Some People Swear Mewing Can Help Straighten Your Teeth—But What Is It Exactly? (2024)

Few people have perfectly straight teeth naturally, but plenty of people want them. Unfortunately, getting perfect teeth can be costly.

With this in mind, it’s understandable to want to see what you can do to straighten your teeth at home. Enter mewing. While this practice isn’t well known to the general public, fans swear positioning your tongue in your mouth a certain way can help straighten crooked teeth—without having to rope in a dentist or orthodontist.

Ahead, experts explain what mewing is and if it really works.

What is mewing, exactly?

Mewing, also known as orthotropics, is a practice that involves placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth. It was invented in the 1970s by an orthodontist named John Mew, who claims that mewing can help reshape your face and fix orthodontic issues.

Mewing gets plenty of airplay on Instagram, with people swearing that it helped give them a more chiseled jawline and straighter teeth.

How to mew

Most people typically have their tongue at the bottom of their mouths, but mewing encourages you to rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth with your lips touching and your teeth together, explains Mark Wolff, D.D.S., Ph.D., dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Does mewing work?

That’s the million-dollar question, and dental experts aren’t convinced that mewing actually works.

“Mewing is not something that is based on science,” says Robert Lesneski, D.D.S., an oral surgeon at Greater Michigan Oral Surgeons & Dental Implant Center.

While Wolff says that “it’s clear when the tongue is not in the right position in the mouth, it causes significant issues,” it’s also “not clear that putting the tongue in a specific location can orthodontically change the shape of the mouth.” He adds, “not many people agree with this particular method of shaping the teeth.”

Lesneski says that “in theory,” mewing could have some benefit when a child is growing. “If they keep their tongue pressed against the roof of their mouth, it could widen" the maxilla (the bone that forms your upper jaw), he says. But once they get older, “there is no benefit whatsoever to mewing,” Lesneski says.

“The only way this would work is if the child does this almost all day long, which is unlikely,” he continues. “Once the sutures—where two bones meet that allow growth—are closed, the only way to widen or change the skeleton would be through surgery.” In adults, Lesneski says, “there is no way that mewing can promote facial growth as the sutures are closed.”

Wolff says that there’s really no harm in trying mewing if you want, but he’s not convinced it works. “I’ve never met anyone who said they straightened their teeth by keeping their tongue a certain way,” he says.

What to do if you want to straighten your teeth

If you’re looking to straighten your teeth, Wolff recommends seeing a dentist or orthodontist for a consultation. “We now have removable aligners that can do minor corrections—many general dentists can do that,” he says. “But if you think this is something that needs major correction, then an orthodontist is a great resource.”