Why is it so common for folks to have braces these days?
Why is sleep apnea on the rise?
Why are facial muscle tone and body posture important for our health?
And, how do these seemingly different topics all tie together?
In this fascinating expert interview, we explore these questions (and many more) with Dr. Mike Mew, lecturer and lead clinician at the London School of Facial Orthotropics.
Dr. Mew is a third-generation orthodontist, and his family’s techniques (known as “Orthotropics”) inspired the viral internet phenomenon known as “Mewing”.
In his chat with OraWellness, Dr. Mew explains his thoughts on why modern society is seeing more and more cases of tooth misalignment, jaws that are too small to accommodate all of the teeth, and even airway issues like sleep apnea.
He also shares his thoughts on the functional component that Weston A. Price missed in his facial deterioration theory as well as some techniques that we can habituate to try to correct some of these issues over time.
Along the way, Dr. Mew discusses the resistance that he’s encountered as he’s encouraged the orthodontic profession to:
- Dig deeper and go beyond the conventional strategy of simply using appliances to make teeth straight.
- Figure out why modern society is suffering from tooth crowding, narrow jaws, downward ‘melting’ facial structure, and airway issues that weren’t common in our ancestors.
- Create a meaningful debate with senior orthodontists about the true causes and most effective treatments for these issues.
- Compare long-term results of patients who are treated with conventional orthodontic methods vs. those who are treated with Orthotropics.
This video is a little longer than our typical expert interviews, but it’s full of eye-opening and interesting information to help you on your path to greater oral (and whole-body) health.
Show Notes:
- 2:10 Is it normal for folks to need braces for straightening teeth?
- 4:36 Is there a connection between the craniofacial structure and issues with impaired airways?
- 13:54 The challenges of bucking the conventional system and trying to organize a meaningful scientific debate.
- 16:47 If the craniofacial structure changes, that impacts other systems in the body, too.
- 18:49 Digging deeper to find and treat true root causes instead of symptoms.
- 20:56 How facial muscles and posture shape our face (and our airway).
- 25:34 Orthotropics: exploring the tropic premise (lips together, teeth together, tongue on the roof of the mouth).
- 30:43 The earlier, the better: helping children to develop muscle-building habits.
- 36:18 The orthodontic controversy: straightening teeth vs. positively affecting the facial structure.
- 42:16 The issue with retainers.
- 45:29 The issue with fixed braces.
- 51:38 An important component that Weston A. Price missed when he explored facial deterioration.
- 1:01:40 The impact of improper swallowing.
- 1:07:44 What adults can do to positively influence their craniofacial structure.
More Info on Dr. Mike Mew:
We invite you to check out Dr. Mew’s website, www.Orthotropics.com.
If you’d like to learn more about how Dr. Mew is helping to shake up the world of orthodontics, feel free to check out www.PreventCrookedTeeth.com. You can also sign his petition to make good facial growth a health priority.
Also, here’s how to follow his work on social media:
- YouTube: Orthotropics
- Twitter: @Orthotropics
- Facebook: @orthotropics
- LinkedIn: Orthotropics
Wrapping Up…
Phew, that was a lot of great information!
Have you or someone you know tried Mewing/Orthotropics techniques before? If so, please share your experiences in the comments below. We’d love to hear your thoughts!
We hope you found some useful takeaways to help you on your path. If you know anyone who could benefit from the information in this video, please help us to help others by sharing our work with your loved ones.
And, if you happen to know an orthodontic professional who would be willing to engage in a meaningful debate (and maybe even a long-term patient progress comparison) with Dr. Mew, please ask the dental professional to contact Dr. Mew and express their interest.
Helpful, Related Resources:
How to Straighten Teeth Without Braces [[article & video tutorial]]
How to Stop Two Common Habits that Cause Crooked Teeth [article]
Would you make your own braces if you knew how? [article]
Is it Really Wise to Have Your Wisdom Teeth Removed? [article]
Other resources:
- Growing Your Face – Dr. Mike Mew’s lecture that OraWellness co-founder Will enjoyed
- “A black swan?” – Dr. Mew’s interesting editorial in the April 25, 2009 British Dental Journal
- Dr. Darick Nordstrom’s ALF (Advanced Lightwire Functionals) Therapy – the non-traditional orthodontic treatment method that Dr. Mew mentioned in this OraWellness interview
- The Rolfing method – the facial fascia loosening method that Dr. Mew mentioned in this OraWellness interview
This is exactly what i have been looking for. We have six kids. My two older girls have a bit of crowding and crooked teeth coming in. However, their faces are nice and wide, wide jaws. I’ve been teaching them “mewing” for a couple months now. I needed to hear everything in this interview. I have a wide jaw and extremely straight teeth. My parents and siblings do too. I have memories of my parents reminding me to breathe through my nose and close my mouth while I ate and slept. They didn’t make a big deal of it, simply mentioned it from time to time. My husband has very strong facial features and wideish jaw, however he has a lot of crowding. With our third baby I learned about Weston A Price and all of our babies since have started life on that way of eating. They have penny of spacing between their teeth and actually one of my sons has so much room he tends to get adult teeth sprouting in place behind his baby teeth with plenty of room to spare. After listening to this interview I announced no elbows at the table, sit up straight, chew with your mouth closed. Ha ha! Not that hard to instill for us as those have already been our rules. We also homeschool and homestead so we eat three meals a day together anyway as a family. I know he says he’s not familiar with the nutritional side of teeth, but I am wondering about that. I was given high doses of flouride as a child and it has ruined my teeth. That along with thyroid problems and breastfeeding and pregnancies and I literally lose teeth over night. My teeth go from white to gray and back to white at times. I do not drink coffee or anything acidic. I don’t eat sugar, not even fruit. I will eat sourdough here and there but mostly I’m trying to follow the Price way if eating. Meat, cheese, steamed vegetables. No cereals or grain, other than a bit of sourdough here and there. We are clearing land for a cow but recently I started buying raw milk. I’ve read all of your literature on healing cavities and eating a healthy diet for preventing cavities, I’ve read everything on the net from Dr Axe to Wellness Mama to personal testimonials, I use your tooth powder. While I see some improvement, I am till nursing my youngest and not getting much sleep so I’m feeling a bit discouraged. I just would like to know if any (adults) because most stories I read are of children healing deep cavities, have been able to heal deep gumline cavities. My dentist says I have cavities due to my lack of oral hygiene which is hilarious because even as a teenager I was spot on it with mouth wash, toothpaste and flossing. As a young adult I switched to natural products, I use a water pick flosser, brush, scrape my tongue and oil pull. I most likely have and have had better oral hygiene than my dentist but she refuses to admit that it could be anything else. I’m beginning to lose hope and get used to the idea of getting my teeth pulled for dentures but that seems so very unhealthy to me and i know it’s bad for bone loss and I will lose jaw formation and strength. Has anyone healed deep gumline cavities? I just would love someoneS testimony and to see where I’m missing something before just succumbing to the dentist. I take responsibility for my own health so anyone’s advice is welcome to me without them feeling afraid of giving “medical advice”. It’s on me what I do with the info, not anyone else 🙂 Thank you guys so much for your website, products and videos. You’ve helped me so much to raise my kids with healthy teeth and to hopefully avoid all of my own troubles with teeth!
Hi Ashley,
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your story with us.
It’s an honor to support you and your family along your path to optimal oral health. What a gift you are giving your kids by living the lifestyle that you do.
I hear your frustration with your own decay situation. Here’s the thing, and I hate to say it, but sometimes we can only do so much. That said, don’t let this defeat you. There is plenty you can do (and are doing SO much) to help. Yes, Shine will help. However, my guess is that you have dental fluorosis from your childhood which has compromised the integrity of your enamel.
Has a dentist ever told you that you have fluorosis? I suggest you search it and see if you have the signs of it like spots of white and off white on your teeth. If this is the case, you can still apply plenty of great steps (much of what you’re doing already) and you still may need some dental intervention to address this structural issue.
Please feel free to reach back if you have any other questions Ashley. We’re here to help you and your family to the best of our ability!
Thank you for video. So my dentist kept telling me that I was clenching at night and I really didn’t think I was and after hearing it over and over I got a mouth guard as he suggested. Well that through me completely off – I began clenching all day and all night. I don’t know but I feel like my bite, jaw was thrown out of wack. I’m still suffering from this and not sure what to do.
Hi Miriam,
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your story here.
I’m sorry to hear of your challenging situation. My understanding, while some might call it simplistic, is that to stop clenching, we simply need to develop the habit to press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This upward thrusting tongue position is the antagonist to the muscles that cause the jaw to clench. So, if our clenching musculature is overactive, simply press up the tongue to the roof of the mouth more. Make it a habit and watch your chewing muscles relax. It’s physiology. We can’t maintain tension in antagonistic muscles. So, just activate the antagonist to the clench.
I hope that helps!
Sorry, but he’s WRONG on Dr. Jordan Peterson. The quote from “12 Rules for Life” is “stand up straight with your SHOULDERS back.” That’s a pretty big error to use this quote to bolster his ideas!
Hi Athena,
Thanks for adding your input to this discussion. I’m not familiar with Jordan Peterson’s work so can’t comment on the validity of this.