Teeth are the part of the body most resistant to decomposition—that’s why they often use dental records to identify remains.
Although this is correct, it is shocking how fast they can decompose, or rot, once cavities set it. I have a dentist phobia and am losing most of my teeth these days. I wouldnt imagine many zombies have regular dental checkups. Luckily, I can get dentures. Imagine a zombie “Hold still, Im trying to get my dentures in”.
There isn’t much sugar in brains, so their teeth may last longer than the average alive human.
It’s just fiction, but you’d be amazed how much damage human teeth can do.
You won’t be biting through bone (and idgaf what myth someone’s heard about fingers and carrots and only stopping because your brain won’t let you go hard enough), you won’t even get through a joint in one bite.
But! We have enough bite force and sharpness to get into muscle and pull out pieces. Helps if you gnaw and use head movement to help, but we can even manage it with thicker skin than humans have. You’d be amazed what a drunk country boy will do to a dead animal if they have access to them before they’re processed and there’s a bet going. Not me, but I’ve seen someone go through cow hide and into meat. Wasn’t easy, or fast, but it got done.
The real issue is the extent of decay involved. While most of the support for teeth isn’t from anything fleshy, the process of decomp does loosen them slightly. It’s pretty damn slightly though. The bigger issue is bite strength.
See, the kind of zombie matters, but the ones that look rotten would have weakened response from the muscles of the jaw and face, assuming actual decomp takes place. So, the kind you see on the walking dead and its spinoffs would eventually become ineffective, no matter how secure the teeth are in the jaw.
That being said, there’s also examples in fiction, including the walking dead, of zombies lacking any muscles that would allow movement of a given body part, but still moving. There’s scenes in the walking dead of zombies where you can see bone where muscle is supposed to be, moving arms in a way that would require the missing muscles. That isn’t unique to TWD, but it’s usually the easiest example to look up for the curious.
There’s also non rotting zombies, more like the resident evil viral zombies. They may be mangled and/or damaged, but they’re mostly intact, so biting would be perfectly possible in theory (individual zombies might have damage in the jaws that would make it impossible if real).
I can go on a lot more about how zombie fiction functions on a realistic level (or doesn’t), but the generic attention span online has likely already been reached.
NO sarcasm in this but please go further this is probably going to be the most interesting thing today as my last day of work.
Don’t do it don! We still are recovering from covid. Whatever zombie virus you are planning to release, just think about it okay?
DON’T RELEASE IT!
Don’t know if you thinking of me commiting suicide or something but my contract is up. And still haven’t picked a place to go yet. I just counted and have over 100 offers.
Then there are the magic zombies, like from World of Warcraft, or Game of Thrones, and they’re powered by magic, so they can completely rot away and still walk around. I wonder, in WoW, do the undead eventually rot away and become the skeletons that we fight in various zones?
Ever seen a skeleton? Where the teeth rotten away?
If a scull is missing teeth they were likely gone before death already.
Yes I have…if you want to know but don’t know how they rise from a grave and still have perfectly white teeth…as seen on The Walking Dead and some movies.
I don’t know where you stuck here, mate.
Teeth don’t rot. Thats your answer. Teeth stay the same for a long, long time.
Yea but either they are pearly white or they are very sharp.
Don dickle you listen here and you listen good mister.
The teeth stay in the head, they stay white, and they stay sharp. As they crack from use they get even sharper.
I guess you answer then is that SCIENCE FICTION ≠ SCIENCE
Zombies are not real and so are their extra white, sharp teeth. I can’t explain to you how there are dead people walking around either, because they don’t do that irl.
It really depends on the specific fandom, but my favorite excuse isn’t that their teeth are sharp, but moreso that they don’t feel pain so they bite a lot harder than would be comfortable for a normal human.
I would like to see a movie about that or at least a couple of episodes of some Zombie tv show.
You should read The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks (Mel Brooks’ son) it’s a great little book with a ton of practical advice for if zombies were real it’s super fun. It takes a very realistic approach.
Definitely not fiction, zombies are real and they’re coming for your brains.
Depends on the media. Some have no teeth at all
Suck zombies just aren’t scary
