Posted by: Stev3n95

Hey all

After mewing the whole day I get this strange sensation in my lower front teeth. They're a bit crowded and it feels like they're either getting separated or getting more crowded - I can't really tell. Is this normal? Similar experiences, anyone?

 

So the fleshy part of the underneath of your tongue is pressing against them. This is ok, it's actually what I consider to be the natural way of straightening your bottom teeth and if you'd always had correct tongue posture, it would be that part that would have made sure that your bottom teeth all ended up in the right place.

Basically nature worked out a counterpart force to perform a similar role to the one the top of your tongue performs when it is sitting in the roof of your mouth.

If you need to convince yourself that this is happening, mew, and then while holding the posture slowly open your lips and let your teeth widen slightly. You should see it as clear as day engulfing your teeth.

This happens with me too, except I get zero pain or teeth movement from it because I'm old-ish, so my bones aren't all that malleable. I suspect you must be pretty young if you're getting movement from it over the course of a day.

Hey !

I am 23 years old. I haven't noticed any change in how my lower teeth sit yet. But I'm still trying to get the hang of mewing so I constantly re-adjust my tongue, do tongue push-ups, practice correct swallow pattern, etc. By the end of the day my lower front just feel strange. It's not painful, just a little bit annoying, haha. I wasn't sure what that feeling was - whether they're getting straightened or pushed together even more.

Thank you for the reply !

Cheers

31 yo. I noticed some sensation in the lower from teeth as well, especially after a night's sleep where my teeth are together for 7 hours. They are a bit crowded and one has begun moving inward to a more natural position, so I guessed it was more of that? Its similar to when I had braces.

It's interesting that this is being talked about because it's not something that comes up very often.

FWIW, I've noticed some subtleties when it comes to how that fleshy part works...at least on me.

So for years I've had a gap between my middle lower teeth and where that gap is, the fleshy part has moulded itself slightly so that there's a bit of a prong coming off it. It means that when I have correct tongue posture, that fleshy prong actually keeps the gap open and prevents it from closing, which I guess it just an example of how our natural systems aren't always perfect....though that might be more to do do with only starting to correct my tongue posture later in life.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is, if it has happened to me, then it might happen to someone else, and I wanted people to know that there is a way to correct it.

I've been using a knock-off myobrace for a while, and it seems that the part that sits under the tongue actually has the side effect of forcing that fleshy part to smooth out. Over time it seems like it's likely that the prong will disappear as long as I keep using the myobrace, so I'm hopeful my gap will close in the end.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. Obviously all this stuff takes time, and you should expect lower teeth to move to the right positions, but only after a long time. After all, really we should have had this posture all our lives, so the teeth should never have ended up in the wrong location in the first place, so we're clearly asking for our body to do more than it should ideally be expected to!

Posted by: ava

It's interesting that this is being talked about because it's not something that comes up very often.

FWIW, I've noticed some subtleties when it comes to how that fleshy part works...at least on me.

So for years I've had a gap between my middle lower teeth and where that gap is, the fleshy part has moulded itself slightly so that there's a bit of a prong coming off it. It means that when I have correct tongue posture, that fleshy prong actually keeps the gap open and prevents it from closing, which I guess it just an example of how our natural systems aren't always perfect....though that might be more to do do with only starting to correct my tongue posture later in life.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is, if it has happened to me, then it might happen to someone else, and I wanted people to know that there is a way to correct it.

I've been using a knock-off myobrace for a while, and it seems that the part that sits under the tongue actually has the side effect of forcing that fleshy part to smooth out. Over time it seems like it's likely that the prong will disappear as long as I keep using the myobrace, so I'm hopeful my gap will close in the end.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. Obviously all this stuff takes time, and you should expect lower teeth to move to the right positions, but only after a long time. After all, really we should have had this posture all our lives, so the teeth should never have ended up in the wrong location in the first place, so we're clearly asking for our body to do more than it should ideally be expected to!

To my understanding - when proper posture is practiced it puts pressure on the upper palate - as the upper palate expands the lower jaw follows (hopefully) and therefore creating more room for the teeth to straighten out. If you have a gap between the lower incisors I can't really imagine it closing given the fact that mewing causes only expansion. I could be wrong, tho. 

Another reason might be tongue tie? Mine connects just behind the front teeth, and even if it doesn't stop me from keeping my tongue in place, maybe it's still pulling and stretching and that's what I feel?

You guys have been mewing for awhile now, I assume, and it's only logical to feel changes in your mouth. Yet I only found about the idea of mewing and the place of the tongue a week ago - total noob. I can't even hold the proper position for long yet and this sensation in the lower teeth after just a day of *trying* to mew kinda worried me, hahah.

Posted by: Stev3n95

Posted by: ava

It's interesting that this is being talked about because it's not something that comes up very often.

FWIW, I've noticed some subtleties when it comes to how that fleshy part works...at least on me.

So for years I've had a gap between my middle lower teeth and where that gap is, the fleshy part has moulded itself slightly so that there's a bit of a prong coming off it. It means that when I have correct tongue posture, that fleshy prong actually keeps the gap open and prevents it from closing, which I guess it just an example of how our natural systems aren't always perfect....though that might be more to do do with only starting to correct my tongue posture later in life.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is, if it has happened to me, then it might happen to someone else, and I wanted people to know that there is a way to correct it.

I've been using a knock-off myobrace for a while, and it seems that the part that sits under the tongue actually has the side effect of forcing that fleshy part to smooth out. Over time it seems like it's likely that the prong will disappear as long as I keep using the myobrace, so I'm hopeful my gap will close in the end.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. Obviously all this stuff takes time, and you should expect lower teeth to move to the right positions, but only after a long time. After all, really we should have had this posture all our lives, so the teeth should never have ended up in the wrong location in the first place, so we're clearly asking for our body to do more than it should ideally be expected to!

To my understanding - when proper posture is practiced it puts pressure on the upper palate - as the upper palate expands the lower jaw follows (hopefully) and therefore creating more room for the teeth to straighten out. If you have a gap between the lower incisors I can't really imagine it closing given the fact that mewing causes only expansion. I could be wrong, tho. 

Another reason might be tongue tie? Mine connects just behind the front teeth, and even if it doesn't stop me from keeping my tongue in place, maybe it's still pulling and stretching and that's what I feel?

You guys have been mewing for awhile now, I assume, and it's only logical to feel changes in your mouth. Yet I only found about the idea of mewing and the place of the tongue a week ago - total noob. I can't even hold the proper position for long yet and this sensation in the lower teeth after just a day of *trying* to mew kinda worried me, hahah.

So yes and no. The reason the lower jaw follows the upper is because the tongue is providing two forces in parallel. Again, don't take my word for this...assume the posture and then have a look at what is actually going on in your mouth. It's incredibly obvious and it's just physics at the end of the day (if you don't see this, then perhaps we have different degrees of facial issues, so maybe what I'm seeing is related to that...but it's all a part of the bigger picture).

The upper teeth (well jaw) by themselves are the dominating factor in the sense that they definitely can't be moved by anything other than the tongue in the correct posture and so they can limit movement of the lower teeth due to interlocking, but ultimately it's just a limiting factor on the lower ones. Once that limitation is removed through forward expansion, the weaker force can come in to play. In other words, that underneath part of the tongue can still guide the lower teeth, even if they are set behind and don't interlock with the upper ones, but because it's a much weaker force, it's results are much less obvious (and obviously would be most effective during periods of growth!).

Regarding the closing of the gap, there's something you're missing. We're not only practising correct tongue posture. Some of us are correcting our jaw alignment and chewing too. Chewing stimulates the periodontal ligaments & encourages blood flow in the gums, which will bring the teeth in to their optimal position, because small forces over time do that.

In my case, the reason that gap exists is that while for most of my life I had incorrect tongue posture, the bigger issue was that I never used my front teeth when chewing (apart from when biting in to apples!). I also mainly chewed on one side of my mouth, so that contributed to some asymmetry also.

All of the underlying habitual defects have brought me to this point, so it's natural that I would have to fix all of them to fix things. That's why it's important to chew in a balanced fashion in addition to practicing correct tongue posture. In reality that's not really enough though, because our bodies have spent years reinforcing those bad habits, and if you think of the human body as a system that's really good at optimising itself for it's current function, then clearly you also have to compensate for those accumulated structural changes as they tend to inhibit progress once you correct your function. That's why I've also been correcting my body posture too. Unfortunately that systemic optimisation isn't something that's undone overnight...that's why it takes time to teach your body to do things the right way. The reason it gets easier over time, is because using your body in that new configuration eventually allows your body to optimise itself for it's new function. It get's easier because it is easier.

(apologies for the slightly random order of ideas, in a bit of rush)

Posted by: ava

Posted by: Stev3n95

Posted by: ava

It's interesting that this is being talked about because it's not something that comes up very often.

FWIW, I've noticed some subtleties when it comes to how that fleshy part works...at least on me.

So for years I've had a gap between my middle lower teeth and where that gap is, the fleshy part has moulded itself slightly so that there's a bit of a prong coming off it. It means that when I have correct tongue posture, that fleshy prong actually keeps the gap open and prevents it from closing, which I guess it just an example of how our natural systems aren't always perfect....though that might be more to do do with only starting to correct my tongue posture later in life.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is, if it has happened to me, then it might happen to someone else, and I wanted people to know that there is a way to correct it.

I've been using a knock-off myobrace for a while, and it seems that the part that sits under the tongue actually has the side effect of forcing that fleshy part to smooth out. Over time it seems like it's likely that the prong will disappear as long as I keep using the myobrace, so I'm hopeful my gap will close in the end.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. Obviously all this stuff takes time, and you should expect lower teeth to move to the right positions, but only after a long time. After all, really we should have had this posture all our lives, so the teeth should never have ended up in the wrong location in the first place, so we're clearly asking for our body to do more than it should ideally be expected to!

To my understanding - when proper posture is practiced it puts pressure on the upper palate - as the upper palate expands the lower jaw follows (hopefully) and therefore creating more room for the teeth to straighten out. If you have a gap between the lower incisors I can't really imagine it closing given the fact that mewing causes only expansion. I could be wrong, tho. 

Another reason might be tongue tie? Mine connects just behind the front teeth, and even if it doesn't stop me from keeping my tongue in place, maybe it's still pulling and stretching and that's what I feel?

You guys have been mewing for awhile now, I assume, and it's only logical to feel changes in your mouth. Yet I only found about the idea of mewing and the place of the tongue a week ago - total noob. I can't even hold the proper position for long yet and this sensation in the lower teeth after just a day of *trying* to mew kinda worried me, hahah.

So yes and no. The reason the lower jaw follows the upper is because the tongue is providing two forces in parallel. Again, don't take my word for this...assume the posture and then have a look at what is actually going on in your mouth. It's incredibly obvious and it's just physics at the end of the day (if you don't see this, then perhaps we have different degrees of facial issues, so maybe what I'm seeing is related to that...but it's all a part of the bigger picture).

The upper teeth (well jaw) by themselves are the dominating factor in the sense that they definitely can't be moved by anything other than the tongue in the correct posture and so they can limit movement of the lower teeth due to interlocking, but ultimately it's just a limiting factor on the lower ones. Once that limitation is removed through forward expansion, the weaker force can come in to play. In other words, that underneath part of the tongue can still guide the lower teeth, even if they are set behind and don't interlock with the upper ones, but because it's a much weaker force, it's results are much less obvious (and obviously would be most effective during periods of growth!).

Regarding the closing of the gap, there's something you're missing. We're not only practising correct tongue posture. Some of us are correcting our jaw alignment and chewing too. Chewing stimulates the periodontal ligaments & encourages blood flow in the gums, which will bring the teeth in to their optimal position, because small forces over time do that.

In my case, the reason that gap exists is that while for most of my life I had incorrect tongue posture, the bigger issue was that I never used my front teeth when chewing (apart from when biting in to apples!). I also mainly chewed on one side of my mouth, so that contributed to some asymmetry also.

All of the underlying habitual defects have brought me to this point, so it's natural that I would have to fix all of them to fix things. That's why it's important to chew in a balanced fashion in addition to practicing correct tongue posture. In reality that's not really enough though, because our bodies have spent years reinforcing those bad habits, and if you think of the human body as a system that's really good at optimising itself for it's current function, then clearly you also have to compensate for those accumulated structural changes as they tend to inhibit progress once you correct your function. That's why I've also been correcting my body posture too. Unfortunately that systemic optimisation isn't something that's undone overnight...that's why it takes time to teach your body to do things the right way. The reason it gets easier over time, is because using your body in that new configuration eventually allows your body to optimise itself for it's new function. It get's easier because it is easier.

(apologies for the slightly random order of ideas, in a bit of rush)

Yes, all of this makes sense ! Thank you. May I ask how long have you been applying proper tongue posture and how long did it take you to get your tongue fully up there (if you managed to do that) ?

Posted by: Stev3n95

Posted by: ava

Posted by: Stev3n95

Posted by: ava

It's interesting that this is being talked about because it's not something that comes up very often.

FWIW, I've noticed some subtleties when it comes to how that fleshy part works...at least on me.

So for years I've had a gap between my middle lower teeth and where that gap is, the fleshy part has moulded itself slightly so that there's a bit of a prong coming off it. It means that when I have correct tongue posture, that fleshy prong actually keeps the gap open and prevents it from closing, which I guess it just an example of how our natural systems aren't always perfect....though that might be more to do do with only starting to correct my tongue posture later in life.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is, if it has happened to me, then it might happen to someone else, and I wanted people to know that there is a way to correct it.

I've been using a knock-off myobrace for a while, and it seems that the part that sits under the tongue actually has the side effect of forcing that fleshy part to smooth out. Over time it seems like it's likely that the prong will disappear as long as I keep using the myobrace, so I'm hopeful my gap will close in the end.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. Obviously all this stuff takes time, and you should expect lower teeth to move to the right positions, but only after a long time. After all, really we should have had this posture all our lives, so the teeth should never have ended up in the wrong location in the first place, so we're clearly asking for our body to do more than it should ideally be expected to!

To my understanding - when proper posture is practiced it puts pressure on the upper palate - as the upper palate expands the lower jaw follows (hopefully) and therefore creating more room for the teeth to straighten out. If you have a gap between the lower incisors I can't really imagine it closing given the fact that mewing causes only expansion. I could be wrong, tho. 

Another reason might be tongue tie? Mine connects just behind the front teeth, and even if it doesn't stop me from keeping my tongue in place, maybe it's still pulling and stretching and that's what I feel?

You guys have been mewing for awhile now, I assume, and it's only logical to feel changes in your mouth. Yet I only found about the idea of mewing and the place of the tongue a week ago - total noob. I can't even hold the proper position for long yet and this sensation in the lower teeth after just a day of *trying* to mew kinda worried me, hahah.

So yes and no. The reason the lower jaw follows the upper is because the tongue is providing two forces in parallel. Again, don't take my word for this...assume the posture and then have a look at what is actually going on in your mouth. It's incredibly obvious and it's just physics at the end of the day (if you don't see this, then perhaps we have different degrees of facial issues, so maybe what I'm seeing is related to that...but it's all a part of the bigger picture).

The upper teeth (well jaw) by themselves are the dominating factor in the sense that they definitely can't be moved by anything other than the tongue in the correct posture and so they can limit movement of the lower teeth due to interlocking, but ultimately it's just a limiting factor on the lower ones. Once that limitation is removed through forward expansion, the weaker force can come in to play. In other words, that underneath part of the tongue can still guide the lower teeth, even if they are set behind and don't interlock with the upper ones, but because it's a much weaker force, it's results are much less obvious (and obviously would be most effective during periods of growth!).

Regarding the closing of the gap, there's something you're missing. We're not only practising correct tongue posture. Some of us are correcting our jaw alignment and chewing too. Chewing stimulates the periodontal ligaments & encourages blood flow in the gums, which will bring the teeth in to their optimal position, because small forces over time do that.

In my case, the reason that gap exists is that while for most of my life I had incorrect tongue posture, the bigger issue was that I never used my front teeth when chewing (apart from when biting in to apples!). I also mainly chewed on one side of my mouth, so that contributed to some asymmetry also.

All of the underlying habitual defects have brought me to this point, so it's natural that I would have to fix all of them to fix things. That's why it's important to chew in a balanced fashion in addition to practicing correct tongue posture. In reality that's not really enough though, because our bodies have spent years reinforcing those bad habits, and if you think of the human body as a system that's really good at optimising itself for it's current function, then clearly you also have to compensate for those accumulated structural changes as they tend to inhibit progress once you correct your function. That's why I've also been correcting my body posture too. Unfortunately that systemic optimisation isn't something that's undone overnight...that's why it takes time to teach your body to do things the right way. The reason it gets easier over time, is because using your body in that new configuration eventually allows your body to optimise itself for it's new function. It get's easier because it is easier.

(apologies for the slightly random order of ideas, in a bit of rush)

Yes, all of this makes sense ! Thank you. May I ask how long have you been applying proper tongue posture and how long did it take you to get your tongue fully up there (if you managed to do that) ?

So I'd been doing this stuff for a few years, but my technique was all wrong. I'm pretty sure I was pressing against my teeth at one point and then causing root re-absorption by clenching too much in an effort to apply as much tongue force as possible. All this was totally unnecessary!

Honestly I've kind of lost track of time at this point, buy my guess is it's only really been a few months of correctly performing all the things that I do now. That said, because I was doing the mew earlier, that probably happened sooner, so yeah, I suspect it would take the average person 3 - 6 months to get the tongue to sit easily...but I'm totally pulling that out of thin air even if it's somewhat based on my own experiences.

Yes, my tongue does sit there fine. My width was always pretty decent, it's the forward projection that's broken in my case and I'd imagine fixing my posture has probably contributed to getting it to fit too. That said, I'm clearly lacking in space...it still feels like my tongue is an inch longer at rest than my mouth at this point! (but then I'm a pretty severe case I suspect and I'm 40, so things happen more slowly!)