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Going To The Dentist: German Vocabulary Posted by on Mar 8, 2017 in Language

Guten Tag! Today’s post is all about something we hate doing, but which we have to do, nevertheless… Today’s post is about going to der Zahnarzt – the dentist. Here are all of the German words you need to know for it!

Tooth 03

der Zahn – the German word for tooth. Photo by tomhilton on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)

 

German dentist vocab: The basics

Dentist (place/profession) – der Zahnarzt

Dental assistant – der Zahnarzthelfer

Teeth – die Zähne

Tooth – der Zahn

Tooth surface – die Zahnfläche

Gum – das Zahnfleisch

Root – die Wurzel

Mouth – der Mund

Tongue – die Zunge

 

„Ich muss heute zum Zahnarzt, damit der Zahnarzt meine Zähne und mein Zahnfleisch anschauen kann.“

I need to go to the dentist today, so the dentist can look at my teeth and my gums.

 

Braces

die Zahnspange – braces. Photo by monicaygarza on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)

German dentist vocab: Procedures and problems

Crown – die Zahnkrone

Plaque – der Zahnbelag

Gum inflammation – die Zahnfleischentzündung

Filling – die Zahnfüllung/die Plombe

Dentures – der Zahnersatz

Braces – die Zahnspange

Tooth enamel – der Zahnschmelz

Tooth extraction – die Zahnextraktion **

 

„Der Zahnarzt hat gesagt, ich habe eine schlimme Zahnfleischentzündung, und dass ich auch eine Plombe brauche. Gottseidank brauche ich aber keine Zahnspange, und auch keine Zahnextraktion!“

The dentist said I have a bad inflammation of the gums, and that I need a filling. Thank God I don’t need braces, though, or a tooth extraction!

 

** You may have noticed that a lot of these words have the word ‘Zahn’ (tooth) at the beginning of them. This is to make the word specific to teeth, but you can always remove the word ‘Zahn’ and just use the second part of the word if you have already established you are talking about teeth. I have put the second part of the word in BOLD above. For example: die Zahnspange (braces) can be shortened to ‘die Spange’ if you’ve established you’re talking about braces. If you haven’t established that yet, then stick to die Zahnspange. Be aware that the word ‘die Spange’ could refer to a number of things – die Haarspange (hair clip), for instance! It’s all about context. **

 

German dentist vocab: Dental care

Dental floss – die Zahnseide

Toothpaste – die Zahnpasta

Mouthwash – das Mundwasser

Chewing gum – der Kaugummi

Toothbrush – die Zahnbürste

 

„Ich putze meine Zähne mit Zahnpasta und meine Zahnbürste, und spühle danach mit Mundwasser. Ich kaue Kaugummi zwischendurch. Ich benutze aber nie die Zahnseide. Dass muss ich tun.“

I clean my teeth with toothpaste and my toothbrush, and rinse afterwards with mouthwash. I chew chewing gum in between (during the day). I never use dental floss, though. I need to do that.

 

Zahnarzt 318/365

Beim Zahnarzt – at the dentist. Photo by dskley on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-ND 2.0)

 

German dentist vocab: die Zahnschmerzen – tooth pain

Here are some problems you might have that you want to communicate to your dentist:

 

My teeth are very sensitive
„Meine Zähne sind sehr empfindlich“

 

My teeth hurt / my tooth hurts
„Meine Zähne tun weh / mein Zahn tut weh“

 

My teeth hurt when I chew/drink“
„Ich habe Zahnschmerzen beim kauen/trinken“

 

My gums are bleeding
„Mein Zahnfleisch blutet“

 

My filling fell out
„Meine Zahnfüllung/meine Plombe ist rausgefallen“

 

A piece of my tooth broke off
„Ein Stück Zahn ist abgebrochen“

 

My entire tooth broke off
“Mein Zahn ist komplett abgebrochen”

 

 

Anything else you’d like to know in relation to teeth/the dentist in German? Let me know. And if you want more posts like this, why not give the following a read:

 

What to say at the Doctor’s in German

 

Going to the Hairdressers in German

 

Das deutsche Gesundheitssystem – The German health system

 

German Emergency Services: Part 1 – – – – Part 2

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About the Author: Constanze

Servus! I'm Constanze and I live in the UK. I'm half English and half German, and have been writing about German language and culture on this blog since 2014. I am also a fitness instructor & personal trainer.


Comments:

  1. helen:

    very useful article. Is dental service free in Germany?

  2. Ella:

    Great great article thank you so much! My husband is German so i’ve recently moved here. We also own a Dental Practice and sometimes i have to sit at the reception and I am completely lost!! This has really really helped thank you.

    Also as I understand a lot more German than I can speak (i am terrified of grammatical errors, so i avoid speaking), would you be able to do a post regarding what to say/what you would hear at the reception. for example, please take a seat in the waiting room, etc etc.

    Thank you!!!