Biting

oral compulsive habit

thumb|upright=1.3|Mouthguard worn in handball, a contact sport. thumb|upright=1.3|An example of a mouthguard used in the treatment of bruxism.

Dermatophagia () or dermatodaxia () is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers. This action can either be conscious or unconscious and it is considered to be a type of pica. Those affected with dermatophagia typically bite the skin around the nails, leading to bleeding and discoloration over time. Some people also bite on their skin on their finger knuckles which can lead to pain and bleeding just by moving their fingers.

thumb|180px|A woman biting another woman's belly

In dentistry, crossbite is a form of malocclusion where a tooth (or teeth) has a more buccal or lingual position (that is, the tooth is either closer to the cheek or to the tongue) than its corresponding antagonist tooth in the upper or lower dental arch. In other words, crossbite is a lateral misalignment of the dental arches.

thumb|A lion biting another lion's tail as play behavior. Biting is an action involving a set of teeth closing down on an object. It is a common zoological behavior, being found in toothed animals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and arthropods. Biting is also an action humans participate in, most commonly when chewing food. Myocytic contraction of the muscles of mastication is responsible for generating the force that initiates the preparatory jaw abduction (opening), then rapidly adducts (closes) the jaw and moves the top and bottom teeth towards each other, resulting in the fo

thumbnail|alt=Line drawing of upper and lower teeth in an overjet arrangement.|Overjet or horizontal overlap. Overbite is the extent of vertical (superior-inferior) overlap of the maxillary central incisors over the mandibular central incisors, measured relative to the incisal ridges.

medical condition