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Have you ever been given the tip to press your tongue against your palate for a photo? If so, you’re familiar with “mewing. This term has about 10 billion views on TikTok and it is said to give you a snatched jawline without fillers or surgery.
Some people even swear by mewing for a tighter profile. Not just for that selfie, but forever. In any case, the before and after videos we find online are very impressive. But can it really change the shape of your jaw in the long run?
@drzmackie
#stitch with @Jihoon Kim does mewing fix your jawline? #dentist #mewing #jawline #smilemakeover #teethwhitening
♬ original sound – Your TikTok Dentist
Where does ‘mewing’ come from?
The term is named after British orthodontist John Mew. He popularized the term in the 1970s as part of his orthodontic practice: he believed that you could gradually change the shape of your face and jaw using a system of orthodontic appliances and facial exercises.
According to this same doctor, the human jaw has become weaker over the generations, partly due to eating a lot of soft foods, and you can fix that by doing the following exercise for a longer period of time: place your tongue flat against your palate and hold it for a while, repeat this constantly and at least every day. Sounds like a piece of cake and looks something like this:
@bestfaceforwardposture
How to do Mewing the Right Way… #mewing #mewingtutorial #mewingtransformation #mewingresults #mewingtuturial #tongueposture #tongueposturematters #orthotropics #orthotricks
♬ Strawberry – Prod. By Rose
To mew or not to mew?
Before you get all excited about this workout for your angelic face: there is no scientific evidence that this exercise changes the shape of your face in the long run or makes your double chin disappear. It can only start to feel tremendously uncomfortable if you do it for a long time (cramping!), so we just don’t recommend it. For a quick selfie, of course, we have no objections.