I saw this dude hold up two tables with his teeth.

[Thesemindz]

He had two small like restaurant tables stacked on top of each other and they used a forklift to raise them up to bite level. Then he bites on and they take away the lift and this guy starts spinning in a circle with two tables in his teeth. They said it was like 240 pounds or something I don't know. Then they started talking about how we could normally only bite down so hard and that our maximum bite capacity is like twenty pounds less then where our teeth start to break. Some discovery show or something.

Anyway, this got me curious. Just how strong is the jaw. I mean, pounds of pressure? Can the teeth be pried open? How does it break? How much stress applied at which angles? I mean, I've been hit in the jaw and I've hit people in the jaw, I'm just wondernig if anyone knows any specifics. What about splitting the point of the jaw. I knew a guy who knew a guy who split a guys jaw with an elbow smash. And two guys tell the same story. Does this corrolate with anyone else's experience?

I've seen some nasty jaw damage. At least on film. I've been lucky enough not to have any of my training partners or instructors get badly hurt. There was a scene in a movie that haunts my dreams where a kid had his teeth on a curb. That's really rather hideous in my opinion.

What about the ways in which the jaw can be manipulated? Could it be crushed in a fist? Not mine I'm afraid, but what about Jaws? He was pretty mighty. I've heard alot of talk about dislocating jaws back or forward at an angle, what about just one side? Does the whole lower jaw go as a set piece, or can you knock it crooked? What about prying the teeth open with your fingers?

As a quick aside, I heard some talk about causing the face plate to be free floating and wondered if it would just hang over the lower jaw? I mean, not completely, but say a quarter inch lower than usual? Would you still be able to see?

I'm thinking 250 pound of pressure is pretty impressive. I wonder what Golum pulled off. Hey! What about that. That was a fat hobbit. Gollum had to bite through Elijah Wood's fat finger. Does fat make a finger harder to bite? How much pressure did that take? Then again maybe Frodo wasn't so fat just then. He hadn't exactly been eating well. How did Gollum find the strength?

-Rob

 

[MisterMike]

:erg:

 

[RCastillo]

I'll bet he has a great dentist, and insurance to boot! :xtrmshock

 

[Ceicei]

You have a lot of questions, some which deserve answers and some that are mere speculation.

Anyway, you asked if the jaw can be broken or dislocated on one side? Yes.

I played pick-up basketball with some guys. I went into the key under the net to try to rebound (I'm a 5'5" female playing basketball with some 6'2" guys). Anyway, one guy jumped higher and grabbed the ball. He had his elbows out to protect the ball and prevent stealing. Unfortunately, his elbow caught me right behind my left mandible and severely dislocated it. The ligament was almost ripped and part of the bone chipped at the hinge. I couldn't open or close my jaw at all. I had to leave the game, sit down on the bleacher, physically grab my jaw with both hands (fingers inside the mouth for leverage) and pull it forward hard in the direction where dislocated then moved it back to where it should be. I had to do that quickly before it would swell up. Hurts like crazy! It took almost a couple of years to recover fully from the pain and headaches. The chipped bone reattached to the jaw in the wrong place and created a bone spur. I have TMJ problem ever since. I probably should have had surgery back then to correct it, but orthodontic work ten years later managed to minimize the TMJ.

- Ceicei

 

[Thesemindz]

You have a lot of questions, some which deserve answers and some that are mere speculation.

Anyway, you asked if the jaw can be broken or dislocated on one side? Yes.

I played pick-up basketball with some guys. I went into the key under the net to try to rebound (I'm a 5'5" female playing basketball with some 6'2" guys). Anyway, one guy jumped higher and grabbed the ball. He had his elbows out to protect the ball and prevent stealing. Unfortunately, his elbow caught me right behind my left mandible and severely dislocated it. The ligament was almost ripped and part of the bone chipped at the hinge. I couldn't open or close my jaw at all. I had to leave the game, sit down on the bleacher, physically grab my jaw with both hands (fingers inside the mouth for leverage) and pull it forward hard in the direction where dislocated then moved it back to where it should be. I had to do that quickly before it would swell up. Hurts like crazy! It took almost a couple of years to recover fully from the pain and headaches. The chipped bone reattached to the jaw in the wrong place and created a bone spur. I have TMJ problem ever since. I probably should have had surgery back then to correct it, but orthodontic work ten years later managed to minimize the TMJ.

- Ceicei

Yah, like I said that show just got me thinking.

That's a pretty nasty story you got there. It's funny how we often hurt ourselves much worse in the non-combat related aspects of our lives than we ever do fighting or practicing fighting.

-Rob