A student has told of her horror after a candy broke her jaw, leaving her unable to eat solid food for more than a month.
Javeria Wasim, 19, decided to bite straight into the “giant” three-inch-diameter candy instead of sucking on it until it softened.
With one bite, Wasim’s jaw instantly hurt and her friend pointed out that her front tooth was chipped and another tooth was “moving.”
Wasim was rushed to the hospital. where an x-ray and a CT scan were performed which revealed that he had suffered two fractures to his jaw.
Doctors said Wasim’s tooth was “moving” because it was resting on bone that had “split” into two parts.
Due to the damage caused, his jaw had to be wired shut for six weeks and he now needs braces to fix his misaligned teeth.
The business administration student said she couldn’t open her mouth but attributed the pain to her broken tooth and had no idea she might have broken her jaw.
Javeria Wasim of Toronto, Canada, and her friend decided to buy some “giant” three-inch diameter jawbreakers while shopping last month.
After an hour-long surgery the next day, Wasim’s jaw was moved back into place and a bar was inserted into his upper and lower gums, closing it with wires for the next six weeks.
She admits that the incident ‘traumatized’ her enough that she will ‘probably never try to break the jaw again.’
Detailing the chain of events, Wasim said: “I was with my friend at the mall and we went into (a store) to see if they had jawbreakers. We got a giant one, the biggest size they had.
“I said, ‘We have to break it because people work their way through it and it takes them months to get over it all.’
“We were talking about it and asking, ‘Can we address this?’ The candy is literally called “jawbreaker.”
‘I used to have them when I was a little boy. I’ve seen videos of people biting the small ones, but I’ve never seen anyone bite the big ones.
‘I bit into it and just made a hole, and my jaw started to hurt. My friend looked and said his tooth was broken.
‘It hurt me a lot. I was crying a lot when the ambulance arrived and everything was a blur.
“They told me my jaw was broken and I needed it wired shut. I was surprised; I thought my biggest problem was my broken tooth.’
Once back in her college dorm, the 19-year-old admits she became impatient to get to the center of the gum and tried to bite into the candy, but broke her jaw.
An ambulance took Wasim to hospital where he had an x-ray and CT scan, and was ‘shocked’ to discover he had suffered two fractures to his jaw.
‘I couldn’t open my mouth but I thought it was because of the toothache.
“I had to have surgery, they put my jaw back in place and they put a bar in my upper and lower gum and closed it with a wire.”
Wasim’s “movable” bottom tooth is now on its side and braces are needed to fix his bottom teeth, as well as the front teeth that have “separated.”
The student had to follow an all-liquid diet consisting of smoothies and soups until her jaw was disconnected on December 23.
Wasim said he has struggled with the liquid diet and the side effects of surgery, all while studying for his exams.
‘All my lower teeth are damaged. “My two front teeth have a little gap now, so I’ll have to get braces to fix them,” he said.
‘I can’t eat anything, all I drink is protein shakes and soups, I lost seven pounds in two weeks.
‘I haven’t eaten in 42 days, I eat soup but you are never full, you are always hungry.
‘The only thing I can think about is how hungry I am, I took the feeling of being full for granted. I miss food a lot.
‘I also feel irritated all the time. I can’t open my mouth, I can’t lick my lip if food falls on it, I can’t use my teeth to open something.
The student had to follow an all-liquid diet of smoothies and soups until her jaw was disconnected on December 23.
Wasim said he has struggled with the liquid diet and the side effects of surgery, all while studying for his exams.
‘You realize how important your mouth is, you use it for literally everything in your life. It has affected my life a lot.
‘The first week after surgery I felt so much pain that I can’t explain it. I would just lie in bed and take painkillers.
“I slept because the only time I didn’t feel pain was when I was sleeping.”
Given how much the incident affected her, Wasim now urges others to only lick the sweets, even if it takes weeks to reach the center.
‘It was a stupid idea I had with my friend. “I’m definitely traumatized, so I would say I probably wouldn’t get one again,” Wasim said.
“It was such a stupid thing, people break their jaws in car accidents and fights, this was such an avoidable way to break your jaw.”
“I would tell people that if they want to be in the middle of a jawbreaker, it’s better to take six weeks to get over it than to spend six weeks suffering the consequences of biting it and having your jaw wired shut.”