Effect of age on bite force

This study compared bite force in adults older than 60 years with that of young adults. The participants were 20 healthy adults (9 men) older than 60 years (median age, 66 years) and 44 healthy young adults (22 men; age range, 18-25 years; median age, 22 years) at the International Medical University, Malaysia. All participants had at least 20 teeth, and bite force was measured and evaluated using the Dental Prescale system. Average (SD) bite force was 420.5 (242.0) N for the older adults and 541.4 (296.3) N for the young adults. Although mean bite force was higher for the young adults, the difference was not significant. These findings suggest that bite force is unaffected by age in adults with adequate dentition.