Chewing gum might not look – or sound – great from the outside (loud smacking noises, anyone?) but it’s a great way to make sure you have fresh breath before meeting people or going in for a kiss with that special someone. It’s an innocent habit, but doing it too regularly could actually be bad for your skin. Who would’ve thought!
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Two dentists who work on the mouths of celebrities have stated that excessive gum chewing can have all sorts of adverse effects, such as making your jaw squarer, chipping your teeth and even causing fine lines and wrinkles to appear.
But why?
The reason why this can lead to wrinkles is the same reason why we get lines around our eye and forehead area – repeated facial expressions. And since your mouth does a lot of moving in very specific ways while you are chewing, this can result in fine lines developing around that area a lot sooner than you would like. So this means that all those anti-ageing products are going to be a waste of time and money if you enjoy a good gum-chewing session. As for the development of a square jaw, this is a result of overactivity of the muscles in that area. If you are aiming for a more chiselled face, go ahead and stock up on the Chappies. But if not, perhaps it’s time to cut down.
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Fortunately, it’s not all bad news. Gum stimulates saliva production, which means that it’s helpful in neutralising the effects of acids and sugar in the mouth. But, according to these dentists, we should only be chewing it for a maximum of 10 minutes in order to avoid skin-related side effects. So freshen your breath and then spit it out. You really do learn something new every day.
PHOTO: iStock/nyul
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