Team L&M
Chewing gum is a favourite of all kids and many adults too. Many of you must be eating chewing gum as a snack, a pastime or simply because of the sweet flavour it gives. Although eating chewing gum after a meal could be healthy as the saliva released in the process helps to clean the teeth and its flavour can add freshness to the breath but you must not get addicted to it. It is not a healthy thing to eat as it not only impacts your teeth but your other body systems as well.
1) Chewing gum can cause pain, tightening and inflammation of the jaw muscles, earaches, toothaches, even chronic headaches.
2) Peppermint-flavoured chewing gum can cause gastric acid reflux. Chewing gum that is sweetened with artificial sweeteners can cause indigestion, and may lead to diarrhoea.
3) Chewing gum contains lots of sugar so when you chew it you are actually bathing your teeth with sugar which can cause dental erosion and tooth decay.
4) Amalgamated dental fillings contain silver, mercury and tin. Chewing gum releases mercury vapour from the fillings, which can be rapidly absorbed into the blood. Even though the quantity of mercury is small, it still contaminates the system.
