The maxillary second premolar is one of two

teeth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

located in the upper maxilar, laterally (away from the midline of the

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

) from both the

maxillary first premolar The maxillary first premolar is one of two premolars that exist in the maxilla. Premolars are only found in the adult dentition and typically erupt at the age of 10–11, replacing the first molars in primary dentition. The maxillary first premola ...

s of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

but mesial (toward the midline of the face) from both

maxillary first molar The maxillary first molar is the human tooth located laterally (away from the midline of the face) from both the maxillary second premolars of the mouth but mesial (toward the midline of the face) from both maxillary second molars. The functio ...

s. The function of this

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

is similar to that of first molars in regard to grinding being the principal action during

mastication Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is comminution, crushed and ground by the teeth. It is the first step in the process of digestion, allowing a greater surface area for digestive enzymes to break down the foods. During the mast ...

, commonly known as chewing. There are two

cusp A cusp is the most pointed end of a curve. It often refers to cusp (anatomy), a pointed structure on a tooth. Cusp or CUSP may also refer to: Mathematics * Cusp (singularity), a singular point of a curve * Cusp catastrophe, a branch of bifu ...

s on maxillary second premolars, but both of them are less sharp than those of the maxillary first premolars. There are no

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

(baby) maxillary premolars. Instead, the teeth that precede the permanent maxillary premolars are the deciduous maxillary molars. In the universal system of notation, the permanent maxillary premolars are designated by a number. The right permanent maxillary second premolar is known as "4", and the left one is known as "13". In the

Palmer notation Palmer notation (sometimes called the "Military System" and named for 19th-century American dentist Dr. Corydon Palmer from Warren, Ohio) is a dental notation (tooth numbering system). Despite the adoption of the FDI World Dental Federation notati ...

, a number is used in conjunction with a symbol designating in which quadrant the tooth is found. For this tooth, the left and right second premolars would have the same number, "5", but the right one would have the symbol, "┘", underneath it, while the left one would have, "└". The international notation has a different numbering system than the previous two, and the right permanent maxillary second premolar is known as "15", and the left one is known as "25".

References

*Ash, Major M. and Stanley J. Nelson, 2003. ''Wheeler’s Dental Anatomy, Physiology, and Occlusion.'' 8th edition. {{Tooth anatomy Types of teeth Human mouth anatomy