the adult or permanent dentition consists of 32 total teeth here we divide the dentition into four different quadrants we have the upper right the upper left the lower left and the lower right quadrant each containing 8 teeth from a mesial or towards the midline to a distal direction the teeth are the central incisor the lateral incisor the canine two premolars the first premolar and the second premolar and three molars the first molar the second molar and the third molar here we will be reviewing the rules of the universal tooth numbering system using a diagram of permanent dentition the universal numbering system is sequential from number one to number 32 beginning from the patient's upper right side going all the way across to the patient's upper left side coming down the patient's lower left side and going all the way across the patient's lower right side the upper arch contains number 1 through 16 while the lower arch contains teeth number 17 through 32 for example the upper left canine this tooth pointed with the laser is the eleventh tooth count from the upper right third molar as we count to number one to number two to number three to number four five six seven eight nine ten eleven tooth is the upper left canine next we will be reviewing the rules of the international tooth system using the same diagram the international numbering system utilizes two digits the first digit corresponds to the quadrant number the upper right quadrant is designated quadrant number one the upper left quadrant is designated quadrant number two the lower left quadrant is designated quadrant number three and the lower right quadrant is designated quadrant number four the second digit corresponds to the tooth within each quadrant in this case the most mesial tooth or the central incisor is given the designation of one while the most distal tooth or the third molar is given the designation of tooth eight with this lateral incisor to the canine 3 the first premolar for second premolar five first molar six and second molar seven for example the upper left canine as pointed with the laser and arrow is in the second quadrant and is the third tooth counting from a mesial direction therefore the upper left canine is given international tooth two three