If you often bite the inside of your cheek, you might wonder, “why do I keep biting my cheeks?” It is possible to bite your cheeks. Irrespective of whether you do it intentionally or unconsciously, it can be a painful experience. But why does it happen?
Some people may bite their cheeks because their teeth or implants have become misaligned inside the mouth. Those who suffer from temporomandibular disorders also tend to bite their cheeks often. Repetitively Biting their cheeks may be a result of a body-focused mental disorder. Biting their cheeks may also occur while sleeping.
Reasons Why You Keep Biting Your Cheeks
You may be biting your cheeks due to any of the reasons below:
Reason 1: Accidental Biting
As stated, it can be an accident bite on the cheek. Although you didn’t intend to, it does happen, and it does hurt. You may occasionally bite your cheek out of sheer carelessness or attempt to read or speak while eating.
Likewise, you can be more inclined to bite your cheek when eating an unusually structured or texture food. It can sometimes happen that the inside of your cheek will become swollen due to biting too hard, making it more likely to get bitten in the future.
However, it is not a cause for concern or alarm. Healing will occur, and after the cheek swelling goes down, you won’t even remember.
Reason 2: Psychological Problem
In most cases, cheek biting is the result of psychological factors. According to some researchers, repetitive behaviours that focus on the body may have a genetic component.
As a result, the development of the condition may increase for those with relatives who engage in repetitive bodily behaviour.
Future medical research may lead to the diagnosis and treatment of repetitive body-focused behaviours by identifying the genes responsible. The development of chronic cheek biting also depends on many other factors, such as stress.
Reason 3: Misaligned Teeth
Those who accidentally bite their cheeks frequently might have misaligned which interfere with the cheek while biting the food. Your teeth are susceptible to shifting as you grow older, altering the alignment of your teeth.
Furthermore, misaligned teeth can also occur due to poorly fitted restorations. In other words, changes to your teeth’s biting surfaces can cause this.
An improper alignment of your teeth can also make chewing difficult. When you bite down on food, the two sides of your teeth need to line up perfectly.
However, if they don’t, it’s a bad bite, and you might find yourself biting your cheeks a lot. Grinding your teeth frequently can also lead to biting your cheeks. You usually do this while you are asleep.
Reason 4: Wisdom Teeth
It is also possible to bite your cheek when you have wisdom teeth. Adults are more likely to bite their cheeks when their wisdom teeth erupt. Wisdom teeth can grow behind the mouth, causing pain and cutting the cheeks.
Cheek biting of this kind has no connection with a repetitive movement disorder that is primarily body-oriented. Wisdom teeth develop unintentionally.
Thus, you cannot eliminate the cheek bites that result from it. The dentist can, however, give you medication to reduce the discomfort.
Conclusion
Your dentist can help you if you frequently bite the inside of your cheeks when eating or talking. You might need braces or extraction if the wisdom tooth is causing biting in your cheek.
If you believe you are biting your cheeks because of stress, you might want to talk to a psychologist. A breathing or relaxation exercise may provide relief and help prevent bites to the inner cheek.
As a result of biting your cheek due to BFRD, you will have to undergo several treatments. A psychologist might advise keeping track of the biting behaviour by noting when and what causes it.
If it is because of your body-focused behaviours, replacing a bad behaviour with a good one is the most effective solution.
