[Closed] Dr. Mike Mew Q&A Session

Hi Mike!

Have you had success treating patients who have been messed up by previous dental work? I've personally had two extractions and am very concerned that I will be unable to expand my mouth out since maybe my body won't allow large gaps between teeth?

A blogger called Claiming Power who worked with you had expansion done and then inplants put in to hold the spaces. Will I 100% need implants to replace my 2 missing eye teeth or can I correct it myself with tongue posture and growth? 

I don't know if I can afford implants

It is a pleasure to be able to speak with you, Dr. Mew.

I would like to apologize in advance for the length of this.

My questions are theoretical in nature.  I have found two studies which have displaced maxillary positions in adult macaque and rhesus monkeys through remodeling at the maxillary sutures.

( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/107807 )

( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0002941678900805 )

I have also found these two studies which show maxillary protraction in adult humans:

( https://www.hindawi.com/journals/crid/2014/270257/ )

( http://www.njms.in/article.asp?issn=0975-5950;year=2012;volume=3;issue=2;spage=202;epage=206;aulast=Showkatbakhsh )

Although there is little to no growth of the maxilla in adults, it seems that remodeling can occur in these suture sites, so a repositioning seems to be plausible. 

So would applying expansive pressures to the midpalatal and transverse palatine sutures and/or the palatine bone be a reasonable mechanism of action for maxillary expansion and protraction?  Would this hypothetical plan of treatment make sense? :

1)      Using a removable appliance that tries to use bone anchorage (somehow nonsurgical) as opposed to tooth anchorage (to minimize teeth tipping), which applies forward expansive pressures to the transverse palatine suture and/ or the palatine bone; in conjunction with something that expands the maxilla along the midpalatal suture at the same time.   Each suture will receive approximately 500-900 grams of force.  To regulate the direction of force (upward or downward), an extraoral headgear may need to be attached to the appliance.  Unfortunately with something like this, I believe tongue position may be compromised, which is why I think it should be worn for about 12 hours.

2)       For the remaining 12 hours, the patient should be made to wear a different appliance which maintains the bone changes from the night prior and trains the tongue to rest on the palate.

3)       For approximately 1-2 out of those 12 hours, the patient should be made to chew on very hard material, to build the masticatory muscles. 

4)      In order to loosen the sutures initially, one could use short-term, quick forces (though be careful of fracturing the bones)

5)      Although you may not approve of its usage, Human Growth Hormone has been shown to increase mandibular condoyle growth and remodeling even in adults, and may potentially have a positive effect on treatment, leading to more bone deposition and easier manipulability of the sutures of the maxilla.

I also have another question regarding maxillary protraction.  When doing so, is what is the ideal angle to pull from (in other words the ratio of upwards force/ movement to forwards force/movement)?

I would like to thank you for taking the time to go through this long passage of my thoughts (sorry again).  If you would like to be in contact after your video response, please let me know what means of communication works for you.  I wish you well in your studies regarding this topic and commend the fact that you are changing the lives of many people for the better.

Best regards,

ThaGangsta

Thanks for doing this Mike.

I have a question regarding this practice: http://www.honorfranklin.com/.

Dr Honor Franklin seems to agree with your thinking with regard to tongue and lip posture from what I've read of her site, although I'm not sure if it's independant of your work or not? I'm also not 100% sure if it's exactly the same techniques she's using but it seems very similar to me.

She practices Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy  "Achieving a correct resting posture of the tongue, lips, jaw and face is the primary goal of OMT."
It seems like its Orthotropics to me in all but name. She has a number of  pictures from patients she has treated here: http://www.honorfranklin.com/myofunctional-gallery.html

As you can see, the treatment has worked even in adults, most of them have gotten noticably better looking, one or two shockingly so! Jawline is improved and its clear that forward growth of the maxilla has been achieved. The picture I've attached is of a woman in her 30s who has definitely achieved forward growth to great aesthetic effect.

My question is; are you aware of Dr Franklins work? Both of you working together could be mutually beneficial.

Hi Dr. Mew,

I am a 21 years old female and I live on the west coast of the United States. I have undergone regular orthodontic treatment and my face is still very asymmetrical. I was wondering if it is still theoretically possible to completely correct this asymmetry at my age using the biobloc system. I have not had any extractions and still have my wisdom teeth. Additionally I don't have access to orthotropic treatment in my area, nor the financial means.I have tried to improve both my mouth and body posture. I was wondering if there is anything else I can do?

Thanks,

Alina

[email protected].

Thank you Doctor Mew for the great job. 

Do you think there is any correlation between malocclusion and depression?

How seriously sleep apnea is damaging people's brain?

Other question.

What about feet and sleep position to grow a healthy face? Walking barefoot and sleeping on back could be the best therapy?

Is there such a thing as wisdom teeth implants?

In your case experience, what are the first things to begin changing? Do people's faces move towards more symmetry first before they begin to move up and forward? I'm much more symmetrical now, but I'm still waiting to see my midface come up

1. What is the difference between the Hybrid appliance and the Biobloc appliance?

2. What is the difference between the various Biobloc appliances (stages 1,2 and 3)?

3. What is the benefit of using the Alf system to expand the arch versus using advanced braces such as the Damon system? 

Thanks

Hi Doctor Mew, I've been fixing my posture in this and other ways for about a year and a half and I can vouch personally for results in 20 year olds.

When is Mewing going mainstream? These are health issues and should be covered be insurance.

When correcting maxillary retrusion and asymmetry with extra-oral anchorage, do you add a vector pulling in the direction opposite to the lateral deviation, or do you just pull up and forward while widening the palate and the asymmetry untangles itself? For example, if the patient's midline deviated a few mm to the right, would you add bands to the front and back of the facebow pulling to the left? If the patient's occlusion canted lower on the right, would you apply more force pulling up on the right side?

Once experienced with the proper Mew push swallow technique, can you take several consecutive swallows, continuing to poor the beverage into your mouth while undulating your tongue against your palate without engaging your cheeks/lips, or do you have to take just a small sip, and then pause to swallow as seen in your video tutorial? It is a little challenging to keep the chin tuck posture while tilting the cup to your lips, and occasionally I aspirate when trying to push swallow without pausing, but I'm getting more accustomed to the rhythm. 

I used to traumatically bite my cheeks, especially while rushing to eat, and got painful canker sores on almost a monthly basis. Since correcting my tongue posture following your advice, this problem has resolved. I believe my upper arch has expanded slightly, but enough to hold the cheek curtain away from the bite surface. Can I expect that the protruding linea alba on my buccal mucosa will recede in time? I think they might feel less prominent already.

Posted by: Apollo

I used to traumatically bite my cheeks, especially while rushing to eat, and got painful canker sores on almost a monthly basis. Since correcting my tongue posture following your advice, this problem has resolved. I believe my upper arch has expanded slightly, but enough to hold the cheek curtain away from the bite surface. Can I expect that the protruding linea alba on my buccal mucosa will recede in time? I think they might feel less prominent already.

Good point. I'm experiencing the same.

Dr. Mew, 

     I have tried to put my tongue to the roof of my mouth especially in the back. Since it is not accustomed to going there, I OFTEN forget, and sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm doing it right and gives me a tension headache. I prefer the obvious pressure of an appliance to the tense pressure of my tongue trying to do something it can't.

Is it like exercising a muscle you don't use?

Will it eventually sit in to place?

Will there ever be a time when I do not have to consciously think of it in my near-distant future?

Does putting my tongue to the roof of my mouth do anything to expand my maxilla side to side? I simply can't picture it. 

Thank you for doing this.

- How much bottle feeding can damage maxilla development? Studies show that bottle feeding pushes maxilla too forwards. Is it possible to set back maxilla?

Questions have already been submitted to Doctor Mew and a video will come up shortly for us. We are still working on a live Q&A

I am locking the thread for now pending the video upload. Anyone whose question didn't get submitted, they may still be submitted in further videos. 

I apologise here for my lack of presence in the past while. Feel free to submit questions as new threads, perhaps myself and other users can be of assistance. Everyone here is passionate and many are very well studied on these topics.