Is chewing sugar-free gum healthy? Think again

Eliezer the Lion
August 10, 2015   
For years, Claire chewed sugar-free gum for 5 or even 7 hours a day. Now doctors have told her she needs a complicated operation to replace her worn-out jaws with metal plates.
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What happens to someone who chews gum for long hours? The painful answer to this question was given to 38-year-old Claire Embleton, who chewed gum for 5 hours a day for many years.

Embleton says that immediately after every meal she made sure to chew sugar-free gum, thinking that such an action was good for the palate and teeth. She says that there were days when she chewed for 5 hours, and there were days when she reached 7 hours.

But then, about two years ago, Clear felt a sensation of breaking or cracking in her jaws, and she felt she couldn't open her mouth: "My jaws locked, and I went into a terrible panic," she says, "I couldn't eat, or even speak, and when I did manage, it was accompanied by terrible pain.

At the hospital, Embleton was diagnosed as suffering from severe erosion of the jaw joints, and despite the various pills and medications she took, there was no improvement in her condition.

Recently, doctors concluded that Clear must undergo complicated surgery during which her jaw joints will be replaced with metal plates that will allow her to return to eating, and even speaking.

""In my wildest dreams, I couldn't believe that such a healthy habit would turn my life into a nightmare," Embleton said.


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