The
mandibular lateral incisor is the
tooth located distally (away from the midline of the
face) from both
mandibular central incisors of the
mouth and mesially (toward the midline of the face) from both
mandibular canines. As with all
incisors, their function is for
shearing or cutting food during
mastication, commonly known as chewing. There are no
cusps on the teeth. Instead, the surface area of the tooth used in eating is called an incisal ridge or incisal edge. Though relatively the same, there are some minor differences between the
deciduous (baby) mandibular lateral incisor and that of the
permanent mandibular lateral incisor.