{"id":575,"date":"2017-10-25T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skororthodontics.com\/blog\/?p=575"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:05:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:05:35","slug":"biting-aluminum-foil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skororthodontics.com\/blog\/biting-aluminum-foil\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shocking Truth: Why Biting Aluminum Foil Hurts Your Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever accidentally chewed on aluminum foil, only to experience an immediate, sharp pain in your mouth? You\u2019re not alone! It\u2019s an unusual question, but one that we hear often: \u201cwhy does biting aluminum foil hurt so bad?\u201d The pain you felt is from called galvanic shock, and as you may already know, the pain is agonizing.<\/p>\n

What is Galvanic Shock?<\/h2>\n

Simply put: it\u2019s like creating a battery in your mouth. Aluminum foil and other metals in your mouth have an electrochemical potential difference. Combined with saliva, which produces a wet, salty environment that\u2019s ideal for the transfer of energy, you experience a painful shock of voltage.<\/p>\n

This effect was originally identified centuries ago, and is called the voltaic effect. Alessandro Volta discovered it when stacking piles of different metals on top of each other, with sheets of paper soaked in salt water between them. As he stacked them together, they created a low-powered battery.<\/p>\n

You may be wondering \u201cwhat other metals are in my mouth?\u201d If you have excellent dental hygiene and haven\u2019t had any damage to your teeth \u2013 none at all! But many people have fillings or metal crowns that are the perfect conductors to cause galvanic shock. Biting aluminum foil with any teeth that have these metals will give you that painful zap.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have a metal crown or any fillings, biting foil won\u2019t shock you.<\/p>\n

But I Felt The Same Pain Without Biting Aluminum Foil<\/h2>\n

Accidentally biting aluminum foil is one of the most common ways people experience galvanic shock. But it\u2019s not the only way to cause it. If you have fillings or metal crowns that are made of different metals, simply biting your teeth together can cause a shock too! And if you\u2019re a teeth grinder<\/a>, you\u2019ll notice right away when it happens!<\/p>\n

Modern dental amalgam is still used today for fillings. As the name suggests, amalgam is a mixture of many metals. Because of its mixture, two teeth with fillings that are opposite each other can cause you to experience a painful shock.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the most common causes of galvanic shock:<\/p>\n