Why do people chew more on one side of the mouth than on the other? Do taste buds have anything to do with it?
491182
Habit.  NOthing else.  You can change it if you try.
763429
The dentures when you 1st get them may, or may not, fit you very tightly! That is until you eat anything with seeds then they may get between dentures and gums and cause pain! Good luck hun!\n\nhttp://www.willyblues.com/
644277
the middle area of the tounge i guess and the side ones are for sour taste
484405
In many asian cultures, eating with your mouth open makes more noise and, thus, shows the host or hostess that you REALLY are enjoying the food you are eating. \n\nNoisy eating simply shows, in some asian cultures, that you are absolutely enthralled with the food and is considered very, very polite and appreciative. It is the equivalent of telling the cook that you love the food they cooked.
399614
Teeth ... try chewing before swallowing!!!
1167633
Left handed people use the right side of their brain to perform tasks such as writing, because the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body.\n\nI've heard that some, but not all, left handed people have their speech centers in different locations than most right handed people.\n\nIf a person switches their hand of dominance, for example, a left handed person starts writing with their right hand, they will eventually use both sides of their brain to perform this task.
196258
Taste buds are specialized tissue which you allow to sense taste. There are three main ones found on your tongue;\n1. fungiform papillae which are mushroom-shaped elevations scattered over the anterior third of the dorsum of the tongue. These allow for taste sensations of sweet, sour and salt\n2. circumvallate papillae which are 8-10 large papillae arranged in an inverted V on the posterior 1/3 of tongue. These allow for taste bitter\n3. foliate papillae which are vertical ridges on the lateral borders of the tongue. These allow for taste sensation sour.
952471
Well, you may be overdoing  it but i was the same way because i like to have a clean feeling mouth! However, you can actually brush away the enamal on your teeth and cause serious damage to the intergrity of your teeth. I did this and luckily my dentist caught it before it was too bad.  He noticed alternating "bands" of color (IE:my teeth were very white but i had places where you could see other shades and it was because i was brushing too much, in effect killing/ decaying the teeth). I try to brush as much as possible but within the limitations my dentist  set forth. Also, dont brush really hard adn if you continue to brush as often as you do use a softer toothbrush.
909531
Man, EVERYone says "wisdom teeth crowd the others" and in dental school the party line was that this doesn't happen.  But it's like all the UFO sightings...if enough people make the claim, you begin to wonder!\n\n(the other one that keeps me scratching my head is the "My teeth were fine till I had two kids; the baby must have sucked the calcium out of my teeth!"  don't even get me started..)\n\nAnyway, your teeth generally follow the arch they are in due to light constant pressure from your lips and your tongue.  Therefore, IF the wis. teeth are pushing them, if you remove them, your musculature should have a corrective effect.\n\nOn the other hand, teeth generally tend to "drift" to the front and the middle, so once there they may want to stay.\n\nConsult an orthodontist, perhaps.  Good luck!!
1058280
Perhaps it is the sweat going in your mouth. I thought that sweat was supposed to be salty, but I guess yours is different.
231291
they are tastebuds. they swell up because of sensory overload. you should not chew them off but let them return to normal size.
290814
I'd argue that lots of healthy foods taste good, but I know what you mean... who'd pick a carrot stick over a cookie?  It goes back to when humans lived by hunting & gathering.  Back then, it was important to have extra body fat for times when food was scarce.  We adapted to prefer foods that taste fatty or sweet because we can get the most energy out of them.  Nowadays, what with the over-abundance of food in the western world and nutrition-draining processing techniques, that preference for fat & sugar has backfired and it is far too easy to be obese or diabetic.
951864
A swollen taste bud can be caused by a number of things. Very hot food that burns and irritates a taste bud can cause swelling. Allergies to specific foods can also cause it. Taste buds that taste sweets are located on the tip of the tongue and salt taste buds are in the two side areas of the tongue tip. Sour taste buds are situated on the lateral sides of the tongue and bitter taste buds on the back. The area of the tongue where the swollen taste bud is located can be a sign of which taste is involved.\n\nA swollen taste bud can occur from continually eating spicy foods which constantly overstimulate these sense organs. Trauma from biting the tongue can result in taste bud swelling.\n\nIf you need more information on your enlarged taste buds, you can go to the following web site:  http://www.atlantadentist.com/swollen_taste_bud.html\n\nAlso this site has an e-mail link and a phone number you can use to contact them and ask any more questions you may have.\n\nHope this helps you out :-)
875568
I have a need for oral gratification especially since I quit smoking so I 've always got gum or something in my mouth. I would have to say that I masticate quite a lot during the hours that I'm awake.
1150750
Finally, someone who agrees. Chewing on a slimy peice of rubber is a disgusting habit, to me it's grosser than chewing tobacco or smoking or any of the other habits commonly considered "gross". The problem, though, is that there are no negative effects of chewing gum so it's not frowned upon like less disgusting (and more harmfull) habits.
302952
This is an interesting question, and on the face of it, I would have to guess that it would indeed increase the chance of getting both mouth cancer (because of the increased residence time of various carcinogens in the mouth) and, I would imagine, stomach and eosophogial cancers, since you would be swallowing more carcinogens in your saliva than a smoker who is not chewing gum.\n\nGood luck with that!
79578
Chewing gum is hideous.  If people want to chew it for digestion or fresher breath, it seems that this can be done with the same discretion that one uses to brush their teeth or floss.  Why has chewing your cud become something socially acceptable?