Riggs' disease
- noun
- /rɪɡz dɪˈziːz/
- Archaic
:
enfermedad de Riggs
- The patient was diagnosed with Riggs' disease after presenting with severe gum recession and loose teeth.
Examples
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Modern textbooks rarely refer to Riggs' disease, preferring the term periodontitis.
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Patients with Riggs' disease often experience symptoms like tooth mobility and gum pain.
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Dentists used to call chronic gum inflammation Riggs' disease in the nineteenth century.
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Many older adults suffer from Riggs' disease.
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Has your dentist mentioned Riggs' disease during your last visit?
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In the past, dentists frequently diagnosed patients with Riggs' disease due to chronic gum inflammation.
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The condition known as Riggs' disease can lead to severe tooth loss if not treated properly.
Synonyms
1
4.0
An infection of the gums and bone around the teeth that can cause tooth loss if not treated
1
8.4
A serious gum infection that damages the tissue and bone that hold the teeth
1
9.9
A serious gum disease that makes pus come from the gums and can loosen teeth
A severe gum infection that makes pus and loosens teeth
Surface Forms
Morphology
Riggs' + disease
A B1 learner who knows 'Riggs' as a proper name and 'disease' as a medical condition will understand that this phrase denotes a disease associated with someone/something called Riggs, but they cannot infer the specific clinical meaning (chronic periodontitis, purulent inflammation) from the constituents. The head noun 'disease' gives general semantic transparency while the proper name carries no diagnostic information, so the phrase is only partially predictable to learners.
Etymology
Riggs' disease is named after a dentist, Dr. John M. Riggs, who in the 1800s described a long-lasting gum infection that made teeth loose. That's why Riggs' disease was the old name for what we now call 'periodontitis'.