Mewing and find a defined jaw line

Mewing is relatively a new concept that is currently the latest craze on Youtube & other social media platforms.

And it has nothing to do with cats (sorry cat lovers that came here under false pretenses).

It is a practice named after Dr. John Mew, the orthodontist who came up with the technique and coined the term “orthotropics.”, and not after our 4 legged feline friends.

Sorry Tiddles — this one isn’t about you.

Photo by MusicFox Fx on Unsplash

Dr. J Mew’s son, Mike Mew, is also a practitioner of orthotropics, which is a practice that focuses on altering the jawline and face shape through facial and oral posture and exercises.

And interestingly enough, the General Dental Council took away John Mew’s dental license. They decided on this action due to Mew’s criticism of traditional orthodontic treatments, as well as his unconventional beliefs and practices.

According to the Mew’s, Mewing focuses on your tongue position in your mouth which can, allegedly, make huge differences to your face shape. The supposed benefits of mewing include a well-defined, chiseled jawline and improved alignment of the chin, nose, and improvement to your breathing.

Photo by Nico Marks on Unsplash

So far, all support for the benefits of mewing comes from social media sites, which naturally have no expert regulation.

There are various social media posts in which some people claim to see a difference and others do not. Also, many mewing advocates seem to be adolescents, whose faces and jawlines are naturally likely to change over the course of puberty, rather than as a direct result of this technique.

Much like all the other wonder-products on the market, such as biotin, there are those who swear it works and those who claim it’s a placebo and doesn’t do anything. The internet is split into the “Does work” and “Doesn’t work” camps.

If someone has a misaligned jaw, doctors may refer to it as malocclusion, which may need corrective jaw surgery. Jaw surgery is also called orthognathic surgery and can help realign the upper and lower jaws by moving one or both of them backward or forward into an aligned position.

There is no scientifically backed evidence to support mewing is an alternative therapy to jaw surgery or other scientifically backed face shaping methods.

Anecdotal reports have suggested that mewing can help with:

• sleep apnea

• breathing and swallowing problems

• speech disorders

• temporomandibular joint dysfunction

• sinusitis

And according to Mr. Mew, it’s really easy. All you need to do is to rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth and rest your upper set of teeth against the lower ones. DO NOT CLENCH YOUR TEETH OR JAW!

https://images.app.goo.gl/n6Z6h8Mze7JSWepC9

When done correctly, Mewing is pretty effortless. It doesn’t require you to feel pain or force your teeth into any unnatural positions. But whilst Mewing sounds easy, newbies with improper information end up hurting themselves due to mewing-mistakes. These mistakes wouldn’t just lead to no result but also cause problems within the existing structure of your face.

While mewing is supposedly a natural position, it does require practice as many of us naturally rest our tongues against the back of our teeth.

It can take days, weeks, or even months to master the correct posture, but once you do, apparently, you will notice the benefits.

So, if you practice for three weeks straight, you’ll start to develop the mewing tongue position subconsciously.

But like all self-improvement techniques, you can’t just change your habits overnight. You’ll need to keep consciously reminding yourself to do it, so don’t lose hope if it takes time — keep working at it.

On top of learning how to subconsciously rest your tongue, it’s essential that you take care of the rest of your body, as if you are overweight, you’re highly unlikely to be able to benefit as much if you were a healthy weight. Whilst Mewing claims to be great for you, it won’t transform your face and jawline if you’re overweight and your breathing may still be affected.

Nasal breathing is a crucial part of mewing. If you can also adopt subconscious nasal breathing, some breathing-related problems may improve.

So before you run off to become a Mew-Master, here is a closing statement from the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery website:

Mewing and find a defined jaw line