يعقم أخصائي صحة الأسنان أنبوب الشفط.

يعقم means he sterilizes or he disinfects, depending on context.

A few useful grammar points:

• Its dictionary form is عقَّمَ.
• It is a Form II verb, which is why the middle consonant is doubled when fully vowelled: يُعَقِّمُ.
• The subject is he in the verb form itself, so يعقم means he sterilizes / he is sterilizing.

In a medical sentence like this, sterilizes is often the most natural translation.

Not exactly. In Arabic, this form is the non-past tense, so it can mean:

• he sterilizes (habitual / general present)
• he is sterilizing (right now, depending on context)
• sometimes even a near-future meaning, if the context supports it

So in this sentence, it could mean either The dental hygienist sterilizes the suction tube or is sterilizing the suction tube.

Because that is a very normal word order in Modern Standard Arabic.

This sentence is a verbal sentence, and the common order is:

• verb + subject + object

So:

• يعقم = sterilizes
• أخصائي صحة الأسنان = the dental hygienist
• أنبوب الشفط = the suction tube

Arabic can also put the subject first:

• أخصائي صحة الأسنان يعقم أنبوب الشفط.

That is also correct, but the original verb-first version is very natural and standard.

It means dental hygienist, but literally it is something like:

• أخصائي = specialist
• صحة الأسنان = dental health / health of the teeth

So the whole phrase literally means specialist of dental health.

This is a good example of Arabic using a more literal noun phrase where English often uses a fixed profession name.

Because أخصائي is the first noun in an iḍāfa (construct phrase), and the first noun in an iḍāfa normally does not take الـ.

The structure is:

• أخصائي صحة الأسنان
• literally: specialist of the health of the teeth

Even without الـ on أخصائي, the whole phrase can still be definite. In Arabic, the definiteness of an iḍāfa comes from the end of the chain. Since الأسنان is definite, the whole phrase becomes definite.

So this can still mean the dental hygienist.

It is another iḍāfa:

• صحة = health
• الأسنان = the teeth

So:

• صحة الأسنان = the health of the teeth / dental health

This means the full subject is really a nested structure:

• أخصائي + صحة الأسنان
• specialist + dental health

So Arabic is building the meaning step by step through linked nouns.

Because Arabic often expresses this idea as health of the teeth, not tooth health.

That is normal Arabic usage. English often prefers an adjective like dental, but Arabic commonly uses a noun phrase instead.

So:

• صحة الأسنان = dental health
• literally: health of the teeth

Using the plural here sounds natural.

Literally, it means:

• أنبوب = tube
• الشفط = suction

So:

• أنبوب الشفط = suction tube
• literally: tube of suction

This is also an iḍāfa. Arabic very often uses noun + noun structures like this where English might use a compound noun or an adjective-like noun.

For the same reason as أخصائي: it is the first noun in an iḍāfa.

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take الـ
• the second noun controls whether the whole phrase is definite

So in:

• أنبوب الشفط

the second noun الشفط is definite, so the whole phrase is definite. That is why the phrase can mean the suction tube even though أنبوب itself has no الـ.

A fully vowelled version would be:

يُعَقِّمُ أَخْصَائِيُّ صِحَّةِ الْأَسْنَانِ أُنْبُوبَ الشَّفْطِ.

Here is why:

• يُعَقِّمُ: indicative verb
• أَخْصَائِيُّ: nominative, because it is the subject
• صِحَّةِ: genitive, because it is part of the iḍāfa after أخصائي
• الْأَسْنَانِ: genitive, because it is the second noun in the iḍāfa صحة الأسنان
• أُنْبُوبَ: accusative, because it is the direct object
• الشَّفْطِ: genitive, because it is the second noun in the iḍāfa أنبوب الشفط

In normal Arabic writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• يعقم أخصائي صحة الأسنان أنبوب الشفط.
• أخصائي صحة الأسنان يعقم أنبوب الشفط.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly in style and emphasis:

• verb first = very common, neutral verbal sentence
• subject first = can sound a bit more topical or contrastive, like The dental hygienist sterilizes the suction tube

So both are good; the original version is just a very standard MSA pattern.

You would normally use the feminine noun أخصائية and a feminine verb:

تعقم أخصائية صحة الأسنان أنبوب الشفط.

So:

• أخصائي = male specialist
• أخصائية = female specialist
• يعقم = he sterilizes
• تعقم = she sterilizes

That is a very useful pattern to notice in profession words and verb agreement.