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Chewing when eating is something that most of us do without thinking, but you may be surprised to learn that we don’t chew food as thoroughly as recommended. Whether through bad eating habits or difficulties caused by missing teeth or jaw problems, inadequate chewing can affect many aspects of health and wellbeing. The good news is that these problems can usually be addressed with a bit of help from your dentist.

Read our guide to learn how chewing works, why it matters, and how replacing teeth with dental implants or other teeth replacement solutions can improve your chewing function and your overall health. If you need to talk to a dentist in Perth, contact our friendly team today.

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Why is chewing important?

Chewing (known as mastication) is the vital process of breaking down food into smaller pieces that are easier to swallow and digest. While chewing is done with our teeth, it’s really movements of the jaw and the tongue. When food is chewed, it’s coated in saliva that lubricates the food for easier movement down the throat, and contains enzymes that assist with digestion.

It’s widely recognised that eating and chewing are important for social interaction. When we avoid social eating due to problems with chewing food, we lose some of the many benefits including social bonding and connectedness to others.

 

How chewing aids digestion

Chewing sends signals to the body that food is about to enter the stomach, ready for digestion. Taking your time to chew food gives your body enough time to prepare for this, as well as making food smaller and easier to break down. Research shows that chewing food thoroughly is associated with better absorption of nutrients which are important for all areas of health, including oral health.

 

Chewing can relieve stress and anxiety

Chewing also has other benefits, with studies finding that the act of chewing gum can help to ease feelings of stress, anxiety and related disorders in some people.

* Smith AP. Chewing gum and stress reduction. J Clin Transl Res. 2016 Apr 24;2(2):52-54. PMID: 30873461; PMCID: PMC6410656. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6410656/

 

What happens if we don’t chew properly?

Improper chewing can occur when someone eats too quickly or isn’t aware of the importance of chewing food thoroughly. It may also happen as a result of missing or misaligned teeth, denture wearing, or problems with the jaw or temporomandibular (TMJ) joints affecting a person’s ability to chew and grind their food.

Signs you may not be chewing properly include:

 

1.    Digestive issues and heartburn

Chewing triggers the release of chemicals in the body that are responsible for digestion, including hydrochloric acid in the stomach and bile from the gall bladder. Not chewing for long enough can mean that not enough of these chemicals are produced. Low levels of stomach acid can cause bubbles of gas to rise through the oesophagus and throat, leading to heartburn.

If food isn’t chewed properly and is swallowed in large chunks, it increases the risk of choking and can take longer to break down. Bacteria in the gut can ferment undigested food and multiply, which can lead to issues such as bloating, constipation, gas and indigestion. If unwanted products enter the bloodstream, this can lead to an inflammation response.

 

2.    Nutritional deficiencies

When food isn’t chewed properly, the carbohydrates, proteins and fats it contains won’t be broken down as efficiently, meaning fewer nutrients are released and absorbed by the body. This can lead to deficiencies in certain nutrients that are important for health.

Dental issues like worn or missing teeth can also impact on nutrition if they cause people to prefer softer or overcooked foods that don’t require as much chewing.

 

3.    Overeating and metabolic issues

With normal chewing, satiety cues are sent around the body after about 20 minutes to help you feel full and stop eating more than necessary. If you don’t chew thoroughly, more food will be consumed before this signal happens. This can cause people to eat too much and experience ill effects, such as feeling sick or sluggish.

Overeating can also increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, which includes obesity and high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high glucose. People with metabolic syndrome are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular (heart) disease, diabetes and some cancers.

 

4.    Choking and aspiration

Trying to swallow large chunks of food without enough chewing can cause these to become lodged in the throat, creating a choking hazard. There’s also a higher risk of aspiration, or food ‘going down the wrong way’ and entering the airway or lungs.

 

5.    Tooth wear

Some people chew more on one side of their mouth than the other, due to damaged or missing teeth or other issues. This can cause the teeth on that side of the mouth to wear down at a faster rate than usual, or result in an uneven bite, and may require treatment to repair damage or alleviate associated pain.

To talk to a dentist about any dental issues and treatments, contact our local clinics in Kelmscott or East Victoria Park.

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How do prosthetic teeth affect chewing?

Missing teeth greatly impact on your ability to chew properly. Replacing them with prosthetic teeth can help restore chewing function, but this varies depending on the type of prosthetic teeth you choose.

• Dental implants: A fixed implant bridge provides 90% chewing efficiency, compared to 100% with healthy natural teeth.* This is similar for single tooth implants, multiple teeth implants or All-on-4® dental implants. You won’t have any diet restrictions with dental implants.
• Dentures: Implant-retained dentures attached to dental implants have 60% chewing efficiency. However, conventional dentures only offer 10–30% efficiency, as they’re not supported by the jaw but rather the gums and tongue. This can interfere with proper chewing function as removable dentures can dislodge easily and the tongue repositions food to retain the denture, so you may be advised to avoid certain foods.*

* Van der Bilt A. Human oral function: a review. Braz J Oral Sci. 2002;1(1):7–18.

5 Ways to improve your chewing

If you want to make sure you’re chewing correctly, some good habits to adopt:

• Chew around 20–30 times per bite, depending on the firmness of the food
• Take smaller bites
• Finish chewing and swallow, before taking your next bite
• Put your cutlery down between bites to stop you picking up more food
• Eat without distractions like screens which can make it easier to overeat

 

Find out more about teeth replacement in Perth

If you have worn, damaged or missing teeth and want to restore your bite and your smile, book a consultation with our dentists at Perth Dental Implant Centre to discuss your options today. Call our Kelmscott clinic on (08) 9495 7999 or our East Vic Park clinic on (08) 9470 3944, or contact us if you have any questions.

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References

1. Watanabe, Y. “Mastication – an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.” sciencedirect.com, 2014, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/mastication.

 

2. Dunbar, R.I.M. (2017). Breaking Bread: the Functions of Social Eating. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, [online] 3(3), pp.198–211. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-017-0061-4.

 

3. Smith AP. Chewing gum and stress reduction. J Clin Transl Res. 2016 Apr 24;2(2):52-54. PMID: 30873461; PMCID: PMC6410656. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6410656/

 

4. Van der Bilt A. Human oral function: a review. Braz J Oral Sci. 2002;1(1):7–18.