According to a 1994 study by Zhao Y and Ye D, published in PubMed, humans
can generate approximately 120 kilograms of force. This is equal to about
265 pounds of force. The reason why this is so important is because patients
should understand that our teeth take a constant amount of brute force
on a daily basis. Furthermore, patients should compare their mouths to
that of a nutcracker, with the most force generated in the back of the
mouth and dissipating forward. Because the molar teeth take the majority
of force when biting, it is important that they are strong and do not obtain
too many fractures over time. Also, any time patients present with
missing teeth I always try to educate the patient on the importance of
replacing missing teeth regardless of how they replace it. As a person
begins to lose more and more teeth, especially back molar teeth, they
should understand that their force will continue to be the same; however,
how the force is being distributed will be very different. The fewer teeth
a patient has, the more force that is being allocated to the remaining
teeth. So if a person were to present with 3 or more missing teeth it
would not be surprising if evidence of fracture or wear will present itself
on the remaining teeth present.
