Does chewing gum while you have braces really affect the job of the braces?!


Question: I always chew gum. I have braces, and i don't seem to understand how chewing gum is bad for your braces...

I understand it can stick to the braces, but mine doesn't..
is there a way to chew gum with braces without damaging them?..because i think thats what i do...


Answers: I always chew gum. I have braces, and i don't seem to understand how chewing gum is bad for your braces...

I understand it can stick to the braces, but mine doesn't..
is there a way to chew gum with braces without damaging them?..because i think thats what i do...

I ask my patients not to chew gum at all. When you first get your brackets on, we use very flexible wires. Chewing gum can flex those wires and make them come out of the brackets, basically making them worthless until your next visit and possibly making them poke you. Also, while your teeth are moving, sometimes you'll bite on your brackets in odd ways. During normal eating, you'll learn to avoid doing that, but when you chew gum you aren't as likely to notice that you're hitting on your brackets, and there's a higher chance of breaking one off. When you break brackets off, you're extending your treatment time, sometimes by as much as 3 months for each occurrence.

Some orthodontists let their patients chew gum later in treatment when the wires are stiffer. I don't, because if a bracket is knocked off later in treatment, we often have to revert to the more flexible wires for a few weeks and it really gets us behind schedule.

There's no guarantee that chewing gum will cause anything negative to happen, but the risk is there and when your 24-month treatment plan becomes 30-months because you've broken brackets off by not following your orthodontist's instructions, you'll be kicking yourself.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

possibly. braces cost a lot do not take a chance. follow the orthdontist instructions.

It doesn't affect the job of the braces, but it can pull them off which would affect it.

I'm chewing gum right now! and i have braces.. I did pull off 3 brackets at once one time.. it's just a chance..sometime they come off..sometimes they don't

yes it is very bad. cant you wait a few years?

I chewed gum while I had braces and it did not seem to effect their job. The orthodontias said I was ahead of schedule.

No I had braces. I chewed a ton of gum. It didn't hurt anything. If your chewing a kind that sticks don't chew it. The only thing they don't want is for it to get stuck or pull a bracket out. if yours doesn't then your gold.

I had braces for a year and a half, always chewed gum didn't have any problems at all.

the constant motion makes the wires slide which will make your teeth come out all funnyyy

I don't think it does, if the kind of gum you chew doesn't stick to your braces.
I have a retainer, and I'm not supposed to chew gum, but I do anyway. Certain kinds, like the ones that come in a pack of like six in a paper wrapper, are really sticky and stick to my retainer.
A lot of my friends have braces and they still chew gum. I'm getting braces in a few weeks and I plan on still chewing gum.
I think the only problems would be brackets coming off and the hassle of getting any gum unstuck.

I have braces and my orthodontist told me that I can chew it but it has to be sugar free.

yes- the gum gets stuck inthe braces and they can't come out, and rot your teeth. and they pull off brackets. i lost 3 brackets chewing gum. but personally, it isn't that long. easy waiting





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