Chewing ice may damage your teeth and indicate underlying health issues

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The question:

Is it true that chewing ice is bad for your teeth?

The science:

Biting fingernails, gnawing on pen caps and pencil erasers or chewing ice may be your way to deal with boredom or relieve stress, but oral health experts warn that it can lead to cracked, chipped or broken teeth.

Also note that if you cannot control your craving to chew ice and do it all the time, it may indicate certain underlying health issues, experts said.

Chewing ice can cause cracks in the enamel, called craze lines, that can spread, eventually fracturing the tooth. It can also chip or break teeth that are particularly vulnerable, experts said.

“Even though enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, it still can get damaged by repeatedly chewing something that is hard, and ice definitely falls into that category,” said Holly Shaw, an assistant professor at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine.

Chewing ice is in a class of habits known as oral parafunctional activities, which include tooth grinding, thumb sucking, lip biting and other repetitive actions of the mouth. They are extremely common with up to 90 percent of the population exhibiting such behaviors, often because of stress, anxiety and other emotional factors.

But they can cause permanent damage to teeth and gums, stressing the ligaments connecting the tooth to the bone around it, which can cause bleeding, recession and bone loss, said Alec Eidelman, a lecturer on oral health policy and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

“These oral parafunctional habits by themselves for healthy teeth may not always be damaging and harmful. But when teeth are compromised or at risk for any number of different reasons, then it becomes a little bit more dangerous,” he said.

People at increased risk may include those who have a misaligned bite, meaning their upper and lower teeth do not fit together properly when they bite down. Chewing ice or other hard things may stress their teeth or hurt their gums. Older restorations such as fillings or crowns, demineralization or a genetic predisposition to tooth breakage may also increase the risk of damage.

The type of ice can be a factor, too. Large, hard chunks are more likely to cause damage, whereas smaller, softer ice that is more of a slushy or slurry consistency would provide the same crunch with a lot less force. “So you get that soothing, focusing effect of chewing something crunchy without it being as traumatic,” Shaw said.

What else you should know:

Craving and eating ice or things with no nutritional value, such as dirt or paper, is associated with certain health issues including iron deficiency, so people who crave ice consistently should speak with their health-care provider, Shaw said.

If, however, people have no underlying condition but simply need that oral stimulation, experts suggest alternatives such as:

– Drinking liquids through a straw

– Chewing sugar-free gum

– Chomping on raw carrots or celery to get that crunch

The bottom line:

Chewing ice is not advisable, particularly for those with a history of dental issues, but softer ice in a slushy or slurry form is less likely to cause harm, experts said.

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