gnatho-, gnath-, -gnatha, -gnathan, -gnath, -gnathia, -gnathic, -gnathous

(Greek: jaw)

The jaw is the name applied to the bones which contain the teeth.

The two upper jaw-bones, the maxillae, are firmly attached to the other bones of the face.

The lower jaw, the mandible, is shaped in a form similar to that of a horseshoe, and, after the first year of life, it consists of a single bone.

It forms a hinge-joint with the squamous part (thin, plate-like section) of the temporal bone, immediately in front of the ear.

Both the upper and the lower jaw-bones include deep sockets known as alveoli, which contain the roots of the teeth.

—Compiled from information located in
Black's Medical Dictionary, 41st edition;
Edited by Dr. Harvey Marcovitch; The Scarecrow Press, Inc.;
Lanham, Maryland and Oxford, England; 2005; page 385.
agnathia (s) (noun), agnathias (pl)
A complete or partial absence of one or both jaws: After the accident, Sammy had partial left agnathia and so he had to learn to speak again.
anisognathous
1. Having jaws of unequal size, the upper being wider than the lower.
2. Having teeth in upper and lower jaws that are not the same.
atelognathia
The congenitally incomplete development of the jaw.
brachygnathia, brachygnathous
1. Abnormal shortness or recession of the mandible or lower jaw.
2. Having a receding underjaw (lower jaw).
chaetognath
A transparent marine worm with horizontal lateral and caudal (near the tail) fins and a row of movable curved spines at each side of the mouth.
cheilognathoschisis
A cleft, or a separation into two or more sections, by division of the upper lip and jaw.
cynognathism
A reference to the jaw of a dog or a term for "dog jaw".
dysgnathia
Abnormality of the jaw; any developmental abnormality of the maxilla (upper), or mandible (lower), or both jaws.
entognathous (adjective), more entognathous, most entognathous
A reference to insects that have mouthparts with recessed mandibles and maxillae concealed by lateral folds on the head.
eurygnathic
Having a wide jaw.
eurygnathism
Having a wide jaw.
gnathalgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
A pain in the jaw; gnathodynia: In dental school, Frank learned that gnathalgia was applied to a patient's agony in the mouth, especially in the bones that frame the mouth.
gnathic
Relating to or a reference to the jaw and/or the cheeks.
gnathic index
A measure of the projection of the upper jaw, expressed by multiplying the distance from basion to the aleolar point (middle point of the anterior surface of the upper jaw) by 100 and dividing it by the distance from basion (middle of the anterior or the front margin of the great foramen or the small opening of the skull) to nasion (the point where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead).
gnathion
1. The lowest point on the midline of the lower jaw which is a reference point in craniometry.
2. The most outward and lowest point on the profile curvature of the chin.