Does chewing gum make TMJ worse?

Gum tends to run in the background, after coffee, on the commute or while you answer emails. If your jaw has started to ache or click, it is fair to ask whether all that chewing is part of the problem, and you are far from the only one asking.

Below I go through what chewing experiments in people with TMD show and what health bodies advise, including on hard "jawline" gum. You will also get a simple gum-break test I use in physiotherapy to check whether gum is your trigger.

Key takeaways

If you already have jaw muscle pain, chewing gum makes it worse for many people, at least in the short term. In lab chewing tests with wax or gum, pain rose in about half to 84% of patients, depending on the study (Dao et al., 1994; Gavish et al., 2002; Conti et al., 2011). There is no good evidence that gum on its own causes TMD (Alam et al., 2025).

• In most studies, healthy jaw muscles recover within minutes, even after 40 to 60 minutes of chewing.
• The NHS, the US NIDCR and UK TMD guidance all advise dropping or cutting back on gum while you have TMD.
• In my practice, a two-week gum break is the simplest way to see whether your jaw benefits.

What happens in your jaw when you chew gum?

Each chew works your masseter, the thick muscle in your cheek, and the temporalis at your temple, while the jaw joint guides the movement. During a meal, chewing comes in short bursts between bites and breaks. A piece of gum can stay in your mouth for an hour, and that long, repetitive load is what researchers have tried to measure.

UK guidance written for people with TMD puts it plainly: chewing gum, pen tops, pencils or nails produces unneeded extra strain in your chewing system (GIRFT and RCS FDS, 2025).

What do chewing experiments show in people with TMD?

Several research groups have had people with jaw muscle pain chew in the lab and rated their pain before and after.

In a Canadian study of 61 patients and 20 people without jaw pain, everyone chewed wax for three minutes. About half of the patients reported more pain afterwards, while about 30% actually felt less, and none of the pain-free volunteers had pain before or after (Dao et al., 1994). An Israeli team had 49 people who had lived with jaw muscle pain for at least six months chew wax for nine minutes. Pain rose clearly in 84% of them, and after nine minutes of rest it was almost back to where it started (Gavish et al., 2002).

In a Brazilian study, 29 women with jaw muscle pain chewed gum for nine minutes; 76% reported more pain, the rest reported no change, and their jaw muscles became more sensitive to pressure (Conti et al., 2011). In a study from San Francisco, six minutes of bubble gum increased pain in both female and male patients. For the women with TMD, pain was still above their starting level an hour later (Karibe et al., 2003). Chewing also raised pain in pain-free women in that study.

As a physiotherapist, I read this as a signal that chewing can flare an irritated jaw muscle, sometimes beyond the chewing itself. I have not found long-term studies that follow people with TMD with and without gum.

Can chewing gum cause TMJ problems?

That has not been shown. In healthy jaws, the experiments mostly show how resilient the muscles are. In an Italian study, 15 women without TMD chewed on one side for 40 minutes. Only very hard gum raised pain and fatigue, and ten minutes later the scores were almost back to normal; muscle tenderness was unchanged even 24 hours on (Farella et al., 2001). A Swedish study of 31 healthy adults found fatigue that lasted up to 20 minutes after 40 or 60 minutes of chewing, and mild pain only after the 60-minute session, which had faded by the first check ten minutes later (Al Sayegh et al., 2020).

Habitual chewers are a different picture. In an Iranian study of 200 adolescents, those who chewed gum for 30 to 120 minutes a day had more clicking and pain than those who did not, and longer chewing time made a difference (Tabrizi et al., 2014). A snapshot like this cannot tell you whether the gum caused the symptoms. A 2025 systematic review of eight studies found mixed results: some found symptoms that eased once people stopped chewing, others found more symptoms with longer and more frequent chewing (Alam et al., 2025).

The large US OPPERA study followed 2,737 adults without TMD for a median of 2.8 years, and 260 of them developed it for the first time. Oral parafunctions, the jaw habits you do outside of eating, were among the few factors that predicted new TMD (Ohrbach et al., 2013). The study measured these habits together, so it cannot tell you how much gum on its own contributes.

Is jawline gum bad for TMJ?

Hard "jawline" or "facial fitness" gum shows up in dozens of TikTok videos of young men from their late teens to early 20s, with claims that it builds a sharper jaw. Many of the people in those videos say they chew it for ten minutes every day (Onque, 2024). If you have been tempted by one of these extra-hard gums, the evidence gives you little reason to start.

In a randomised trial from Korea, 58 healthy adults were split into a group that chewed gum three times a day for six months and a group that did not. Bite force went up in the gum group, but masseter thickness and jaw shape did not change (Jung et al., 2024). An American Dental Association spokesperson quoted by CNBC warned that chewing hard gum may even trigger problems in the jaw joints (Onque, 2024). Dentists also report broken teeth, loose fillings and headaches in people who chew extra-hard gum (Kaiser, 2024).

What do the NHS and NIDCR advise about gum?

The NHS lists gum by name. Its TMD advice says not to chew gum or pen tops, to eat soft food such as pasta, omelettes and soup, and to keep your teeth apart except when you eat (NHS TMD, 2023). The NIDCR recommends conservative treatments first, and its self-management advice includes reducing habits such as jaw clenching, gum chewing and nail biting (NIDCR, 2026). The UK GIRFT guidance for painful TMD, written with the Royal College of Surgeons, gives the same instruction: do not chew gum (GIRFT and RCS FDS, 2025).

Their advice is aimed at the time while your jaw is sore, which is why the test below includes a careful way back to gum.

Try it: the gum-break test

I give this to people in physiotherapy who chew gum daily and have jaw symptoms. It takes about three weeks and tells you whether your jaw reacts to chewing.

1. For one week, chew as usual. Each evening, note your jaw pain for the day on a 0 to 10 scale and roughly how many minutes you chewed gum.
2. For the next two weeks, stop gum completely and keep the notes going. Watch for replacement habits like chewing pens or the inside of your cheek.
3. Compare your average scores. A clear drop in the gum-free weeks suggests gum plays a part for you.
4. If you want to go back to gum, start with a few minutes at a time and keep writing it down. If the pain climbs again, you have your answer.

What can you do instead of chewing gum?

In the moment

Hold a hot water bottle wrapped in a tea towel to your jaw for 15 to 20 minutes, or frozen peas in a tea towel for no more than five minutes at a time, whichever feels better. Gently massage the sore muscles and stick to soft food that day (NHS TMD, 2023). The UK guidance describes circular massage of the temple muscle for about a minute per muscle, three times a day (GIRFT and RCS FDS, 2025).

Long term

Practise the resting position: teeth apart, jaw loose, unless you are eating (NHS TMD, 2023). If you reach for gum when you are tense, the same UK guidance suggests slow diaphragmatic breathing for five minutes every couple of hours as a way to relax (GIRFT and RCS FDS, 2025). The NIDCR adds gentle exercises that stretch and strengthen the jaw muscles (NIDCR, 2026), and you will find guided routines on our TMJ exercises page. If stress is behind your chewing, read can stress cause jaw pain?, and if your jaw also clicks, see our guide to jaw clicking.

How JawBuddy helps

JawBuddy is a digital companion for guided jaw exercises and self-management. JawBuddy Therapy includes a daily tooth contact check, which helps you notice when your teeth are touching outside of meals.

The app does not replace emergency care or an individual diagnosis from a qualified healthcare professional.

When should you see a doctor?

Emergency: call 999 (or 911 in the US) if:

• you have chest pain that spreads to your arms, neck or jaw, or chest pain that feels tight or like squeezing (NHS Heart attack, 2026)

Urgent: ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 if:

• you cannot eat or drink (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have clicking, popping or grinding noises when you move your jaw (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have difficulty opening your mouth fully or your jaw is locking (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have pain around your jaw, ear or at the side of your head (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have frequent, severe headaches (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have pain or tenderness at the side of your head or on your scalp (NHS TMD, 2023)
• you have vision problems such as double vision or loss of vision (NHS TMD, 2023)

If your jaw still hurts after a gum break and the self-help above, book a routine visit with your dentist. Our jaw pain page helps you sort through other possible causes.

Give your jaw a break

Gum is easy to underestimate because it happens on autopilot, which also makes it one of the simplest things you can change yourself. Start your first week of notes tonight.

For the full picture of how jaw problems develop and are treated, read our TMJ disorder guide.