dental plate
1
5.6
- noun
- /ˈdɛntəl pleɪt/
- UK
:
placa dental
- The dentist fitted her with a new dental plate that improved her ability to chew food.
- break my dental plate
Examples
-
Okay, we are definitely gonna need some dental plates.
-
After losing several teeth, he decided to get a dental plate to restore his smile.
-
She always made sure to clean her dental plate thoroughly after each meal.
Synonyms
37
7.9
A removable set of false teeth that fits in the mouth
23
5.5
A set of false teeth that a person can take out and put in
1
3.0
A device used to fix damaged teeth and replace missing teeth, like braces or dentures
A removable dental device that replaces one or more missing teeth
How Removable
- UK
1
5.6
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
8.4
- Specialized
1
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents contribute directly to the meaning: 'dental' (pertaining to teeth) modifies 'plate' (a removable denture), so 'dental plate' is predictably a plate/denture for the teeth. This noun + modifier composition is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning immediately derivable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The noun dental plate comes from old false teeth made on a flat plate of metal or ivory that sat on the gums like a small dish. Because it looked and worked like a plate you could take out, the name came to mean 'false teeth you can remove' that replace missing teeth.