The Pope's Dentures

Most people of prominence wind up having several titles (e.g. President, Commander in Chief, POTUS) so I didn’t worry too much about the Catholic Church’s Pope also being called the Pontiff.  That is not until I saw a dental term that seemed strangely similar – pontic.  Yes, the Pope often wears a hat that looks like a giant tooth, but that’s not usually the way words work.

First let’s take notice of the word Pope, itself.  Pope, comes simply from papa, daddy.  (In fact, in Italy, the Pope is called Il Papa.)  Many religious titles relate to father because of their leadership, mentoring role, including the Jewish rabbi.  So, is Pope related to Pontiff?  No chance.

Pontiff, the leader of a religious organization based in Rome, is related to another word you see all over Italy – ponte.  One of the most famous of these ponte is the Ponte Vecchio – the Old Bridge in Florence.  (Ponte means bridge, vecchio means old – they say their words backwards in most of the world.)  It’s a fascinating structure you should look into.  Pontiff means something to the effect of “bridge maker” or way-shower – a religious concept of helping people find a connection to God.  By the way, to pontificate (one of my favorite words) means to speak as one in authority - the way the pope would speak.

Now, maybe you are getting out ahead of me on the word pontic.  If you have one or two teeth missing with healthy teeth on either side, your fantastic dentist with solve the problem with what?  A bridge.  Technically speaking, the pontic is the artificial tooth fashioned into a dental bridge.

Our IE root is pent meaning to tread or go.  A bridge is a very important structure that helps us go farther.  Path derives from this root as does find (you have to go to find what you are looking for).  Another memorable word from the youth of Baby Boomers is also related – Sputnik, which means "fellow traveler".