Do you always chew with one side of your teeth? Beware of the following problems!

Have you noticed:

How do you chew your food when you eat?

Left teeth or right?

This seemingly insignificant habit,

It may affect your periodontal health.

Even change your face shape!

We usually chew food alternately with the teeth on both sides. From a medical point of view, we should chew evenly on both sides when eating, so that the gums on both sides can be evenly stressed, which is conducive to the normal development of teeth, jaws and muscles.

However, some people have not repaired their deciduous teeth for a long time due to early loss of deciduous teeth, caries, missing teeth, inflammation and pain of wisdom teeth, etc., and insist on using the other side of the teeth to eat. Over time, they have formed the habit of unilateral chewing.

How harmful is it to always use one side of your teeth?

If you chew on one side frequently, the masseter muscle on that side will develop and your face will become bigger; while the side that is less used will appear atrophied, causing asymmetry of the facial muscles and the formation of an uneven face.

Due to the lack of functional stimulation, a large amount of food residues and tartar accumulate around the teeth, causing symptoms such as bleeding gums and bad breath.

Adults who eat unilaterally for a long time will have mandibular joint movement disorders, which will cause temporomandibular joint disease, causing symptoms such as mouth opening pain and joint clicking, which will bring many inconveniences to life and work. They are also very likely to develop caries and gingivitis, and the atrophy of periodontal tissue will appear earlier and develop more rapidly than those who eat bilaterally.

For children in their growth period, long-term unilateral chewing will stimulate the development of the mandible, causing tooth deviation and unilateral mandibular hypertrophy, which will eventually lead to temporomandibular joint disease and difficulty in opening the mouth. In addition, it may also cause tooth occlusion deformity, with one side of the teeth "underbite", that is, crossbite, and severe facial deformity.

In addition, people who chew on one side often swallow food whole, which makes it difficult for the amylase in saliva to fully mix with the starch in food, thereby increasing the burden on the stomach and making it easy to get stomach problems.

What should I do if I chew on one side?

Now that you know the dangers of unilateral chewing, you can’t be careless! Once facial asymmetry and other serious consequences are caused by unilateral chewing, it will be difficult to correct it. You must discover it in time and actively solve the problem~

01. It is crucial to eliminate the relevant causes

Maintain good oral hygiene, go to a professional dental hospital for a checkup every six months, and treat dental problems promptly. If you have missing teeth, take appropriate measures to repair them in time.

02. Keep exercising the masseter muscles on both sides at the same time

If the facial asymmetry is not severe and the patient is not too old, the deformity will gradually disappear.

03. Treatment and recovery

In severe cases or adults, it can be restored through orthodontic treatment or facial plastic surgery.

Unilateral chewing is more common in teenagers. The common reasons are mostly because of dental problems on the other side, pain, stuck teeth or inconvenience in chewing. At first, they consciously do not use that side, and it becomes a habit over time. Unilateral chewing is very harmful. It not only affects the face shape, but also affects health. Early intervention is necessary to avoid causing greater harm. When bone factors are aggravated, the difficulty of correction will be greatly increased. Therefore, if you find dental problems, you must go to a professional dental institution for treatment in time, and maintain good oral hygiene at ordinary times. When eating, you must consciously use the teeth on both sides to eat alternately to develop healthy dental habits.