Yet another TikTok teeth trend (Remember the horrors of turkey teeth?), “mewing” is a term used to describe tongue and mouth exercises that are meant to change the appearance of the face by altering the shape of the jaw muscles. Why “mew”? Because of Dr. John Mew, the British orthodontist who brought the idea of orthotropics into the spotlight within the dental community.
Orthotropics is a somewhat-contested subfield of orthodontia based in a philosophy that emphasizes facial posture and tongue placement for optimal facial development. The idea is, if you can work out other muscles in your body to correct bone position and improve appearance, can’t you do it for your mouth, too?
In the age of facemaxxing and looksmaxxing, mewing videos are everywhere on social media right now, and people have even begun to make products like rubber balls for people to chew on. Is it pseudo-science or does the concept hold up?
Here’s what you should know:
Dr. John Mew Hates Your Face
Dr. John Mew is something of a dark horse and/or pariah in the orthodontic community, depending on which side of the orthotropics issue one falls. By his measure, virtually everyone is a little bit to a lot disfigured because of how human life has changed. He references ancient skulls, which largely have no jaw misalignment, overbite or underbite. And he’s not wrong; science has observed that peoples’ jaws have become smaller over time.
Seeing distinct increases in oral health problems that were thought to result from improper jaw position in the mid-20th century, Mew decided to look into preventative structural corrections (orthotropics) over corrective structural alterations (orthodontia). Sounds smart and like a holistic approach to oral health, right? Maybe.
But it’s not that cut-and-dry. If you’ve watched “Open Wide” on Netflix, you know he’s definitely got some underlying resentment about his appearance… and everyone else’s, too. He is on an almost obsessive mission to make people more attractive because of his perception it makes life easier.
Mewing & Its History in Oral & Maxillofacial Medicine
Here’s where things get dicey, ethically. In order achieve proof of concept, he experimented new treatments and appliances on his children. But only some of them, so he could keep a control group. So, he basically picked and chose which of his kids would remain “ugly” and “disfigured”. Talk about sibling resentment. Treatments involved sometimes very painful appliances that would punish the child any time they strayed from correct posture, in order to instill proper tongue, jaw and neck posture early in life.
The concept makes sense – fix the problem before it becomes permanent. Manipulate the bones while they’re still malleable and developing. But when the factors of how difficult the treatments were comes into play, it’s complicated for both parent and child to make it through long courses of such brutal treatments.
One such part of Dr. Mew’s regimen to correct jaw position and maximize appearance is jaw exercises, now known as mewing. You stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth and keep it there. Along with correcting head and neck posture, Mew’s theories have often proven effective when treatment happens in early to school-aged childhood.
However, you will not find the science to support it significantly changes jaw position in adults. And, in fact, there’s not much, if any, mainstream science to suggest it does anything to improve your oral health either. The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) does not recommend mewing or any other DIY facial restructuring.
Is Mewing Healthy?
Building your masseter muscle is like building any other muscle, except the context is a little more sensitive, because there are so many intricate and vital structures involved with the jaw. Overdeveloping or overexercising that muscle can exacerbate headaches, sinus pressure, jaw tension, and even contribute to TMJ.
The other part of the problem – holding your tongue against the roof of your mouth at all times – can also have negative effects on your oral health. Holding your tongue in an unnatural position can mess with tooth alignment, amplify bite problems, cause speech issues, and eventually cause changes that require complicated orthodontia to correct. Which is a big risk to take considering mewing is supposed to help you avoid orthodontia.
Does Mewing Improve Your Looks?
There is no research to suggest mewing changes your jaw structure, or that it helps with breathing, sinus issues or sleep apnea. And be wary of before-after photos on the internet, as lighting, angles and filters can accomplish a lot. Speaking of, most argue that lighting and angles during pictures can have an equivalent aesthetic effect as mewing.
So, is Dr. John Mew a mad dental scientist with a crazy theory? Or an ahead-of-his-time orthodontist whose work can be built upon to improve how we approach jaw correction? Our oral surgery practice stays ahead of the technology and above the trends. Patient health is our utmost priority, so only recommend treatments that are scientifically supported to be safe and effective. We take the stance of the AAO on this one: don’t let anybody but a qualified maxillofacial surgeon mess with something so important as the structure of your face and jaw.
