abfraction
abfraction noun: a proposed mechanism for noncarious tooth tissue loss, owing not to decay but rather to biomechanical stresses of biting and chewing; the pathogenesis of such damage remains a subject of continuing study.
Noun
abfraction (countable and uncountable, plural abfractions)
- A proposed mechanism for noncarious tooth tissue loss, owing not to decay but rather to biomechanical stresses of biting and chewing; the pathogenesis of such damage remains a subject of continuing study.
- Due to the stresses resulting from biomechanical loading forces exerted on the teeth (static, as in swallowing and clenching[,] or cyclic, as in chewing), both enamel and dentin can chip or break away. This loss of tooth substance, which shall be termed Abfraction, is dependent on the magnitude...1991, Grippo JO, “Abfractions: a new classification of hard tissue lesions of teeth”, in Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, volume 3, number 1, →DOI, →PMID, pages 14–19
- An instance of tooth tissue loss via this mechanism.
Forms of abfraction
| plural | abfractions |
|---|
Origin of abfraction
From ab- + fraction (“act of breaking”); from 1991.
Questions about abfraction
- What does abfraction mean?
- Abfraction means a proposed mechanism for noncarious tooth tissue loss, owing not to decay but rather to biomechanical stresses of biting and chewing; the pathogenesis of such damage remains a subject of continuing study.
- What part of speech is abfraction?
- Abfraction is a noun.
- What is the plural of abfraction?
- The plural of abfraction is abfractions.
Words near abfraction in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: abfraction (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “abfraction.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abfraction. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.