lucy Hobbs Taylor

  • Pediatric dentists promote the dental health of children as well as serve as educational resources for parents.

    Pediatric dentistry

  • Individual female dentists are known from the 18th century.

    Women in dentistry

  • Both mixtapes were recorded in a dentist office that belonged to Corey's grandfather.

    Injury Reserve

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.