If you ask a lot of people whether chewing gum is good or bad for your health, you’re likely to get different answers. This is because chewing gum is a mixed bag when it comes to your teeth and overall health. To answer this important question, dentist Donvale needs to explore different aspects of how chewing gum affects both your mouth and your entire body.
Chewing gum can lead to tooth decay and caries, especially when sweetened with sugar. When you chew sugar-sweetened gum, you are essentially bathing your teeth and gums in a sugar bath for a continuous period of time.
In the United States, 59% of the population regularly uses chewing gum. This number is higher only in Iran (82%) and Saudi Arabia (79%)! The reason for the higher rates in the Middle East is the presence of a cultural tradition where small merchants regularly offer chewing gum instead of small variations.
Now that we know the basic facts and figures of chewing gum. Let’s examine some of the specific potential health effects of chewing gum in a little more detail:
Potential Health Effects of Artificial Sweeteners
Many people don’t think much about the ingredients of chewing gum because the gum base itself is never ingested. However, your teeth and gums are still exposed to these ingredients, and in fact you will swallow many of the flavouring ingredients as the gum is chewed and the flavouring ingredients are removed through the process of chewing.
A large sugar-free gum is sweetened in place of a common sugar called aspartame. A study published in the Journal of Life Sciences concluded that aspartame may help the body make formaldehyde, a well-known carcinogen.
TMJ disorder
The temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, is where your jawbone connects to your skull. TMJ disorders result from the muscles that control this connection become fatigued or imbalanced. While most gum chewing does not cause TMJ disorders, people who develop the habit of chewing gum regularly may experience muscle fatigue that puts them at risk for TMJ disorders.
Both aggressive chewing gum or unilateral chewing (chewing on only one side of the mouth) increase the risk of developing TMJ disorders, as these behaviours are more stressful on the TMJ area than others.
Dental disorder
Chewing gum on a regular basis as a habit can cause excessive wear on the tooth enamel and can also change the alignment of your bite. In particular, upper molars may gradually separate, while lower molars gradually recede, leading to excessive molars. If the behaviours persist and go unchecked, these changes may eventually lead to the need for orthodontic care to correct them. In addition, if the enamel is allowed to wear out slowly, teeth can become sensitive to hot or cold foods and drinks or acidic foods.f
Cavity
The dentist Donvale usually recommends sugar-free gum. However, if you are chewing gum that is not sugar-free, while you can avoid some of the potential pitfalls associated with artificial sweeteners (assuming that only sugar is used and not a mix of artificial and natural sweeteners), you can You can increase yourself. Long-term exposure to sugar in your teeth increases the risk of cavities. This risk increases if you make a habit of chewing sugar candy regularly.
