Do you chew gum with your braces?

[Heidirs]

There seems to be conflicting opinions on whether or not gum is safe to chew with braces. The main concern is that the gum will get caught in and bend the wires.

But another opinion is the act of chewing can stimulate the bone surrounding the tooth and be good for you so long as the gum is chewed in small amounts. However, sugarless gum is best.

My ortho gave me gum in my little care packet, but it's not even sugarless!

Still afraid to chew and bend the wires, though.

[Jeska0113]

I have never heard of the gum stimulating the bone guess you do learn something new everyday !

I am forever scared of chewing gum. Hell, im scared to eat anything for that matter ! Lol one of my brackets is loose im scared to put anything in my mouth

[FlyByNight]

I never tried it. I was always worried it would get stuck. I'm not really a gum chewer though.

[krystal7krystal7]

Just once. I was only sucking the sweetness like candy, chewed 5 times before spitting it out before it got too soft.

[djspeece]

I lost my mind temporarily once while checking out at the grocery store, where in the US they put all the forbidden goodies for impulse buyers like me. I bought a couple of rolls of pink bubble gum ("Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape") because I hadn't had any for years, and it was screaming "buy me!" Opened it up as soon as I got in the car like a heroin addict anticipating a fix. It was a mess. It was fun. And then it was gone!

[Psa]

I was very hesistant about chewing gum at first because of what I had heard from my ortho and read online about gum and braces in general(first few months) . But, I've now had my braces on for two years and I chew gum almost daily. I never had any problem with my braces or anything. So, in my case no problem.

It wasn't the extremely soft bubble gum, though. That stuff gets stuck in the braces.

[Heidirs]

My ortho gave me Trident, and it is actually sugar free. It's in tiny, tiny print in the corner.

I gave in and tried it, and you don't have to worry about messing with your wires as long as you keep it between your teeth.

Left me teeth sore, though. Had to stop doing that after a while. But if it's good practice, that's something.

[Beckett]

I chewed trident for a while too, on the express wishes of my Ortho. Something about muscle development I think. It was during a time when I had elastics only at night. I never had a single problem with the gum getting stuck anywhere, much less bending a wire. You'd have to have either pretty flimsy wires and pretty rock hard gum to achieve that.

I don't actually enjoy chewing gum. It makes my back molars hurt and feel like they're contacting each other before the rest of my teeth. And now that I'm back in full time elastics, I just don't anymore.

[Cris2u]

My orthodontist suggested I chew gum and I was confused and scared to do it but it actually helped. It helped decrease the pain when it was time to eat after tightenings. Just have to remember not to let your gum rest in your cheek to keep it from getting stuck in your brackets.

[monks]

Do not chew gum at the beginning!

I am only a few weeks in, but I was seeing a lot of initial movement. Due to this, I was getting a little bit of pain in my bicuspid and back molars. I was noticing that when I chewed things, although it hurt a little bit, it was also taking away some of the discomfort. So I chewed a hard sugar-free gum on a few occasions over the past two days - but noticed this morning that all the movement gains my teeth made are now gone, and my molars all line up again :(

Now I'm worried that I've just pushed the treatment times back. I know I'm only 2 weeks in but I want these babies off my mouth as soon as possible.

So, for those asking - don't chew gum (at least at the beginning!) It's not just about it getting stuck in your wires and brackets.

[Dureena]

http://kevinobrienorthoblog.com/chewing ... ntic-pain/