What Is Mewing?
Mewing is a tongue posturing technique used to help restructure a person’s jawline. Given the long list of conditions caused by imbalances of the TMJ joint, mewing poses a potential at-home DIY remedy for pain, speech impediments, and airway issues.
How Do You Do It?
Instructions for mewing vary depending on where you learn about it, but according to WebMD, the steps usually look something like this:
- Close your lips.
- Move your jaw so that your front bottom teeth are just behind your front upper teeth.
- Cover the roof of your mouth with your tongue.
- Place the tip of your tongue right behind your front teeth without touching.
To better understand where exactly your tongue should be resting, some people have found it helpful to mouth the “ng” sound found in words like “thing” or “wing.” Additionally, it’s also important to focus on breathing out of the nose rather than the mouth.
Why Has It Become So Popular?
The practice of retraining tongue posture has regained popularity recently through popular social platforms like YouTube and Tik Tok, but the ideas behind mewing come from British orthodontists John Mew and Michael Mew. Their techniques promote a form of orthodontics called orthotropics, which focuses on jaw posture. One of these techniques includes retraining the position of the tongue, known as mewing.
Tongue Reposturing Benefits
As cataloged by Healthline, proper tongue alignment is an opportunity for patients with orthodontic issues to:
- Define the jaw
- Correct speech impediments
- Alleviate pain from jaw-related issues
- Treat sleep apnea
- Align misaligned teeth
With the oversight of a dental professional, mewing can help patients achieve balance and reteach them how to hold their facial muscles for optimal performance and appearance.
Is Mewing Right For You?
All things come with pros and cons. When it comes to retraining your posture, this is especially true. If you’re someone that struggles with the proper positioning of your tongue, a DIY solution can sound enticing.
We recommend keeping the following risks in mind when considering starting mewing:
- Misalignment of teeth
- Misalignment of the upper and lower jaw
- Pain or dysfunction at the hinge of your jaw (TMJ pain)
- Loose or chipped teeth (from misalignment or pressure)
Mewing has the potential to benefit your life in numerous ways, but we recommend scheduling a consultation with a professional. Dr. Marzban has years of experience treating TMJ-related and cosmetic dentistry-related deficiencies for patients all around the Burke, Virginia, area. To schedule a consultation, visit our contact page or call our office at703-323-8200.
