Gum Chewing a Harmful Pastime

Q. I recently started chewing gum again after many years. It seems relaxing and innocuous, but I have developed this feeling that you would have some objections to its use. Please advise. – L.T.

A. Quite a while ago I wrote an answer to a question from P.B., about gum chewing, and whether or not it helped to clean teeth. Inasmuch as that article answers your question, I am going to re-run it with a few updated changes. You are correct that gum chewing seems to relieve anxiety.The action does help to clean one’s teeth, but its other detrimental effects eliminate any advantage this may have.

Most gum contains one-half teaspoonful of sugar per stick. It is not uncommon for people to go on the gum kick and chew it most of the day. Those who take new sticks repeatedly through the day have sugar bathing the teeth continually. This often happens to smokers who quit and take up gum chewing or those that feel it sweetens the breath. The dentist can spot these patients quickly, as they develop six to ten cavities in but a few months time from the continuous sugar bath their teeth receive.

The artificial sweeteners are not supposed to cause dental problems. However.the way the original research reports were handled in securing F.D.A. approval of aspartame, numbers of questions have been left that demand clarifying research. Reports of birth defects, subtle disruptions in the balance of chemicals in the brain, mood changes, behavioral effects, and a possible carcinogen role, worry a number of competent scientists. Of some 600 consumer complaints that have been received, 67 percent reported adverse neurological and behavioral problems. Regardless of these risks, the important point is the need to get away from our addiction to sweets and we can’t do so if we keep pampering ourselves. Americans spend $800,000,000 per year on chewing gum. This amounts to 200 sticks for every man, woman and child in the USA.

The amount of wear teeth sustain just from eating food is minimal. However, all day chewing of gum or anything else, does cause excessive abrasion and wear of teeth. Individuals with crooked teeth and faulty, irregular bite arrangements, are particularly susceptible to severe problems to the joints of their jaws from excessive chewing. Popping and clicking during eating or talking, is an abnormality that takes place in many people’s mouths and such grating in the jaw is quite common in the gum chewer. This affliction is known as the temperomandibular joint syndrome. This confusing technical term and condition is easier to understand if one compares it to a sprained ankle or wrist…that is, the affliction is a sprained jaw. Dentists treat T.M.J. problems regularly, but some of the need could be avoided if over-use weren’t so common.

Everyone seems to accept gum chewing, but if we observe the next person we see doing so for a full minute or two, it becomes apparent that it is not a very attractive pastime. With all the concern there is for appearing favorably to others, it is surprising that people have closed their eyes to how they look when chewing gum. For a cow, chewing its cud is a must…for humans it’s a bust!