Hey I'm 20 years old. I have an Vertically Underdeveloped Maxilla. So basically my upper jaw is short. My facial height is short. People can't see my teeth. It is very ugly. I look like an old man without teeth (because my upper jaw short). Very self conscious. Difficult for me to even talk to people. I look online but everyone is talking about a overdeveloped upper jaw or jaw being pushed back. I've spent hours but very few people with my problem. Can someone help me please. Any link or advice. Will mewing bring m upper jaw downward (make it a little longer) or will it push it up. Should I still mew? or any other lounge exercise to help bring it down even a little.
Do what everyone else is doing and mew + chin tuck. You'd probably benefit highly from hard-mewing i.e pressing firmly and exercising your tongue/jaw muscles with gum. If your maxilla is low then it needs to go up and the only way you're going achieve that is if you pushing it upwards with the force of your tongue and perhaps your lower jaw for as much time as you can every day.
You read it wrong lol. Upper saw is short. Underdeveloped. Its not long. I need it to go down more not push up. Help
My bad. "vertically underdeveloped" was misleading. If anything that would be overdeveloped, no? Have you mewed most of your life?
Would you be up for sharing a profile and portrait view of your face so we can get a better idea? Can censor identifying features like eyes, hair etc if you want to remain more anonymous .
You might get some increased incisor display from forward changes in the maxilla. My lip line covers more than 1/3 of my upper incisors. I've written about this issue in this thread ( /community/community/main-forum/elements-of-smile-aesthetics-and-craniofacial-dystrophy/#post-1663 )
Basically, the article says that skeletal maxillary height is just one of many factors determining the position of the lip line. Here is a picture of a man with skeletal vertical maxillary deficiency whose lip line covers most of his anterior teeth while smiling.
Dr. Mew responded to my question about it in his most recent Q/A video ( /community/community/main-forum/mike-mew-qa-response-video-2/#post-6860 ).
So kind of like this. With upper teeth right under the nose. In a way you could say maxilla is "missing". Looks super ugly. Like I have no teeth. Cant even smile. And I'm not sure if I've been mewing most of my life.
So kind of like this. With upper teeth right under the nose. In a way you could say maxilla is "missing". Looks super ugly. Like I have no teeth. Cant even smile. And I'm not sure if I've been mewing most of my life.
Basically I need my upper jaw (maxilla) lowered
Mewing probably isn’t going to help you much in your case (imo).
Two realistic and actionable options (with the help of a good ortho, and depending on age and severity of your case):
1) Growth modification using class III intermaxillary elastics at -45 degrees to the occlusal plane.
2) Growth modification using extraoral elastics anchored to anteriorly placed palatal micro-implants (bone-anchorage) at -45 degrees to the occlusal plane.
You have two principal issues that need fixing, which the above two options can solve: your maxilla is retruded (it needs to be displaced forward), and your maxilla exhibits too much counter-clockwise rotation (needs to be rotated clockwise, anterior portion swings down). Both of these factors together result in a brachyfacial appearance. Since you are not a child or young teenager (I’m assuming), you’d probably need to go with option #2.
Any other problems with your bite?What is your IMW?
Worst case scenario you can elect for LeFort 1, assuming you have no other midfacial deficiencies you want to take care of.
I agree with @varbrah that posting your inter-molar width and occlusal situation would be illuminating. The man in the photo you posted likely has deep bite.
Unlike @varbrah though, I'd argue that correct tongue & body posture will likely fix your issue. Much of the process depends on the specific way your cranium is currently structured and the tension dynamics your cranial bones have with each other, but ultimately cranio-facial dystrophy tends to be, in one form or another, a combination of underdevelopment and compensatory compression, and thus reversible with natural postural mechanisms.
In your case, correct tongue & body posture will likely "decompress" your middle third (along with whatever other cranial changes would need to happen in order to allow for such unwinding to occur), resulting in the dental arch expanding down & forward until finding a point of dynamic balance somewhere near the lipline.
The way I see it, excessive maxillary CCW rotation with insufficient forward growth is the result of having had proper postural support on the premaxilla (anterior palate) but inadequate support on the posterior palate. Your tongue tip may have been been in proper position, your incisors may have been the predominant contact point in your occlusion. the main takeaway is that your posterior tongue has not been doing it's job.
@Progress Agree completely. He can 100% improve via natural postural mechanisms, but my concern is the rate at which he can do so, given that he is probably older. Ultimately, the rate of change determines the total amount of change given that we are constrained by time. I’m assuming his case is likely severe and warrants some attention/intervention given the amount of distress it’s causing him, and how he perceives himself due to it (kind of concerning for me lol).
It took me a little bit over a year of concentrated effort to learn to properly and unconsciously engage my posterior tongue against the palate at least 90% of the time (assuming that’s the fix for him, and assuming he has the tongue space to begin with), during which time I made barely any progress. The protocol I suggested would allow him to accelerate physical progress while also giving him the ability to train the tongue, concurrently. Likewise, if he lacks tongue space, an ortho can help him expand his palate whilst all of the other stuff is happening.
Unlike @varbrah though, I'd argue that correct tongue & body posture will likely fix your issue. Much of the process depends on the specific way your cranium is currently structured and the tension dynamics your cranial bones have with each other, but ultimately cranio-facial dystrophy tends to be, in one form or another, a combination of underdevelopment and compensatory compression, and thus reversible with natural postural mechanisms.
What tongue posture will help lower the maxilla and increase the length of the face?
And also do you think this was all caused because my tongue placement while I was growing up?
I don't think people realize how big of a problem this really is. People complain about having gummy teeth. I cant even show my teeth smile or talk properly.
So kind of like this. With upper teeth right under the nose. In a way you could say maxilla is "missing". Looks super ugly. Like I have no teeth. Cant even smile. And I'm not sure if I've been mewing most of my life.
Basically I need my upper jaw (maxilla) loweredMewing probably isn’t going to help you much in your case (imo).
Two realistic and actionable options (with the help of a good ortho, and depending on age and severity of your case):
1) Growth modification using class III intermaxillary elastics at -45 degrees to the occlusal plane.
2) Growth modification using extraoral elastics anchored to anteriorly placed palatal micro-implants (bone-anchorage) at -45 degrees to the occlusal plane.
You have two principal issues that need fixing, which the above two options can solve: your maxilla is retruded (it needs to be displaced forward), and your maxilla exhibits too much counter-clockwise rotation (needs to be rotated clockwise, anterior portion swings down). Both of these factors together result in a brachyfacial appearance. Since you are not a child or young teenager (I’m assuming), you’d probably need to go with option #2.
Any other problems with your bite?What is your IMW?
Worst case scenario you can elect for LeFort 1, assuming you have no other midfacial deficiencies you want to take care of.
Can you show me a picture of what 1 and 2 look like. And can this help lower my maxilla to extend face height?
@Ali1337 yes it will increase facial height. And no, on mobile. Just Google them yourself, I basically gave you the clinical treatment names verbatim.
Unlike @varbrah though, I'd argue that correct tongue & body posture will likely fix your issue. Much of the process depends on the specific way your cranium is currently structured and the tension dynamics your cranial bones have with each other, but ultimately cranio-facial dystrophy tends to be, in one form or another, a combination of underdevelopment and compensatory compression, and thus reversible with natural postural mechanisms.
@Progress What tongue posture will help lower the maxilla and increase the length of the face?
And also do you think this was all caused because my tongue placement while I was growing up?
I don't think people realize how big of a problem this really is. People complain about having gummy teeth. I cant even show my teeth smile or talk properly.
It's quite simple. If you can afford it, go talk to a good ortho. Until then, or regardless, hang around the forums, educated yourself on CFD, and work on mewing correctly. You have absolutely nothing to lose by trying to perfect oral posture. If you can afford it as well, go talk to a myofunctional therapist. They should be able to help you with your specific problems. It's not the best idea to take case by case advice on an internet forum
Your maxilla nor anyone's maxilla ever needs to be lowered. Rather your midface needs to be brought forward. Raising your maxilla vault essentially will push your midface forward thus giving your face a chance to move away from your teeth while your maxilla also goes higher up.
Your maxilla nor anyone's maxilla ever needs to be lowered. Rather your midface needs to be brought forward. Raising your maxilla vault essentially will push your midface forward thus giving your face a chance to move away from your teeth while your maxilla also goes higher up.
It's not as simple as just moving the maxilla forward and up (ccw rotation) in all cases since growth patterns are strongly informed by the rotational movement of the maxilla. If he is brachyfacial, he more than likely has a retruded maxilla in conjunction with ccw over-rotation (dropped posterior maxilla due to improper engagement of the posterior tongue as hypothesized by @Progress, and exacerbated by lack of forward growth). In order to be able to correct this, you would either need to a) achieve a large amount of pure forward displacement of the maxilla (enough to compensate for the specific degree of ccw over-rotation) or b) achieve a modest amount of forward displacement along with decompensatory cw rotation (which *does* require a component of downward displacement of the maxilla).
If those with high amounts of ccw rotation got that way due to incorrect posterior third of the tongue engagement, then what about those with more cw rotation? Because I have that kind of facial type (thin, long face with weak chin) and I sure as hell didn't put ANY of my tongue on the roof of my mouth at almost any point in my childhood. Is it possible that one can have very minimal rotation of the maxilla, and the whole midface simply translates downwards and backwards (say, at a 225 degree angle from the horizontal plane)?
Your maxilla nor anyone's maxilla ever needs to be lowered. Rather your midface needs to be brought forward. Raising your maxilla vault essentially will push your midface forward thus giving your face a chance to move away from your teeth while your maxilla also goes higher up.
It's not as simple as just moving the maxilla forward and up (ccw rotation) in all cases since growth patterns are strongly informed by the rotational movement of the maxilla. If he is brachyfacial, he more than likely has a retruded maxilla in conjunction with ccw over-rotation (dropped posterior maxilla due to improper engagement of the posterior tongue as hypothesized by @Progress, and exacerbated by lack of forward growth). In order to be able to correct this, you would either need to a) achieve a large amount of pure forward displacement of the maxilla (enough to compensate for the specific degree of ccw over-rotation) or b) achieve a modest amount of forward displacement along with decompensatory cw rotation (which *does* require a component of downward displacement of the maxilla).
I was referring to the vault becoming higher which would cause clockwise rotation. But it wouldn't move the maxilla down. It would push up on the palate and move the midface forward .
Think of the maxilla like a tent and the tongue like the supports. If the tent is collapsed the supports move it UP. In this case moving the vault up moves his face away from his teeth thus exposing them more.
Essentially his vault is collapsed from lack of support. The tongue pushing it up would make the entire face go forward. I say this because as my own maxilla vault has gotten higher, my midface has gained more bony support. If he has the same case as the dude @Apollo posted, this vault pushing would be very helpful for him.
@EddieMoney not sure I follow, a vaulted maxilla is an indicator of either vertical maxillary excess or transverse deficiency. You would theoretically develop one from NOT mewing. Do you mean something else possibly?
OP’s case is probably similar to this case (short face pattern): 
You can see that the maxilla is both retruded and over-rotated ccw by the backwards slope of his occlusal plane. Which is more feasible:
1. Achieving a relatively large amount (we are talking multiple centimeters in a case as severe as above) of pure forward displacement of the maxilla (keeping in mind that any upward component of displacement to this forward movement will be counterproductive) in order to achieve a mesofacial profile.
OR
2. Achieving a much more reasonable amount of forward displacement in combination with downward movement of the maxilla, resulting in net cw rotation/tipping of the anterior maxilla, which by itself will yield a more balanced middle third, less hooked and more defined nose due to lowered and protracted nasal base, mesofacial profile, etc etc.
Option 1 would be great but it is theoretically impossible with mewing alone as there will always be an upwards component to the force you exert with your tongue against the palate. Also consider that the tongue will be at a mechanical disadvantage due to the slope of the palate in the above case, making it even more difficult to engage the posterior tongue and apply a net forward force to the maxilla. Also impossible IRL due to the amount of pure forward displacement and sutural remodeling you would need to achieve as an adult.
@EddieMoney stop spamming of your clueless. No not everyone needs to raise their maxilla. I'm trying to get help
@Ali1337 yes it will increase facial height. And no, on mobile. Just Google them yourself, I basically gave you the clinical treatment names verbatim.
Is this what your talking about? the second one?
@Ali1337 yes it will increase facial height. And no, on mobile. Just Google them yourself, I basically gave you the clinical treatment names verbatim.
Is this what your talking about? the second one?
Kind of. That is an intermaxillary spring though and I think it may be retractive or used to shorten the maxilla. Not too familiar with treatment protocols for those.
The main takeaway from that pic though is the placement of the TADs in the anterior maxilla, which is correct from your example. The angle the force is being applied at is more or less fine too, BUT instead of anchoring to that wire on the teeth, the TAD’s need to be connected with elastics either to the mandible or to an extraoral appliance like a face mask.
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