Teenagers demand expensive chewing gum to chisel their jawline – but does it really work?

Dr Kavita Mariwalla was stunned when her 12-year-old son asked her for putty gum to chisel his jawline.

“My 12-year-old son asked me and I said, 'What are you talking about?' “, the dermatologist told New York Magazine's The Cut.

According to Mariwalla, her son said it would achieve the same results as “meowing,” a facial shaping technique that involves placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth to create the illusion of a sharper jawline. .

“As a mom, I wondered why he was so obsessed with his jawline at 12 and what social media fueled it.”

The urge to enhance facial features is linked to the growing trend of “lookmaxxing,” in which people go to extreme lengths in an attempt to alter or “maximize” their facial features to achieve optimal beauty.

The fad, which has proliferated on TikTok and Reddit among men facing relationship problems, has also sparked concerns about the mental health of participants, who are turning to facial fitness routines and special gums to tone their jawlines .

Specifically, putty gum — sold by sellers such as RockJaw, Stronger Gum and Jawliner — promises a chiseled jawline, said to strengthen jaw muscles to improve their facial definition.

“Most kids my age want a sharp, defined jawline due to the promotion of lookmaxxing on TikTok,” Henry Dixon, 14, from Charlotte, North Carolina, told The Cut.

“People want these jawlines because they want to look like models and potentially more attractive,” he continued, clarifying that he doesn't “care much about that sort of thing though.”

RockJaw, for example, recommends chewing one to two crystals – made from hard plant resin – for 30 minutes to 1.5 hours per day, recommending chewing even on both sides of the mouth and taking long breaks.

But celebrity dermatologist Dr Paul Jarrod Frank warned they may not be able to achieve the desired effect with the gum alone, if at all.

The Manhattan dermatologist told The Cut he's skeptical of the gum's promoted effects, as seen on TikTok.

Even if putty gum improves the appearance of the jaw, he says, it could lead to overgrowth of the masseter muscles and, therefore, problems with the jaw, such as clicking, popping or temporal jaw disorders. -mandibular, also known as TMJ.

The gum, he cautioned, “will not necessarily sharpen the undersurface of the jaw if the bone structure is not there,” and will likely result in a square-shaped jaw or wider cup.

And, not to mention, it's more expensive than your typical bubblegum.

Even if the “after” photos seen on social media look attractive, there are likely other factors at play, Frank noted.

“If it's not Photoshopped, then there's a dramatic difference in the lighting, giving a sense of greater definition,” he said after looking at the images on Jawliner's Instagram profile.

Franck’s advice? Give it a few years. Overly enthusiastic teens might actually have a bad case of baby face.

“Younger people tend to have more natural fat volume in the face,” Frank explained. “For lean, fit men, as they age into their 20s and 30s, they will likely naturally see more definition.”