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If you chew gum on a very regular basis, consider the following: 1. Chewing gum causes unnecessary wear and tear of the cartilage that acts as a shock absorber in your jaw joints. Once damaged, this area can create pain and discomfort for a lifetime. 2. You use eight different facial muscles to chew. Unnecessary chewing can create chronic tightness in two of these muscles, located close to your temples. This can put pressure on the nerves that supply this area of your head, contributing to chronic, intermittent headaches. 3. You have six salivary glands located throughout your mouth that are stimulated to produce and release saliva whenever you chew. Producing a steady stream of salvia for chewing gum is a waste of energy and resources that could otherwise be used for essential metabolic activities. 4. The consumption of chewing gum is discouraged by some doctors, because chewing it too frequently has been said to increase the production of stomach acid to abnormal levels over a long period of time. 5. Chewing gum sweetened with sugar can have a negative effect on oral health, because it can degrade the enamel on teeth. The next time you think about chewing gum, please remember the price that your body pays for it.