At the dentist

The eighth entry is a prótese dentária, and the Portuguese noun is an ordinary singular: a prótese está pronta, uma prótese nova. English will not let you say that. The word people actually use is « dentures », and it is plural whatever is in the box — an upper plate, a lower one, or both. « My dentures are new », « her dentures don’t fit », « he has lost his dentures ». To count them you have to borrow a container word, exactly as with spectacles: « a set of dentures », « two sets ». The older everyday name behaves the same way: « false teeth » is always plural, and « a false tooth » means one tooth and nothing more. Only the trade keeps a singular, and keeps it for the partial pieces: a technician writes « a partial denture », and a patient almost never does. Meanwhile « prosthesis », the word that looks like the Portuguese one, has settled on the limbs — a hip, a leg, an arm. Say « a dental prosthesis » and you will be understood, and you will sound like a form.