How does gum affect orthodontic treatment?

May slow it down: Teeth move best when muscles are relaxed. Gum chewing strengthens the muscles that oppose tooth movement. You can also damage wires and brackets. Avoid gum chewing in general, but especially during orthodontics. And if you must chew, sugar free please!

Avoid gum!: Orthodontists recommend that you suspend gum use while braces are in place! the gum tends to get caught in the braces and makes a mess, which adds to the places where food can hide from you as you are trying to brush!

Lengthens treatment: Gum will work harden the wire reducing the effectiveness and eventually leading to the wire fracturing. In addition chronic chewing can loosen bands.

Depends: Chewing gum can loosen or break appliances and slow your treatment down. Can also stay lodged in the appliances and cause decay/cavities.

Braces: Chewing gum used to be a no-no as we used braces that wrapped around the tooth held on by cement. The gum chewing would gradually weaken the cement and small cavities or white spots would develop but not be found until after the braces were removed. Now gum chewing has been found to stimulate blood flow around the teeth which decrease pain level

Can be a no-no: Gum chewing can cause bonded brackets to break off the tooth. Sticky and chewey foods tend to be "brace breakers", meaning, they can loosen bonded brackets and even loosen cemented bands. I normally recommend to my patients to avoid gum chewing. Also, another issue with or without braces, chronic gum chewing can exacerbate an exisiting tmd problem or myofacial pain dysfunction.

VERY bad idea: Open the lid of a can, it sometimes doesn't pop off. You have to wiggle it back-and-forth 'till it breaks. Same thing happens to orthodontic wires from constant chewing in one spot, as with gum. Can also cause sealers behind brackets/bands to wash out, brace comes loose, treatment comes to a crashing halt. Worse, sealer can partially wash out, bacteria gets in behind brace, result is cavity.