Although chewing sugar free gum, especially
gum containing Xylitol, has been shown to stimulate saliva production
and help reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth, new research indicates
that chewing gum habitually could actually be the cause of mild to
severe headaches.
Research findings from Tel Aviv University, as
published in the journal Pediatric Neurology, found that chewing gum
could be responsible for up to 87% of chronic headaches and migraines in
teenagers.
In the study, Dr. Watemberg and his colleagues asked
30 patients aged 6-19 years old to give up chewing gum for one month.
Most of these patients chewed gum habitually from 1-6 hours per day.
By
the end of the month, 7 of the 30 children stated that they noticed a
decrease in the frequency and intensity of their headaches and a further
19 out of 30 patients reported their headaches had completely ceased.
To
further test the relationship between gum and headaches, 26 of the
research subjects then agreed to resume gum chewing again for two weeks.
Within a few days, 100% of them experienced a return in headache
symptoms.
How gum chewing can cause headaches
Excessive gum
chewing is believed to place stress on the temporomandibular joint or
TMJ, which connects the jaw bone to the skull. It is presumed that the
excessive use of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) through gum chewing
can be a cause of headaches.
This connection was made partly based
on the knowledge that individuals with TMJ dysfunction (TMD) are found
to have significantly higher levels of headaches than the general
population. To understand why this happens, it is necessary to
understand what TMD is.
TMD, or Tempromandular Disorder, refers to
an imbalance in the jaw to skull relationship.When the jaw is
misaligned, both the hard and soft tissues are affected and many
physiological problems can result, such as headaches, jaw pain, neck and
shoulder pain, tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, and clicking or
popping sounds in the jaw joint.
If you suffer from these symptoms, whether you chew gum or not, ask your dental care provider to examine you for TMD.
Conclusions
Although
the Tel Aviv University study covers a small sample size and there is
some reasonable doubt that could be cast about the reliability of the
sample group of teens to detect and express their symptoms accurately,
the commonsense recommendation of giving up habitual and excessive gum
chewing, especially for people with a history of headaches, does have
merit.
If giving up gum chewing means fewer headaches for you or
your teens, it would be well worth forgoing the positive effects of gum
chewing on dental health from increased saliva production.
At
Millennium Dental
in Douglas Glen, SE Calgary, you'll find a well-trained team that is
passionate about dental care. We provide cosmetic dental services that
range from teeth-whitening to comprehensive aesthetic enhancements. For
more information Call us on
403-236-4443 FREE.
