Could chewing on hard gum help you sculpt your jawline? It depends on who you ask -- teen boys who have embraced fitness chewing gum brands like Jawliner and Rockjaw might say yes, but your dentist will likely tell you it's a bad idea.
If you've never heard of fitness chewing gum before, you may not be spending time in the online spaces where it's popular. Here's what you need to know about the trend and whether it can actually help you achieve a chiseled jawline.
Some fitness chewing gum is made of mastic, a resin that comes from an evergreen Mediterranean tree. People in Greece have been using it to create traditional remedies for thousands of years -- and chewing it too, as it's hard and chewy once hardened. Other fitness gums on the market are made of similar ingredients as traditional gum, but with a tougher consistency.
The idea behind fitness chewing gum is to give your jaw muscles a workout so they can grow. The masseter is one of the main muscles involved in the act of chewing. A strong masseter muscle gives the appearance of a squarer, sharper jawline.
Fitness chewing gum follows the footsteps of another TikTok trend: mewing. Mewing consists of sticking your tongue to the roof of your mouth and holding that position as much as possible.
Proponents of the approach claim that it can change your facial structure by promoting better alignment and, again, strengthening the muscles of the jawline.
Wondering why so many people are obsessed with their jawline? You can blame it on "looksmaxxing," a slang term that includes all things involved in maximizing your attractiveness. But, let's face it, it also perpetuates unrealistic ideals and a one-size-fits-all version of what's desirable -- such as a sharper, stronger jawline being considered more masculine.
"Most kids my age want a sharp, defined jawline because of the promotion of 'looksmaxxing' on TikTok," Henry Dixon, a 14-year-old in North Carolina, told The Cut."People want these jawlines because they want to look like models and potentially more attractive."
This also explains why procedures like jawline fillers are getting increasingly popular. However, not everyone is ready to take drastic measures in the pursuit of aesthetic goals, which fuels the popularity of solutions like fitness chewing gum.
"The idea that you can get a more chiseled jawline with a simple, low-cost and low-effort activity is very appealing," says facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Kimberly Lee. "People love quick-fix DIY solutions, and since it's a low-risk activity that doesn't require any special skills, it can be shared widely."
Now, the bigger question is: Does fitness chewing gum actually work or is it just a gimmick? Research shows that masticatory exercise -- the act of chewing gum definitely counts -- could have an impact on bite force.
This means that you can get stronger by repetitively chewing gum in the same way that you can strengthen your body by lifting weights. Experts aren't convinced that any strength gains there can drastically alter the shape of your face though.
"Fitness chewing gum may provide mild benefits for toning the masseter muscle, but it's unlikely to lead to a drastically chiseled jawline or sculpted face," says Lee, who adds that genetics, body fat levels, and anatomic bone structure play a much larger role in how your face looks.
According to Lee, if you're interested in transforming the appearance of your jawline, you're better off focusing on overall health. Losing excess body fat can help reduce the appearance of a double chin. But eating healthy and exercising will only take you so far in terms of changing the bone structure and body composition that you were born with.
You can be lean yet still carry fat around your jawline, or simply have a narrower bone structure. Neither of those things is negative. If they bother you, fitness chewing gum may not provide a significant transformation. But it may help you see some improvements.
While chewing on extra-hard gum sounds like a harmless habit, it does carry potential downsides. "As a dentist, I find the trend of achieving a sharper jawline, especially by chewing hard gum, dangerous," says dentist Dr. Murat Mercan. "There are risks of tooth fractures, muscle spasms and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders."
According to Mercan, this is especially true if you clench your teeth at night or while you lift weights: "The additional habit of chewing hard gum can exacerbate existing problems by putting extra strain on the jaw joint, muscles and teeth. This can lead to aggravation of TMJ disorders, muscle pain and spasms, restricted mouth opening and damage to tooth enamel."
Ouch -- if you want to jump on the fitness chewing gum trend, proceed with caution and don't overdo it.