Cheek Biting: Why You Bite Your Cheek and How to Stop

February 6, 2011

Let’s talk today about cheek biting.

That’s a sentence that will constitute some human beings affirm “huh?” while others affirm “yes, let’s.” The cause for this is since, by and large, cheek biting is somewhat akin to fingernail biting. Some of us do it as a terrible habit, and some of us don’t. And, of direction, the two sides don’t really know the other (the side that doesn’t do it says “hey, just stop already,” while the side that does do it knows it’s just not that simple).

However yes, there are cheek biters outside there. And when I affirm “cheek biters,” I mean the entire inside of the mouth — the cheek, the lips, and much the tongue. It’s just the phrase “cheek biters” sounds bigger.

As a NYC cosmetic dentist, I see a abundance of cheek biting. Some cases are simply accidental, some cases are chronic, yet have easily remedied medical reasons, and some are physiological in nature. Let’s go over a hardly any reasons/causes:

The first cause of cheek biting is what I call “careless chewing.” It’s something we all probably do from age to age. It’s when you’re chewing and usually trying to do something else — talking, reaching for something, reading etc. Talking is really the largest culprit here (be it far from me to admonish human beings for reading while eating — my newspaper is a staple at lunch). This can be remedied by perhaps paying a small more attention to chewing, slowing down while eating, and alike.

However again, this is something we all probably do. Thus, an occasional cheek/lip bite is usually not a cause for concern.

More problematic is chronic cheek biting, usually due to some sort of misalignment in your teeth, or perhaps due to TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder). This is quite common in some human beings — misaligned teeth cause our bites to be “off,” and can cause an occasional nip to the cheek/tongue/lips.

This can happen with your permanent teeth (which become misaligned due to missing teeth/etc), or with improperly aligned fake teeth. Misaligned teeth not only cause an occasional accidental nip. In some human beings, misaligned teeth can constitute a psychological dependency in terms of biting one’s cheek. This is where chronic cheek biting starts.

When your teeth are misaligned, they do not close together properly. Our brains realize this, and sometimes gaze to “fair” this misalignment by putting something in between them. And what is available to place in there? You guessed it — the insides of your cheek/lips. So if you find yourself constantly putting your cheek/lips in between your teeth, misalignment could be the cause.

The at the end cause human beings bite their cheeks is due to a simple nervous habit, much like biting one’s nails. The root cause may or may not have been misaligned teeth or dentures, however “nervous habit” cheek biting can be prevalent much in a perfect mouth.

So, immediately that we know the causes, let’s discuss how harmful cheek biting is.

The first, and most obvious, “harmful aspect” is the simple circumstance that biting one’s cheek often leaves a sore, and mouth sores are never fun. Immediately again, if this is a twice yearly body, perhaps it’s not worth worrying about, however if there are constant “bite related” sores in your mouth, it’s something you probably desire to domicile, if nothing else, for your own comfort (and you don’t desire them getting infected, etc).

Of direction, like I mentioned above, cheek biting may mean misalignment, and misaligned teeth can cause all kinds of other problems (TMJ, headaches, moving teeth, etc.) So it’s probably a excellent thought to get this checked outside, and corrected.

I have heard talk of mouth lesions sometimes being a cause of oral cancer. So that would lead one to reckon cheek biters may be more susceptible to developing oral cancer. I am not going to go that far — the research on such is somewhat spotty, and really, most of the condemning data that is outside there is in the form of analysis forum posts and the like. However still, mouth sores are something you do desire to eliminate.

Ok, we have causes and concerns — immediately let’s talk about fixing the issue.

Obviously, going by what I’ve laid outside, the simplest fixes involve paying more attention when you chew, and, in many cases, getting a misalignment in your bite corrected. In circumstance, those two will likely eliminate cheek biting in a fantastic majority of human beings.

For chronic “nervous habit” cheek biters, the solution may demand some kind of substitute or “training” to eliminate the habit. For example, sugarless gum is something that can aid. Or, if you are biting your lip, perhaps lip gloss/lip balm, which at least will constitute you “realize” what you are doing.

In the end, cheek biting is something nearly all of us will familiarity at one age or another, and with a small effort, is attractive simple to fair.

Until following age, keep smiling!

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