Some plastic surgeons have a message for their wrinkle-conscious patients: stop chewing gum. Chewing gum leads to wrinkles.
It freshens our breath and helps us quit smoking, but some cosmetic surgeons believe chewing gum does one more thing: It gives us wrinkles.
"Many of my patients who are gum chewers have a certain pattern of wrinkles around their mouth," says Dr. Joel Schlessinger, a board certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon from Omaha, Neb. "And I think the gum is responsible to some degree for it."
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Experts attribute the gum-wrinkle connection to two things. First, there's the repetitive motion of chewing, which causes lines and folds around the mouth due to muscle overuse, says Dr. Hema Sundaram, a Washington, D.C.-area cosmetic surgeon and laser expert.
"I believe chewing gum promotes muscle over-activity and potentially breaks down support tissue within the skin, contributing to volume loss and perhaps loss of skin elasticity," she says.
What's more, chewing gum can dislodge dermal fillers that people have injected into their faces to plump up their wrinkles.
"It makes your Restylane and other fillers last less long," says Sundaram.
Your dentist will tell you that chewing sugar free gum will help reduce cavities and will reduce stains from drinking coffee and tea. But he or she will also tell you that chewing gum can dislodge expensive dental work. Plastic surgeons will tell you that using a straw all the time will make more wrinkles around the mouth, similar to those of smokers.
So, to sum up: to prevent wrinkles and keep your teeth white, don't eat, chew gum, drink coffee, tea or red wine, use a straw or go outside without vampire-level sunblock. Oh, and don't smile -- or frown. That really causes wrinkles.
