Mewing, the fashionable exercise on networks that is dangerous for your jaw and teeth

2024-04-17 10:42:39

If a person puts a finger to their lips, making a gesture of silence, and then points to their chin, they are telling us not to disturb them: they are practicing their routine. mewing.

The mewing is the fashion exercise on social media. Hundreds of viral videos teach how to perform this technique while posing for a selfie, making our jawline looks defined and perfect. It’s the trick that Bella Hadid herself uses.

And it doesn’t just help us look good in the photo, no. They say that, practiced regularly, the technique helps define the jawline, reduce the double chin and even align the teeth.

Mewing is fashionable, but it is not new

This idea is not new. He was the British orthodontist John Mew who, in the 1970s, began treating children who came to his clinic, on the outskirts of London, with an alternative treatment designed by him called orthotropy. With it she promised not only to align his teeth but also to “improve his face.”

Orthotropy is based on the idea that oral posture can influence facial development, improve jaw shape and even tooth alignment. Through certain practices, such as the expansion of the palate and correct oral posture, it is intended to guide facial growth until achieving a perfect face.

Jonh Mew practiced orthotropy for 30 years, but this technique did not become popular until 2012, when Mike Mew, the son of this orthodontist, began to spread it on his YouTube channel.

In 2018, the technique already had millions of followers, who decided to rename it mewing in honor of its creators. It is these followers, from their channels, accounts and video blogs, who propose using this therapy, initially designed for children, as a beauty treatment for adults.

Mewing is, therefore, a technique that originally aims to change the shape of the faceusing, among other methods, a certain oral posture.

Its main foundation consists of place your tongue up and stick it to the roof of your mouth. The tip of the tongue should be placed just behind the upper incisors, with the rest of the tongue remaining close to the roof of the mouth and the teeth closed. As for the lips, they should also remain closed.

Experts recommend holding the position for as long as possible, until it becomes a habit and is performed naturally.

Promises a lot, but delivers little

By practicing this routine, mewing promises to define the jaw line, giving it a more marked shape without the need for surgery or appliances. But not only that: his followers claim that this practice also helps align teeth and treat sleep apnea, sinusitis, snoring and jaw pain. All this, without scientific basis.

Let’s go by parts.

The jaw is a horseshoe-shaped bone structure that forms a type of letter L on each side of our face. The angle formed in this letter L can be modified throughout our lives.

During childhood and adolescence, bone growth itself influences the shape of the jaw. However, in adulthood, the most notable cause that can change the structure of the jaw is bone resorption due to tooth loss. Apart from this, if we want to significantly modify the shape or arrangement of our jaw, we will have to resort to the use of corrective appliances or maxillofacial surgery.

Forcing the position of the tongue can be counterproductive

The tongue is a very complex muscular organ made up of 17 muscles. These muscles are designed for functions such as speaking, chewing, and swallowing. That is to say, the tongue prefers to dedicate itself to exploring flavors and juggling words rather than spending hours pressing the walls that form our palate.

Forcing the position of the tongue proposed by mewing not only will not provide benefits, but also many oral health professionals are warning of its risks. Among them, for example, the alterations in the temporomandibular joint or the displacement of teeth and not precisely to align them.

Given all this, it is not surprising that In 2019 Michael Mew was expelled from the British Society of Orthodontics accused of providing inappropriate treatments and promoting alternatives not supported by scientific orthodontics.

Despite the rejection of the scientific community, the practice of mewing has permeated society and has more and more followers thanks to a good handful of influencers who flood social networks with their before and after photos.

This confirms that the Internet continues to be a great springboard for the dissemination of baseless hoaxes scientist. Luckily, it also has a legion of quality professionals and scientific disseminators who have dismantled the deceptions of this technique one by one.

In terms of health, let’s follow the advice of professionals. Maybe we won’t look as pretty in the photo as we would like, but we will be healthier.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gema Diaz Gil

Professor of Human Anatomy and Embryology. King Juan Carlos University.