Canadian student fractures jaw after eating 'jawbreaker' candy, mouth wired shut for 6 weeks: 'It hurt bad'

When Javeria Wasim bit into the candy, she immediately felt intense pain in her jaw.

A Canadian college student, Javeria Wasim, 19, was left with her jaw wired shut and forced onto a six-week liquid diet after attempting to eat a giant jawbreaker candy. The incident underscored why the popular sweet bears its ominous name.

Wasim had been shopping with a friend when they decided to purchase the oversized candy, known for its hardness and immense size—sometimes as large as a snooker cue ball.

"We got a giant one, the biggest size they had," Wasim told People. Curious about its reputation, the friends even asked the shop owner, "'Can we bite into this? The candy is literally called a jawbreaker.'"

When Wasim bit into the candy, she immediately felt intense pain in her jaw. Her friend noticed that her front tooth was chipped, while another tooth appeared loose. As the pain worsened, the friends realised the injury was severe and called an ambulance.

At the hospital, an X-ray and CT scan confirmed that Wasim had suffered two fractures in her jaw.

"I bit into it and only made a hole, and my jaw started to hurt. My friend looked over and said my tooth was chipped. It hurt bad. I was crying a lot when the ambulance came, and everything was blurry," Wasim recounted.

Unable to open her mouth, Wasim underwent surgery the following day. The hour-long procedure involved repositioning her jaw and securing it with a bar on her top and bottom gums, effectively wiring her mouth shut for six weeks.

The ordeal has left Wasim traumatised, and she admitted she may never eat candy again.

"I used to have them as a little kid. I've seen videos of people biting into the small ones, but I'd never seen anyone bite into the big ones," she said. "You realise how important your mouth is—you use it for literally everything in your life. It has affected my life so much."

Wasim described her struggles with the liquid diet and the post-surgery side effects, calling the experience deeply challenging. She is now warning others about the dangers of biting into jawbreaker candies.

"I urge people to only lick them, even if it takes weeks to get to the centre," she said.