Bite force

Researchers at Leeds University have developed an instrument to measure the force of a child’s bite.

Dr Mountain, senior child health lecturer and deputy head of the university’s School of Healthcare, collaborated with colleagues at the Leeds Dental Institute to design the instrument to accurately test the bite force of more than 206 children aged three to five.

This age group includes some of those most likely to mouth bite and chew foreign objects.

Mountain has received funding from the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship to develop a commercial version of the instrument.

The instrument will hopefully prove extremely useful for dentists and other clinicians working and researching with children in fields such as oral health, orthodontics and maxiofacial work.

Mountain, who led the UK’s first research into the bite force and dynamics of young children, believes that the results of his work indicate that there is a need to introduce a bite-testing standard for toys. He said that age labels on toys are not sufficient to prevent accidents.

Mountain added: ‘There is currently no standard that would safeguard children when biting and/or chewing toys or play products and breaking off pieces which may then be swallowed or inhaled.’

More information on Mountain’s bite-force measurement instrument can be found here.