Think about how important chewing is to your life. If you enjoy eating (and a great many of us do) chewing makes it all possible. Imagine your favorite food. The last thing you’d probably want to do is stick it in a blender and drink it through a straw. No, chewing is a ritual that is as important in our culture as food itself. We just don’t tend to give much thought to the whole process of masticating food. Your Celina dentist, Dr. Newton, explains some of the reasons why mindful chewing can affect the health of your teeth and your jaw.
Supersized Dental Problems
Taking bites of food that are actually too big for your mouth can injure your jaw. Unfortunately, in American culture, increasingly larger portions have become the norm over the years. Enormous hamburgers, sandwiches, burritos, and pastries, for example, sometimes require the eater to open their mouth so wide that jaw joints can be injured. To that same effect, stuffing your mouth with so much food that you look like a foraging hamster can hurt your jaw and overstress your teeth, and provide you with dental problems. People who suffer from temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) are in a higher risk category, since their jaw joints are already sensitive and susceptible to soreness. If an item of food forces you to open your mouth so wide that it causes discomfort, consider cutting the item into smaller bites before eating it.
Chewing More to Eat Less
Typically people don’t chew each bite of food well enough before swallowing. Many of us eat on the run, or wait to long to eat and speed through the process because we’re so hungry. Swallowing food without properly breaking it down first can become a bad habit. Not only is it a choking hazard, but barely chewing your food can affect weight control. In fact, a study from Harbin Medical University in China discovered a connection between the amount of chewing we do, and the levels of certain weight regulating hormones in our blood.
Comprehensive Dental Care in Celina
If you experience any jaw soreness while chewing, be sure to arrange an appointment at Celina Family Dentistry to get evaluated. We provide comprehensive dental care to our patients. You can reach our 75009 dental office at (214) 851-0130. We are happy to provide service to people in Celina, Prosper, and surrounding communities.
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