Anatomy and Physiology Overview • CHAPTER 6 219WORD ELEMENTS
This section introduces combining forms (CFs) related to the oral cavity, esophagus, pharynx,
and stomach. Included are key suffixes; prefixes are defined in the right-hand column as needed.
Review the following table and pronounce each word in the word analysis column aloud before
you begin to work the frames.
Word Element Meaning Word Analysis
Combining Forms
Oral Cavity
dent/o teeth dent/ist (DĔN-tĭst): specialist who diagnoses and treats diseases and disorders of
the oral cavity (teeth and gums)
-ist: specialist
odont/o orth/odont/ist (ŏr-thō-DŎN-tĭst): dental specialist in prevention and correction
of abnormally positioned or misaligned teeth
orth: straight
-ist: specialist
gingiv/o gum(s) gingiv/itis (jĭn-jĭ-VĪ-tĭs): inflammation of the gums
-itis: inflammation
gloss/o tongue hypo/gloss/al (hī-pō-GLŎS-ăl): pertaining to under the tongue
hypo-: under, below, deficient
-al: pertaining to
lingu/o sub/lingu/al (sŭb-LĬNG-gwăl): pertaining to under the tongue
sub-: under, below
-al: pertaining to
or/o mouth or/al (OR-ăl): pertaining to the mouth
-al: pertaining to
stomat/o stomat/o/pathy (stō-mă-TŎP-ă-thē): disease of the mouth
-pathy: disease
ptyal/o saliva ptyal/ism (TĪ-ă-lĭzm): condition of excessive salivation
-ism: condition
sial/o saliva, salivary sial/o/rrhea (sī-ă-lō-RĒ-ă): excessive flow of saliva; also called hypersalivationor
gland ptyalism
-rrhea: discharge, flow
Esophagus, Pharynx, and Stomach
esophag/o esophagus esophag/o/scope (ē-SŎF-ă-gō-skōp): instrument for examining the esophagus
-scope: instrument for examining
pharyng/o pharynx (throat) pharyng/o/tonsill/itis (fă-rĭng-gō-tŏn-sĭ-LĪ-tĭs): inflammation of the pharynx and
tonsils
tonsill: tonsils
-itis: inflammation
gastr/o stomach gastr/o/scopy (găs-TRŎS-kō-pē): visual examination of the stomach
-scopy: visual examination
A gastroscope is a flexible, fiber-optic instrument used to inspect the interior of the
stomach.
pylor/o pylorus pylor/o/tomy (pī-lor-ŎT-ō-mē): incision of the pylorus (sphincter in the lower
portion of the stomach)
-tomy: incision
Pylorotomy is usually performed to remove an obstruction.
Continued