Hacker News Reader

Comment by Throwadev | Hacker News Reader

What kind of bad stuff with gum? After reading gwern i started trying out gum and it's nice. I have no cravings and never have to or want to consume more than a single gum per day. Most of the time it's a quarter or half a chiclet + headphones and a clean desk to get me into a 2-4 hour coding session.

I'm worried about if it will damage my oral health or anything though. Will it?

View on HN

You can do a couple pieces of day, with no problem, IME. Chew it up well and let it sit in your lip for optimal absorption.

That said, when nicotine is exposed to oral tissues, it may be promoting:

-oral cancer

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20338106

-gingivitis

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20337880

-receding gums

Source: don't have a specific study handy, but this high-level review mentions it, and other issues: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933534/

Keep in mind, these are all slight chances. If you do this regularly for years, it may be of concern. Every once in a while? No biggie.

Patch will get you around all of these, specific issues at least. There's still that whole 'carcinogenic, overall' thing.

The first study doesn't say that it causes oral cancer, but can cause resistance to chemotherapy. Additionally, that study is of smokers.

There is a LOT of anecdotal evidence that chewing nicotine gum causes hair loss [0].

I chewed nicotine gum for 3 months, 3 pieces a day. My hair is too short to notice any loss, but I was quite aware if just an overall deterioration of my mouth. Eroding gums, thinning enamel, and yellowing teeth color. Yuck.

I really suggest electronic cigs over gum...

0: http://www.askapatient.com/mobile/viewrating.asp?drug=18612&...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com