#125 What Is Mewing and What Does It Have to Do With TMD?

Mewing is a proposed method for enhancing and improving facial growth developed by Dr. John Mew, a British Orthodontist in the 1970’s. His son, Dr. Mike Mew has continued to promote his father’s method. 

 I chose it as the topic for this week’s article because the concept of Mewing has recently been popularized by adolescents on TikTok and other social media outlets as a method to enhance facial cosmetic appearance.  The theory behind Mewing is that the position of the tongue is instrumental in developing the face and final position of the jaws. This treatment method entails training the patient to place their tongue behind their upper front teeth and force the tongue into the roof of the mouth for 20 minutes at a time throughout the day.  The theory is that by forcing the tongue into the palate the mouth expands and widens the upper jaw and dental arch allowing more room for airway in addition to enhancing growth of the bone and correcting malocclusions.  This method also claims to lessen the occurrence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the need for traditional orthodontic care. 

These are very controversial claims and have routinely been debunked by mainstream orthodontists and dental researchers.  But adolescents are very prone to believe and attempt to mimic things they see on the internet. It is important to fact-check the value of the treatment and discover it’s likely unintended consequences. 

I admit to having the credentials to evaluate the validity of Mewing, but also the experience to comment on one of the unintended consequences.  It has been observed by many dentists, orthodontists, medical doctors, and other health professionals that Mewing can create symptoms of TMD.  It is not in dispute that forcing the tongue into the roof of the mouth over a period can lead to headaches, earaches, jaw pain, neck pain along with many of the other desperate symptoms of TMD. 

Along with my training and degrees in dentistry, medicine, cell biology, and anatomy, I was awarded a fellowship and grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research to study facial growth and development.  My research centered around developing animal models with facial growth defects induced by laser during intra-uterine surgery.  So, I claim to know quite a bit about facial growth and development. In addition, I refer the reader to the authority on facial growth and development, Dr. Robert Enlow, whose textbook, “Handbook of Facial Growth” explicitly describes the centers within the facial skeleton responsible for growth and the factors influencing these growth centers.  

Combining my research with Dr. Enlow’s iconic textbook, it is factual to say that pressure from the tongue does not influence facial growth. On the contrary, forcing the tongue into the roof of the mouth also forces the lower jaw, (mandible) rearward increasing loads on the TMJ, eventually damaging the structures within the joint creating chronic inflammation. 

Since it is chronic inflammation within the temporomandibular joint, (TMJ) that creates all the disparate symptoms, one can factually and logically conclude that Mewing creates TMD. 

There are three causes for damage to the TMJ, 1. Bruxism, (Clenching and Grinding), 2. Acute jaw trauma (Accidents to the face), and 3. Functional Malocclusions.  Bruxism is classified as involuntary repetitive motion of the jaw, and Mewing is classified as voluntary repetitive motions of the jaw.  Bruxism and Mewing both damage the internal structures of the TMJ, create inflammation and thus create symptoms. 

Chronic inflammation in the TMJ is more destructive in the adolescent than in the adult because the TMJ is the number one growth center of the growing face.  This is described by Enlow and validated by my own research. 

Mewing is ineffective and contraindicated due to the consequences of TMD.