Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having few or no teeth: Describes an animal or organism that naturally possesses very few teeth or is completely toothless.

Usage

• This term is primarily used in zoological and biological contexts to describe the dental characteristics of certain species.
• It is a technical adjective, most commonly applied to animals like anteaters, sloths, and armadillos, which belong to the mammalian order (or its former classification).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The giant anteater is a well-known edental mammal.
  • Scientists study edental species to understand evolution in the absence of dental structures.

Advanced Usage

• "Edentulous": A related clinical term used in human medicine and dentistry to describe a person who has lost all their natural teeth.
  • The patient was edentulous and required a full set of dentures.

Variants and Related Words

• Edentate (adj/n): Having no teeth; also a former name for the order of mammals including anteaters and sloths.
  • Armadillos are edentate creatures.
• Edentulous (adj): Lacking teeth, especially as a result of loss (used for humans and animals).
  • The edentulous jawbone requires special consideration for implants.

Synonyms

• Toothless: Lacking teeth entirely.
• Edentulous: (Specifically for loss of teeth, but often used interchangeably in general contexts).

Notes on Meaning

• The core meaning of edental is the natural, biological absence or near-absence of teeth. It is not typically used to describe the condition of losing teeth due to disease or age; edentulous is preferred for that context.
• The term is largely synonymous with edentate, though edentate can also function as a noun for an animal in the related order.

Adjective

1. having few if any teeth
   • anteaters are edentate animals