For National Toothache Day on February 9th and Dentist’s Day on March 6th, I collected vocabulary and idioms about teeth as well as videos for German learners.
German Words - Vokabeln
der Zahn, -¨e – tooth
Ein Erwachsener hat 32 Zähne.
der Milchzahn, -¨e – baby tooth (lit. milk tooth)
Ein Kind hat 20 Milchzähne.
das Zahnfleisch (no plural) – gums (lit. tooth flesh)
Ich habe eine Entzündung am Zahnfleisch.
die Zahnbürste, -n – toothbrush
die elektrische Zahnbürste – electric toothbrush
die Zahnpasta, -s, oder -pasten – tooth paste
sometimes also: die Zahnpaste or die Zahncreme
Zum Zähneputzen braucht man eine Zahnbürste und Zahnpasta.
(sich) die Zähne putzen – to brush one’s teeth (lit. to clean teeth)
Ich putze mir jeden Abend die Zähne.
Du musst noch Zähne putzen.
die Zahnseide, -n – floss
Zahnseide benutzen – to floss
Nach dem Zähneputzen sollte man Zahnseide benutzen.
der Zahnschmerz, -en – toothache, tooth pain (often used in plural)
das Zahnweh (no plural) – toothache
Er hat Zahnschmerzen. Er hat Zahnweh.
die Zahnlücke, -n – tooth gap
Das Mädchen hat eine kleine Zahnlücke.
der Schneidezahn, -¨e – incisor (lit. cutting tooth)
der Eckzahn, -¨e – eye tooth (lit. corner tooth), auch der Augenzahn (veraltet)
der Backenzahn, -¨e – molar (lit. cheek tooth)
Vampire haben spitze Eckzähne.
die dritten Zähne, die Dritten – dentures, false teeth (lit. third teeth)
Wenn viele deiner Zähne beschädigt sind, dann brauchst du irgendwann dritte Zähne.
die Zahnärztin, -nen – female dentist (lit. tooth doctor)
der Zahnarzt, -¨e – male dentist
Heute habe ich einen Termin bei meiner Zahnärztin.
der Patient, -en – male patient
die Patientin, -nen – female patient
die Zahnarztpraxis, -praxen – dentist’s office
der Zahnarztstuhl, -¨e – dentist’s chair
der Zahnarzthelfer, -, die Zahnarzthelferin, -nen – male / female dentist’s assistent
In der Zahnarztpraxis arbeiten eine Zahnärztin und drei Zahnarzthelferinnen.
die Zahnbehandlung, -en – dental work / treatment
Ich muss wegen einer Zahnbehandlung zum Zahnarzt.
Idiomatic Expressions - Idiomatische Ausdrücke
jemandem auf den Zahn fühlen
lit. to feel somebody on the tooth
meaning: to find out what a person’s true intentions are
Ich habe ihm auf den Zahn gefühlt und nun weiß ich, warum er wirklich den neuen Job angenommen hat.
die Zähne zusammenbeißen
lit. to clench (one’s) teeth
meaning: to grit your teeth, to steel yourself and get through a tough situation
Diese Wanderung ist sehr anstrengend. Da müssen wir jetzt die Zähne zusammenbeißen.
auf dem Zahnfleisch gehen
lit. to go on one’s gums
meaning: to be mentally, physically, or financially depleted
Ich habe letzte Woche 60 Stunden gearbeitet. Jetzt gehe ich auf dem Zahnfleisch.
bis an die Zähne bewaffnet
lit. armed to the teeth
meaning: to be fully armed
Die Soldaten waren bis an die Zähne bewaffnet.
Zähne zeigen
lit. to show (one’s) teeth
meaning: to bare one’s teeth, to be aggressive towards somebody
In unserer nächsten Besprechung werde ich Zähne zeigen.
Haare auf den Zähnen haben
lit. to have hair on the teeth
meaning: to be feisty, gruff, harsh; (used normally for women, with negative connotation)
Die Frau, die ich gestern in der Bar getroffen habe, hatte echt Haare auf den Zähnen.
Hair is a symbol for power and manliness. If somebody shows exaggerated behavior of manliness that person has hair where normally no hair grows. In Die Räuber Schiller says that a courageous soldier has hair on his tongue.
einen Zahn zulegen
lit. to add a tooth / cog / notch
meaning: to step it up a notch, to hurry, to get a move on
Meine Güte, wie lange dauert das denn? Leg mal einen Zahn zu!
This saying has nothing to do with an actual tooth. Zahn in this case means cog or notch. The saying probably comes from a time when food was cooked in a hanging pot over a fire. If you wanted the food to cook faster you would lower the pot by adding another notch or cog of the chain.
einen Affenzahn draufhaben
lit. to have a monkey tooth
meaning: to go really fast, to speed
Das Auto hatte einen Affenzahn drauf. Beinah hätte es mich erwischt.
This idiomatic expression came about in the 1930s and also doesn’t have anything to do with actual teeth. Affe here implies hectic movements that you show when you are moving fast or are doing something fast. Instead of Affenzahn you can also say Affentempo.
More teeth? - Mehr Zähne?
Löwenzahn
Who doesn’t know Löwenzahn (dandelion)? It grows everywhere, blooms yellow, and then turns into a Pusteblume (blow ball). In English, as well as in German, the dandelion goes by many different names: dandelion is actually a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning tooth of a lion. In English, it is sometimes also called lion’s tooth, which is also the same meaning as the German Löwenzahn. The connection to lion might come from the yellow bloom that resembles a lion’s mane, and/or the shape of the leaves reminded people of the teeth of a lion. You’ll find the name in other European languages too.
Names for dandelion in English include hawkbit, Irish daisy, puffball, priest’s crown, and clockflower among many others. The variety in the German language looks similar: Butterblume (butter flower), Mönchsblume (monk flower), Hundeblume (dog flower), and Kettenkraut (chain herb).
If Löwenzahn didn’t grow on our lawns and we didn’t consider it a weed, we might be better at using it for food like in a salad or for medicinal purposes like its diuretic properties.
If you are German you might think not only of weed when hearing Löwenzahn but also of the popular TV show of the same name. Peter Lustig was the first host of Löwenzahn and taught us valuable lessons about nature and sustainability among other things.
Fun fact: Peter Lustig was a sound engineer for the American Forces Network in Berlin, and responsible for the sound when JFK held his famous speech in Berlin in 1963. You can read more about it here.
Mahlzahn
Mahlzahn is a dated word for molar. It comes from mahlen which means to grind. Nowadays we normally use the word Backenzahn – cheek tooth.
So if Mahlzahn actually refers to a tooth why isn’t it listed with the normal vocabulary? Because Frau Mahlzahn (Mrs Molar) is a character in the popular story Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver) by Michael Ende. (He also wrote The Neverending Story.)
Frau Mahlzahn is a fire spewing, mean dragon who later gets turned into the Golden Dragon of Wisdom.
Here is a clip where Frau Mahlzahn is teaching kids. The puppet theater production by the Augsburger Puppenkiste was very popular.
Karius und Baktus
Karius and Baktus are two bacteria or teeth trolls who live in a molar. The owner of said molar is Max (in the Norwegian original he is called Jens) who loves sweets and doesn’t brush his teeth. Karius und Baktus are living the good life chiseling away at Max’ tooth and trying to expand their habitat to the eye tooth. All the hammering gives Max a tooth ache and he finally goes to the dentist who fills the cavity and evicts Karius and Baktus.
Karius und Baktus is a Norwegian puppet movie from 1954 based on the 1949 book by Thorbjørn Egner. It was very popular in Germany, other than the book and puppet show there was also an audioplay which you can listen to on youtube.
Here is the first act of the puppet show in English.
More Resources
🔗 More info here: Sanadente
📹 I made you a youtube playlist with videos that help you learn vocabulary and phrases concerning teeth and dentist’s visits.
