Common Dental Charting Abbreviations, Explained

Every dental team develops a shorthand vocabulary, and most of it is standard enough to move between practices without translation. The risk isn't using abbreviations — it's assuming every abbreviation is universally understood, or using one so loosely that it stops meaning anything specific. Below is a working reference for the abbreviations that show up constantly in charts, organized by where you'll see them.

General and exam shorthand

• WNL — within normal limits
• NAD — no abnormalities detected
• C/O — complains of
• Hx — history
• CC — chief complaint
• EO / IO — extraoral / intraoral
• NKDA — no known drug allergies

Periodontal shorthand

• BOP — bleeding on probing
• PD — pocket depth
• CAL — clinical attachment level
• GR — gingival recession
• MGJ — mucogingival junction
• Class I / II / III mobility — Miller mobility grading, from barely detectable (I) to depressible in its socket (III)
• SRP — scaling and root planing
• FMD — full mouth debridement

Restorative and tooth-surface shorthand

• MOD — mesial-occlusal-distal (surfaces involved in a restoration)
• DO / MO — distal-occlusal / mesial-occlusal
• PFM — porcelain-fused-to-metal (crown)
• RCT — root canal treatment
• SSC — stainless steel crown
• Comp — composite restoration
• Amal — amalgam restoration

Radiographic shorthand

• BW — bitewing radiograph
• PA — periapical radiograph
• FMX — full mouth series
• Pano — panoramic radiograph

Treatment and plan shorthand

• Rx — prescription
• f/u — follow-up
• tx — treatment
• tx plan — treatment plan
• PRN — as needed
• Refer — often paired with a specialty: "refer perio," "refer endo"

When abbreviations help — and when they create risk

Abbreviations earn their place when they're unambiguous and standard across dentistry — BOP, MOD, RCT. Everyone on the team reads them the same way, and they compress a chart without losing meaning. That's the good case.

The risk shows up with abbreviations that are practice-specific, inconsistent, or used to paper over a finding that actually needed detail. "WNL" written across an entire exam with no supporting findings looks, in a legal review, like the exam might not have happened at all — because "within normal limits" says nothing about what was actually checked. The same goes for homemade shorthand that only makes sense to the person who wrote it; a chart has to be readable by anyone who might need to read it later, including someone outside your practice.

A reasonable rule: if an abbreviation is on a standard dental reference list, use it freely. If you'd have to explain it to a new hire, spell it out. And if a finding is significant — anything tied to a diagnosis, a referral, or informed consent — write the sentence, not just the shorthand.

Related: How to Write a Dental SOAP Note · 7 Documentation Mistakes to Avoid · Dental Chart Audit Readiness