Human Bites

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Medical Author:

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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• Human Bites Overview
• Human Bites Causes
• Human Bites Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Human Bites Diagnosis
• Human Bites Treatment
• Human Bites Self-Care at Home
• Human Bites Medical Treatment
• Human Bites Medications
• Human Bites Follow-up
• Human Bites Prevention
• Human Bites Prognosis
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Author and Editor

Human Bites Overview

Human bites can be either quite serious or relatively harmless. It is important to know which ones need medical attention. Human bites consist of a range of injuries, they include intentionally inflicted bites, but also any injury caused by coming in contact with the teeth. For example, if two children collide and the tooth of one causes a cut on the other, this is classified as a human bite.

Human Bites Causes

Human bites can be either accidental or intentional.

• Intentional bite injury: This generally happens during fights and can result in a wide range of injuries from minor bruising to partial loss of body parts (for example, ears or nose). Unfortunately, this can also be an injury seen in child abuse, sexual abuse, and rarely, self-mutilation.
• Seemingly intentional bites: Some bites may not be easy to classify as intentional because there is not a conscious decision on the part of the biter. Two of the most frequent situations are among very young children (often a new addition to the household is the recipient of a bite from a sibling), and among people who are mentally handicapped.
• Closed fist injuries: This bite occurs when someone punches another person in the mouth or, occasionally, accidentally strikes another in the mouth during sports or horseplay. These bites can cause damaging hand injuries and can be very serious if not properly treated. It is important to share this information with your health care practitioner as a cut secondary to contact with a person's mouth is treated significantly different from a cut due to a sharp surface or knife. 
• Accidental bites: Typical head or other body part bites occur when clashing with another person's tooth. These can be minor or, in the case of a head wound in young children, very serious.
• "I didn't know it was a bite!" category: Yes, we frequently run the risk of problems from doing things to ourselves that technically qualify as bites. For example, it is not a good idea to bite your nails because this can lead to an infection known as paronychia or a hangnail. Similarly, it is almost a reflex to suck on wounds or to kiss a child's boo-boo, but if you introduce mouth bacteria, it could lead to problems such as an infection.
• Love bites (for example, hickeys): These qualify as a human bite. However, if bruising is the only sign with no skin break, these are largely harmless. Other "love bites" cross the line into intentionally inflicted wounds and may be more serious. Any bite marks in the genital area in children need to be evaluated as a possible sign of abuse.