Metal Mouth Message Board

Can you chew sugarless gum with braces? My wife (who had brothers with braces) was annoyed with the sound of me chewing gum the other day and said she could not wait till I get braces so I can't chew gum for a while. I told her I thought I could chew gum, but she said her brothers were not allowed to chew any gum (about 15 years ago). I've read about conflicting opinions about being able to chew sugarless gum. Just curious what others have experienced.

Try it and let us know! (include photos)

You're not supposed to chew gum. People do.

I think the reason you're not supposed to chew gum is because the gum can pull on the wires, o-rings, brackets or bands and dislodge them or break them off, delaying treatment. I don't think type of bracket would make a difference.

It's up to your judgement. My ortho charges $90 for every bracket broken off during treatment, I think to deter bad behavior.

My ortho says to chew sugarfree gum to help with soreness. I have ceramic and metal braces and it does not stick. I chew trident.

I never chewed gum before as it isn't much fun when you don't have a bite! I always have sugar free mints instead. My sister and most of her friends chewed gum through braces despite being told not to and were fine though.

I don't chew gum often, but know it can be done safely.

I've learned a couple things as I've tried to do so:

1. Pink bubble gum = bad. It 'melts' and makes a mess of the brackets and wires. Took me hours to clean up.

2. Trident= good. I've never had any problems at all. It was my favorite before braces so I'm pleased with that.

I don't chew gum anymore since finding gum without fake sugar is near impossible...but the other day I took a piece from a coworker without even thinking about it. It immediately got caught around my brackets and I pulled it out and tossed it. It was Stride gum I think.

My ortho did have gum on the don't list. I've been following the rules figuring the better I cooperate, the better my outcome will be.

Not me. No way. Bad enough getting food unstuck. Not going to even try gum.

My ortho has encouraged sugarless gum for the soreness and dryness. I tried it once and it was stringing all over the place, so I decided it wasn't worth it, but I've never been much of a gum chewer anyway...

I was told that I could chew sugarless gum

I didn't chew gum for the first two years then started again, I don't have any problems at all.

Ugh, its so disgusting! Save yourself the trouble and trust me - it *will* stick to the wire and brackets, itll take forever to pick out, and youll know not to do it aain

I haven't had any problems with gum, however I feel like a cow chewing on cud. It feels weird, so I don't. I miss it a bit. Sugarless was the only kind I chewed.

I like the grape cube gum. And yeah, I chew it with elastics in. It did get stuck on a back hook, but easily came off.