Tooth Numbering System

The Hungarian dentist Adolf Zsigmondy discovered this system in 1861, using a Zsigmondy cross to record quadrants of tooth positions.
Adult teeth were numbered 1 to 8, and the child primary teeth were depicted with a quadrant grid using Roman numerals I, II, III, IV, V to number the teeth from the midline.

Palmer changed this to A, B, C, D, E. This makes it less confusing and less prone to errors in interpretation.

The Palmer notation consists of a symbol (┘└ ┐┌) designating in which quadrant the tooth is found and a number indicating the position from the midline.Adult teeth are numbered 1 to 8, with deciduous (baby) teeth indicated by a letter Ato E.
Hence the left and right maxillary central incisor would have the same number,"1", but the right one would have the symbol, "┘", underneath it, while the left one would have, "└".

It is a two-digit system proposed by Fédération Dentaire Internationale (FDI) for both the primary and permanent dentitions. It is also known as ISO 3950 notation system.
It has been adopted by the World Health Organization “WHO” and accepted by other organizations such International Association for Dental Research.
In this system, the first number represents a tooth's quadrant and the second number represents the number of the tooth from the midline of the face.
For permanent teeth, the upper right teeth begin with the number, "1".
The upper left teeth begin with the number, "2". The lower left teeth begin with the number, "3". The lower right teeth begin with the number, "4".

For primary teeth, the sequence of numbers goes 5, 6, 7, and 8 for the teeth in the upper right, upper left, lower left, and lower right respectively.
For example: deciduous CENTRAL INCISOR tooth in the UPPER RIGHT JAW, position, would be noted as: 61.

A universal tooth numbering system was first proposed in the year 1882 by German dentist Julius Parreidt.
Under this naming system, primary and permanent teeth are named differently.
This naming system is accepted and approved by the American Dental Association (ADA) and is the most commonly naming system used by dental professionals in America.
The permanent teeth under the system are denoted using numbers from 1 to 32.

It again starts from the right side from maxillary third molar being denoted by number 1 and continues across the arch with left maxillary third molar denoted by number 16.
The numbering is continued with left mandibular third molar which is denoted as 17 and is continued to number 32 denoting the right mandibular third molar.
Similarly primary dentition is identified by the letters of the alphabet, A-T.

It follows a sequential pattern of naming teeth and can be easily understood in locating the concerned tooth.

There are several systems in use in the world, but only a few are considered.
In 1947, a committee of the American Dental Association (ADA) recommended the symbolic (Zsigmondy/Palmer) system as the numbering method of choice.
In 1968, the ADA officially recommended the “universal” numbering system,due to difficulties with keyboard notation of the symbolic (Zsigmondy/Palmer) notation system.