Biting your lip on occasion isn’t generally a problem. Sometimes, people will find themselves unable to control this behavior and it becomes a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB). Other BFRB conditions include actions such as biting your nails, picking at your skin or biting the inside of your cheek. Here’s what you need to know about lip biting.

 

What Causes Lip Biting?

 

Normally, stress and anxiety will cause someone to bite their lips but some people can have a biological predisposition to this practice. Other factors include:

• Age – Most habits such as this develop between the ages of 11 and 15

• Environment

• Sex – Women are more likely to bite their lips than men

• Temperament

 

Sometimes, people bite their lips in relation to a dental issue. Some of these include:

• Malocclusion – misaligned bite

• TMJ disorder – pain and dysfunction of the lower jaw joint

 

Diagnosis & Treatment

 

If it feels like your lip biting is accidental, you need to see the dentist. They can determine whether you have a dental condition that is causing you to bite your lips. Treatment options might include:

 

• Removal of teeth

• Braces

• Surgery

• Wires or plates in the jaw

If you are biting your lip as a way to relieve stress or gain pleasure, then you should seek out a therapist. They can help you find ways to relieve pressure in your life.

 

Other treatment options can include:

• Counseling

• Relaxation therapy

• Cognitive behavioral therapy

• Acupuncture

• Hypnosis

• Prescription sedatives

• Mouthguards

• Sugarless chewing gum

 

If you don’t discontinue biting your lips, you could face additional issues. These include:

• Redness

• Painful sores

• Inflammation

• Additional stress

 

If you only occasionally bite your lip, you probably have nothing to be concerned about. If you find that you are consistently biting your lip, this could be harmful to your dental health and needs to be evaluated. Try to stop biting your lip with stress relief practices. If that doesn’t work, seek professional treatment. Your 55110 dentist can find methods to help you stop biting your lips. Then, you can continue to live a full and happy life.