So I’ve been mewing for a few weeks but I still have several questions regarding my mandible and my teeth that I can’t seem to figure out. It has to do with my mandible being in two positions. I am 20 years old and have an IMW of ~35mm
1. At rest I have a pretty large overbite and a recessed chin. This is when my molars are touching. When my jaw is normally at rest, and shifted back (in my normal deep overbite position ) I can fit my tongue in my palate between molars but can’t really fit the posterior third up. All of my teeth touch, my right molars more (I think my left molars are possibly flared inward and I am more developed on the right side of my face as well), but I look worse this way. In this position I can exert force on my molars with my tongue (I’m not sure if I should be doing this or not) and they often feel sore when I wake up. It is also quite difficult to breathe while McKenzie Tucking or just maintaining good neck posture in general.
2. Now when I shift my mandible forward and slightly downwards while McKenzie Tucking, I can get posterior of tongue up and my profile is improved. The problem currently with resting my jaw in this position is not that it hurts, but that I often have trouble fitting my tongue at the end of my hard palate near my back molars. It tends to rest on them actually. And only my front incisors touch, not molars or canines. However the benefits that I notice is that Mewing for the most part (besides my tongue wanting to spread on my back molars) feels easier and not natural this way. I can actually get my tongue onto my soft palate and swallow correctly and I can breathe quite clearly through my nose while McKenzie Tucking.
This is feeling is explained well in a video by Ronald Ead, who is currently using AGGA : https://youtu.be/aXICDj4p_fQ?t=454 (from 7:38 to 10:34) The main difference is that I didn't use an expander and all my teeth don't rest together when shifted forwards like his do. That is what I want to achieve. I just am unsure how to.
Here are photos of myself with my mandible in each of the positions: https://imgur.com/a/mRcGQDl
Here is my side profile with my mandible in each of the positions while trying to maintain good neck posture (it needs work still): https://imgur.com/a/h3YpAb4
What can I do or how can I move my teeth to where they rest together while my jaw is shifted forward? Will mewing make this happen over time or do I need to get something like Invisalign or braces? I have read from several users here and on orthotropics forums that braces can ruin faces or be counter intuitive to mewing so I'm somewhat skeptical about them. Another possibility I’ve thought of is that maybe I need to get a palate expander installed since I sometimes have trouble keeping my tongue just on my palate and not my molars. Or perhaps my tongue just isn’t strong enough yet for the 2nd position that I spoke of (since I again have trouble keeping it just on my palate and not on my molars). I often hear that teeth touching is essential while Mewing but i'm not sure which teeth need to be touching. I also heard that Mewing while maintaining a natural overbite will just make it worse. Can someone give me some advice on this?
For now, prioritize tongue posture over teeth contact. Position your mandible in a way that makes the tongue posture work out for you. It's fine for the tongue to push against the molars, as this is essentially what a palate expander would do anyway. Expansion in itself will likely reduce your overbite to some extent, but not to the extent the eventual upswing of your mid-face will. That being said, overbite can be a difficult position to get out of. I have gone from 34 mm IMW to 43 along with a few mm of forward movement, and my overbite has lessened perhaps 1 mm.
Teeth touching is irrelevant to mewing IMO. Focus on palatal expansion. Your mandible is small so it can benefit from expansion so it can slide forward .
I will work On this. Thanks for the reply
For now, prioritize tongue posture over teeth contact. Position your mandible in a way that makes the tongue posture work out for you. It's fine for the tongue to push against the molars, as this is essentially what a palate expander would do anyway. Expansion in itself will likely reduce your overbite to some extent, but not to the extent the eventual upswing of your mid-face will. That being said, overbite can be a difficult position to get out of. I have gone from 34 mm IMW to 43 along with a few mm of forward movement, and my overbite has lessened perhaps 1 mm.
I had the same problem
I don't see any problem at all with braces. Where is it saying they're bad? Invisalign/braces/DNA can help out. Consults are basically free everywhere you go. You don't have to pay much more for the top orthodontist in your area than someone that's okay. I see no reason to mess around with Mewing. It didn't help me.. and actually threw off my perfectly placed teeth. Now... due to pressure being applied from tongue to palate I have curve of spee. This used to be really rare. I've written to Dr. Mew and the ball's in his court to address this one. We need to seriously reign in the madness!
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