DITCH YOUR RAVE GUM FOR A LOLLIPOP OR TWENTY
If you haven’t figured out that MDMA is going to make your jaw clench by now, then I really don’t know what to tell you. There are a million little tricks to try and alleviate this particular side effect, and everyone swears by their favorite, but perhaps the most widely known is to chew gum.
Chewing gum gives you jaw something to do that isn’t clenching down like no body’s business. However, some people have reported that even chewing gum isn’t helping with the clenching and that the extra focus on working your jaw all night might actually leave you in more pain the next day. It is easy to see how, while preventing you from the pain of clenching too hard, constantly chewing could end up leaving your jaw exhausted, especially over the course of two or three days. That is where lollipops (and other hard candies) can come into play. If this sounds strange, let me explain.
There is a long and well-recorded history of pacifiers being used as an aid for those who were afraid of clenching down too hard while rolling. Pacifiers help protect the teeth, gums, tongue, and inner cheek by deterring you from constantly grinding your teeth. The suction relives the tension on your back teeth and essentially makes it almost impossible to clench down. Sounds pretty great, right?
Unfortunately, pacifiers have been banned from pretty much every event under the sun by now because of its technical classification as drug paraphernalia. Not that something being banned has ever stopped anyone from trying (and succeeding) to bring it into a festival. However, pacifiers tend to be somewhat obvious and let’s face it, a little weird. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but there is something a little unnerving about an adult with a pacifier in their mouth, especially if there is an alternative. If that’s what you’re into, then more power to you, but as the pacifier has become more niche, you’d better be prepared for some interesting looks from new school ravers.
Lollipops can act as a surrogate for the pacifier, giving you all of the same benefits but also reducing that specific weird factor, plus a few additional ones. For example, not only are lollipops going to relive the tension in your jaw by giving you something to suck on, but they also enhance your roll. If nothing tastes as good as a piece of fruity gum, imagine how awesome a lollipop is going to taste. While gum is going to lose flavor intensity as you chew it, a Lollipop is going to taste as amazing as it did the second you unwrapped it. Another benefit is that you don’t have to lock into one particular flavor for a whole day the way you need to with gum. When you buy a pack of factory sealed gum for an event, you are committing to that flavor. If you grab a handful of random dum dum lollipops, you are going to get something new every time. They are also pretty low in calories (under 26 Calories a pop), which means you aren’t really increasing your calorie count by too much in switching. If that wasn’t enough, they are also incredibly cost-effective. You can purchase 200 count bags of them for under thirteen dollars on Amazon, which is more than enough.
A final reason you should consider making the switch is that, let’s face it, there is nothing subtle about gum anymore. Yeah, gum may be a little less obvious than a giant pacifier hanging around your neck, but not by much. It isn’t hard to spot someone chomping down on an overworked piece of gum, so if subtlety is your thing, it might be time to look elsewhere. With a lollipop, or really any piece of hard candy you lose the tell-tale chomp while getting all of the benefits.
I don’t know if this is enough to make you break up with your gum, but I hope that it will at least get you thinking about giving hard candy or lollipops a try at your next event. Life is long, and clenching can destroy your teeth and leave you with a great deal of pain. The principle of the pacifier can live on in lollipops, and besides, who doesn’t like candy?
