Cheek Bite Preventer?

[mike_d]

Ever bite the inside of your cheek while you’re chewing? Sometimes I do that. Then the bite swells up, and, due to the size of the swelling, the spot gets more and more likely to be bitten again, and swell more ...Well its happening to me again more and more as I lose weight, not sure of a fix but it makes me a bit afraid to eat or chew my food properly. Sometimes it happens when I am not even eating, just talking or even while sleeping.

Now I have 1/2 a carrot slice stuck between cheek 'n gum like a plug of chew LOL except its nit funny. Its working but I have to remove the 'prosthetics' to eat :o

Other people have it as well apparently:

yesterday i went to the dentist and shes like “oh youre still chewing your lips….you know that repeated trauma to the same spot over and over distorts the cell increasing your risk of cancer?” great.

Anyone know of a cure?

The worst things to eat with this problem are apple, cheese, carrots, walnuts or breads but almost anything can cause it.Canker sores and other ordinary mouth ulcers (medically referred to as minor aphthous stomatitis), which often start with a sore resulting from braces or biting the lip or cheek, afflict 20% of the population recurrently.
Controlling immediate pain: Cankermelts provide pain relief without numbing your mouth. Cankermelts relieve pain in less than 15 minutes and continue to do so until fully dissolved in 2 to 6 hours. If a canker sore becomes very painful before you begin treating it, a fresh disc will hurt at first. It is important to start treating when you first feel the sore, before it becomes painful - this prevents the pain from ever becoming serious. -- CVS Pharmacy

[SidC]

Well, your dentist was not very helpful. Have you considered seeing your doctor about the problem instead? Here's is one link on possible reasons for this happening and suggestions on how to overcome it: MDAvice.com (http://www.mdadvice.com/library/symp/illness327.html).

The only other useful thing I found on this was this thread (http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med.dentistry/tree/browse_frm/month/2002-05/2281c51fac653b7b?rnum=181&_done=%2Fgroup%2Fsci.med.dentistry%2Fbrowse_frm%2Fmonth%2F2002-05%3F) (you have to scroll down a bit to find the right post) on an "ask the dentist" help site that suggested one cause could be that your teeth are not aligned properly - if so, the good news is that it can be fixed. Maybe try again with your own dentist, or try a different one is she won't take this seriously?

[Nancy LC]

I had this problem hugely after some oral surgery. What happens to me is I bite the inside of my cheek when I sleep. I wake up going "OW!". Then the cheek swells and you end up biting it when you eat. Nasty cycle. So what I did to interrupt this chain of events was stuff some gauze (folded over to make a nice lump) inside my cheek to lift that area away from my teeth. Then after a couple of nights the swelling goes down and the biting stops and I don't need the gauze at night any longer.

[mike_d]

I had this problem hugely after some oral surgery. What happens to me is I bite the inside of my cheek when I sleep. Yeah I think it started at night because I grind my teeth sometimes. Mine cleared up after several days on a soft diet. I almost bit it again eating some dark chocolate because its sticky. Still having wisdom teeth is a part of the problem as well as sunken cheeks from weight loss. Anyway I try to eat slower and be more careful now which is a good thing.

Today I bit the tip of my tongue eating a hot pepper :p

[Nancy LC]

Ow! Strangely it was having my impacted wisdom teeth removed that caused a series of biting my teeth. I think I was just really inflammed all over my mouth area.

[kaypeeoh]

Anyone know of a cure?

The worst things to eat with this problem are apple, cheese, carrots, walnuts or breads but almost anything can cause it.
Quote:
Canker sores and other ordinary mouth ulcers (medically referred to as minor aphthous stomatitis), which often start with a sore resulting from braces or biting the lip or cheek, afflict 20% of the population recurrently.
Controlling immediate pain: Cankermelts provide pain relief without numbing your mouth. Cankermelts relieve pain in less than 15 minutes and continue to do so until fully dissolved in 2 to 6 hours. If a canker sore becomes very painful before you begin treating it, a fresh disc will hurt at first. It is important to start treating when you first feel the sore, before it becomes painful - this prevents the pain from ever becoming serious. -- CVS Pharmacy


Canker sores happen spontaneously as well as from trauma. I had serious cankers starting in high school and worsening while in college. What cleared them up is a low carb diet.

Tincture of Benzoin is an OTC medication labeled as a treatment; 'Mucosal astringent' is what the bottle says. You dip a qtip into the bottle then swab the sore with the damp tip. 'tincture' means alcohol so it will sting mightily for a moment. But then the sore is a lot better.

Since the sores started in high school and worsened in college, I assumed back then that stress was causing them. If I was diligent about taking Stresstabs the sores were kept under control. If I ran out and failed to get more, the sores came back.

Now I see the sores under control if I control my carb intake.

[Nancy LC]

Canker sores happen spontaneously as well as from trauma. I had serious cankers starting in high school and worsening while in college. What cleared them up is a low carb diet.
That was one of my major symptoms of gluten intolerance. Cankers unassociated with any mouth trauma. Or apthous ulcers as you medical types like to call them. I even had one on my uvula once (that dangly thing in your mouth). I sure didn't bit my uvula!

Amazing how not eating wheat makes them go away. :p

[arc]

That was one of my major symptoms of gluten intolerance.

Yup - same here.

[PS Diva]

The tissues in my mouth swell when I eat certain foods as an allergic response. Then a bite it and have the same problem you described. I use a tiny pich of alum on it and it shrinks the tissues right down. It tastes nasty, so I do my best to keep it to a small amount, and localized. (That's the stuff you use for canning.)

[mike_d]

I have some alum so ill give it a try next time. The salt rinse treatment was a bit rough. I have been drinking a lot of hot tea and coffee which may be a factor. I also read mouthwash, like Listerine, can irritate due to its alcohol content. I hope its not the cauliflower I just started eating!

[Nancy LC]

Damn if I didn't bite my cheek yesterday too! I though of you Mike!

[mike_d]

Damn if I didn't bite my cheek yesterday too! I though of you Mike!After a long long hiatus the problem is back. It often happens when I am dropping pounds and near the end of a meal when I am eating walnuts or something sticky like chocolate. Maybe the cheeks swell as was suggested above. As soon as I get some $$ ill get my Wisdom Teeth yanked. That will either hurt or help :lol:
The other day it happened again while I was sleeping and I awoke Ouch :mad:

[Kisal]

After a long long hiatus the problem is back. It often happens when I am dropping pounds and near the end of a meal when I am eating walnuts or something sticky like chocolate. Maybe the cheeks swell as was suggested above. As soon as I get some $$ ill get my Wisdom Teeth yanked. That will either hurt or help :lol:
The other day it happened again while I was sleeping and I awoke Ouch :mad:Until you get your wisdom teeth removed (and I'm not so sure that will help), you could get a bite guard/mouth guard. I had mine custom made by my dentist, but those are kind of expensive. Not as expensive as the extractions would be, however. There are bite guards/mouth guards that you can just buy on the market, kind of "generic," I guess. They are much less expensive, and very possibly could resolve your problem. :)

Google will find several brands for you, and I've seen them available in larger drug stores/pharmacies.

HTH! :wave:

[mike_d]

Thanks Kisal -- my brother wears one ill ask him. It mainly happens while awake, but nightime grinding or bruxism can't be good.

[bike2work]

That was one of my major symptoms of gluten intolerance.

Two days after eating gluten I get 6 - 8 canker sores.

For some reason I always bite the inside of my cheek badly when I eat something made from nut flour, like LC bread or LC cake. It's too dense or dry or something, and I think I suck my cheek inward right before chomping down.

[LarryAJ]

Try biting your tongue on the side sort of under the edge. THAT will get your attention, bring tears, and totally ruin your meal!

I have been doing it since I had Bell's Palsy on my left side (of the face). I wound up having to chew on my right side to minimize the problem. Very hard on my cavity filled teeth on that side, so much so that I have had to have crowns put on the lower bicuspid and 1st molar. My left cheek has lumps of scar tissue inside it.

It has slowly gotten better and now I can sometimes chew on both sides, IF I do not let myself get distracted. I have post nasal drip if I let my head get too cold (reason I had Bell's Palsy episode) which I suffered a lot from as a child. As a result I have a reflexive sucking pattern that I use to clear out the drip. Problem is that pulls the cheek and sometimes the edge of the tongue into harms way just as I chomp down, usually hard - OUCH!! So watching out that I do not get too engrossed in something (like reading this board ;) ) helps, especially if I know I am having a drippy nose at meal time.

Bell's Palsy has left the left side of my face with a permanent loss of muscle tone. So like having a weight loss, the flesh is loose and can have folds in it that can get into the way. I sympathize with all the rest of you that have this problem, but don't have any true works of wisdom to prevent it. Inattention to your chewing seems to be a big factor. Perhaps the one most likely to help by being more careful and attentive when you are eating. It will be like reprograming a habit that you need to change, hard at first but easer the longer you do it.

Good luck! Hope you can stop it.

[mike_d]

For some reason I always bite the inside of my cheek badly when I eat something made from nut flour, like LC bread or LC cake. It's too dense or dry or something, and I think I suck my cheek inward right before chomping down.I agree, that's just what the dark chocolate, cheese or dry nuts do to me-- its a drag when I forget that.

The main problem IMO is fat loss from the face area causing the cheeks to draw inward-- it only happens when my weight gets to 175 or lower :(