Chew gum is ok for you with braces? a lot of orthodontic patients chew gum while they have their orthodontic braces.  The child will sometimes say, “I have chewed a lot of gum and I didn’t break any of my orthodontic brackets off.”  It’s right, you may not have knock any brackets off.  However, gum chewing bends your wire.  I’d like to explain why chewing gum is not good for your treatment with orthodontic braces.

When you do it, first, it bends the wires. If a straight wire is placed into the mouth to move the teeth and you chew gum, you can bend the wire severely.If the wire is bent, then the teeth move to that bent wire.Then, when you come in for your next appointment, the orthodontist will see the teeth are still not corrected and place another wire.If you chew gum,you will lengthen your treatment time with the orthodontic braces. Also,as the teeth get more straighter, less pressure is needed to move the teeth. But, if you chew gum, all the time, your teeth will hurt longer because you keep moving the teeth into unexpectable positions.  Your Orthodontist will continue to apply pressure to move your teeth back.  Therefore, you may have more discomfort than usual.

So, through the above, a patient should not chew any type of gum while orthodontic braces are in place.  It does not matter what type of gum you are using.  Gum bends the wire. So, be careful with your orthodontic braces.  You may find that by abiding to the orthodontist, that your treatment will be less painful and shorter in treatment time.