I don't know about what Mike Mew gives out, but I chew using a silicone teething/chew toy necklace I bought off of Amazon that I then cut up in pieces that were more "gum" sized. You can also buy surgical tubing by the yard, but I hated the way it suctioned in my mouth, and the sound and chewing sensation was not pleasant. Others recommend mastic gum, but all it did was stick to my teeth.

The cut-up chew toy has been a happy medium for me. If you search in Amazon for silicone chew necklace, you'll get a ton of results.

EDIT: And it's been said here a lot, but open mouth chewing is key. I've seen huge results in the change of my jaw and bite. My lips look much more even, and I have less chipmunk cheeks and more definition in my face.

It is very hard to chew properly with a closed mouth anyway. I can't chew that huge mastic gum with closed mouth. It is asking for injury.

I don't recommend chewing exercises w/ a closed mouth anyway. I think it causes lips and cheeks to become overdeveloped and puffy + nasolabial folds as a result. The current fashion here is full-ranged and open mouth chewing. While I haven't seen any studies to back it up I've noticed when I do it it is a much more tiring workout, it makes my cheeks more hollow and I get a much better jaw/cheekbone line + better jaw muscle development. I am convinced it is the better way to go. tbh I'm starting to think that chewing food with your mouth open might be ideal. unfortunately it's pretty disgusting and socially unacceptable

Give it a shot for a day and tell us what you think. You may notice the aching you get from it radiates into your facial bones more.

For those of you who are convinced of the superiority of open mouth chewing to common chewing, how do you explain yourself? The most detailed answer I have heard so far is that keeping mouth open makes muscles work differently. It's not a satisfying answer to someone who can't find practical difference between the two. Could you answer these questions:

1. What muscles?

2. How do they work differerently?

3. What about closing mouth sabotages this process?

4. Your palate width

5. Your level of recession in your own words

I'm not by any means very knowledgeable about orthrotropics or its functions and terminology. This is just what I've noticed when  doing it. Purely anecdotal. 

My masseter feels substantially more worked out when I open mouth chew. I attribute this to the greater (full) range of motion and less assistance from cheek and lip muscles. By not fatiguing my cheeks/lips during these chewing exercises I have noticed they have reduced in size over time and become less swollen. Also my lips are thinner and more uniform, especially the lower one which I think is a more desirable trait in men at least. My palate width is about 41mm and I started at around 39mm. My level of recession is minimal as I've always had closed mouth and lip posture with minor tongue support (just the tip) throughout my life.

I notice the most intense workout is when open my jaw fully and have a large amount of gum/rubber material far back in the molars or spread across all my teeth in a U shape.

To reiterate, compared to closed mouth chewing which I was doing for several months I have noticed with this exercise: Reduction in puffy cheeks/lips/nasolabial crease, a much more tiresome workout which leaves my jaw muscles aching hard after 1-2 hours (with closed mouth chewing I could likely do it all day) an obvious increase in jaw size and strength + jawline definition, an easier time keeping my jaw closed throughout the day and night without even thinking about it. I aim to chew at least a full pack of gum at once, maybe 2 if I've recovered from chewing for a few days. 

Please keep in mind that I am fixing my posture, mewing, and chewing all at the same time. It’s possible my progress is because of only one of these things, or because of a combination. I can never say anything with certainty. All I know is that I had been closed-mouth chewing early on in my tongue posture journey, didn’t see results and stopped incorporating it into my routine. After reading up on open-mouth chewing from this forum, I started it back up and ever since I started open mouth chewing, I’ve seen a jump in progress. After a short lax in routine, I’ve felt reversal in my mandibular swing that prompted me back into the chewing. After only a couple days of chewing again, my mandible felt back to the placement before the reversal. I’m not quitting in the foreseeable future!

To answer your questions!

1. What muscles? 2. How do they work differently? 3. What about closing mouth sabotages this process?

I’ve been reading up on the anatomy of mastication, but I just can’t differentiate all the different muscles by sensation with certainty, besides the masseter. I’ll try to explain my own experience as best I can.

Open mouth chewing - Chewing open mouth is more of an up and down motion of the mandible using the masseter, with my tongue doing the work of moving the food around. I had a friend in college who is absolutely gorgeous, and I remember her chewing with her mouth open, very subtly, in a way that never bothered me. I try to emulate her. I also keep in mind the scene in the movie Gigi, where Aunt Alicia teaches Gigi how to eat ortalon. I try not to look like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.

After a really good chewing session, I feel an ache and warmth starting at my cheeks and moving down to my jawline, though it’s now less intense than when I first started, which I assume is because my muscles have built up enough to not get as fatigued.

Closed mouth chewing - Chewing is much more rotational, and keeping the mouth closed requires active effort, and feels like I'm using the anguli oris muscles and the obicularis oris (though don’t hate me if I’m wrong about that). There’s less space in my mouth for food AND tongue, so my cheeks and round movements of the jaw aid in moving the food around.

Since I’ve started open mouth chewing, I’ve seen a significant change in my face. My cheekbones are much more defined in the light, and I am beginning to have hollow cheeks. I had a small line on my upper lip that was slowly getting deeper, which I know for a fact is due to activation of muscles, as that was why I had quit a specific routine of facial exercises. Though it had minimized since stopping that routine, I was dismayed to see that the line was continuing to deepen as the years went by. This line is now entirely gone. My lower lip was twice the size of my upper lip, but they are now the same “plumpness”, my lower lip having become smaller. I still have round cheeks, but they are continuing to lift, and the chipmunk look is receding.

4. Your palate width

My intermolar width is 31 mm based on my 1st molars, with no expansion in the month that I’ve begun taking measurements. That said, I am seeing expansion measuring between both my second molars and my wisdom teeth. My bicuspids were extracted when I was a kid, which makes me believe I need to adjust how I track progress, at least in these early stages. But I want to wait a couple more weeks before I measure again and write a more extensive post on my progress, with photos of my impressions.

5. Your level of recession in your own words

It could be worse, but it could also be so much better. I guess the best way to describe it is that I’m a hot mess that somehow is put together in a pleasing enough way. But it’s a domino effect of tiny things that have made a large whole that will take a ton of work to sort out.

I have forward head posture which has affected my breathing and slope of my forehead, but I’ve never been a mouth breather. My lips have always stayed closed at rest, but my tongue has rested on the bottom of my mouth, with my teeth far apart. After lots of orthodontics, I was very lax on my retainer usage. I have slight crowding now, but the main issue is my narrow palate and overbite.  I have a class ii malocclusion that the cosmetic dentist calls an “acceptable level” overbite, but which I have never accepted. With mild scoliosis, bad body and tongue posture, my face is pretty asymmetrical.

The past three months especially have been really encouraging, but it's a long way to go.

really appreciate your in-depth response @sclera 

I'm clearly not nearly as attuned to the subtle changes made from various exercises and proper posture as you are but when I consider such things in retrospect like the lip line you mentioned I can definitely see a positive change in this area. I've drawn my own parallels w/ all the improvements you mentioned. I just talked to a few of my friends who share my enthusiasm for skull/facial development and they've noticed similar gains. There were other people on this forum talking about their good experiences with OMC but I don't remember where it was.

I was watching videos of chimps eating food today and I noticed that all of them eat with their mouths open.  this lead me to wonder about how our late ancestors ate; the ones that dr.mew refers to a lot about their perfect skull development. maybe they did OMC too? perhaps CMC is a result of modern societies influence on how people eat and not actually the best way when it comes to facial development. we don't want over-developed cheeks or lips. babies have this early on because of their infantile sucking motions

thoughts?

Sclera, I agree on the mastic gum. Not sure how it's rated so highly, every bag I bought was full of unchewable pieces.
I OMC'd falim gum for 2 hours and felt nothing, regardless of how animalistic and full my chewing was. I also tried the surgical tubing and have similar complaints as yours.
Which necklace did you get? Compared to .com, Amazon.ca has a pretty lackluster selection, but some of them look like they'd be good to just hold onto and chew for 30-60 minutes instead of cutting up into pieces.

Mastic gum has some soft pieces which are unchewable, but the hard ones are legit. You have to chew only the hard ones.

Mastic gum has some soft pieces which are unchewable, but the hard ones are legit. You have to chew only the hard ones.

@krollic Here's the thread!  /community/community/main-forum/open-mouth-chewing/#post-293

I really can't say why OMC and CMC are acceptable or not, or the development of babies. But I do know that there are plenty of people who OMC discretely and quietly. It also depends on the culture, as I understand there are many different groups that tend to eat with their mouth open. A google search got me a lot of stereotyping and racist comments. I'm still on the hunt for something more scientific and anthropologic.

And on the other side, here is an article from 2013 where a dentist warns about the dangers of OMC, but I don't know the validity:
https://drandreastevens.com/why-your-children-should-chew-with-their-mouths-closed-ottawa-kanata-dentist/

@paperbag  Yeah, I got exhausted having to dig the gum out of my teeth, no matter how large of ball I made. I went through an entire bag, too, thinking maybe I just needed to get the hang of it.

The necklaces are meant for children, which means they're very large as to prevent being a choking hazard. You can certainly chew on them as is, but depending on the shape you may not get the true range of simulating chewing food at that size. It's more like mimicking tearing, which I'd think is beneficial.

This was the necklace I got:  https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Silicone-Necklace-Teething-Neutral/dp/B00KR2EGWO/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1521135386&sr=1-4&keywords=phoenix+teething+necklace

I also eat kale, and chia seeds! Chia seeds have been amazing and are a huge source of fiber.

EDIT: Oh and @krollic, I can't say for certain, but I'm not sure it means anything that you don't feel a burn while chewing. For me, it's a workout, but in other people's cases it may be giving certain muscles a rest (and over time atrophy in an aesthetically pleasing way), while their other muscles are already built up enough. This is all pure speculation. I have nothing to back this up.

Thanks for the responses

@krollic Are you saying that you find it hard to chew mouth closed without engaging lips and cheeks? When not chewing, do you have to exert effort to keep your mouth closed, or does it stay shut by mechanics alone?

I think there is sense to your theory regarding CMC. CMC is classically viewed as part of proper etiquette among civilized people. Anything that belongs to the etiquette can't be innately known, because otherwise it would be too redundant to be an obvious point of focus. Etiquette is kind of social proof of your civility, and being civil itself is about placing yourself above nature. Savages eat mouth open, WE don't. Then some time later we get British nobility with 15 mm palates housing three yellow molars and a bunch of wrinkly gumline.

So yes, could be a cause, but could be a symptom too. I don't think that ideally CMC/OMC should affect facial muscles differently. This seems like a problem only relevant to specific kind of anatomies. What is the defining difference, that I would like to know.

@sclera Ah. If keeping mouth closed requires active effort for you then I can understand the reasoning. For me the jaws have quite a bit of room to move while maintaining lip seal. Whether this is result of favourable or unfavourable earlier development, I have no idea. My palate is about 35-40 and my jaws are in the pic below When you say that your mandible goes more down during OMC, does it also move forward or backward in relation to upper teeth?

@progress Very interesting! Yes, my jaw still moves back and forth as well as up and down, though the motion is not nearly as circular as it is with CMC. I feel like my face is wide, given my proportions, but very short, so I do believe that there's just not a lot of room in my mouth. I am very curious about what changes may occur as my palate widens.

On the topic of Mastic gum, for those saying the pieces are too soft and get stuck between the teeth, which brand are you ordering?

I always order this one:

Every single piece I get in there is legit. In fact I go out of my way to look for the softer pieces (the ones that can bend with finger pressure alone) because the hard ones (tough as glass) are super tough. Each piece lasts me a week or more and has a great pine flavor.

@Progress

Are you saying that you find it hard to chew mouth closed without engaging lips and cheeks? When not chewing, do you have to exert effort to keep your mouth closed, or does it stay shut by mechanics alone?

Na, I wouldn't say it's hard but I think it is unavoidable. Throughout my life I've closed mouth chewed and had teeth closed while idle. If you open your jaw and keep your mouth closed you can very easily sense the effort required to do so from your lips, especially from the lower one. I can barely feel the cheeks operating during this but pretty sure they are.

 I believe now though that despite cheek/lip usage being fairly minimal during a CMC it is enough to make them overdeveloped and undesirable. For the longer time practicing my chewing exercises w/ gum I have been doing it CMC; during this period my cheeks were fairly puffy and my lips slightly over developed and curved, especially the lower one which I hated. After doing it purely OMC for a few weeks now these negative traits have dissipated nearly entirely. Lips are uniform and thinner and cheeks are more hollow and showing the cheekbone/jaw line better.

I'm gonna start chewing gum and eating food OMC and Closed Mew swallow + teeth clench that @Allixa mentioned here for the next couple of weeks and only CMC when amongst company and see how that goes. Thankfully this behaviour is not hard to toggle between as I believe most people who are mouth breathers/chewers can easily close their mouths to eat or talk when they are being social.

Will report back to u guys

Posted by: Allixa

On the topic of Mastic gum, for those saying the pieces are too soft and get stuck between the teeth, which brand are you ordering?

I always order this one:

Every single piece I get in there is legit. In fact I go out of my way to look for the softer pieces (the ones that can bend with finger pressure alone) because the hard ones (tough as glass) are super tough. Each piece lasts me a week or more and has a great pine flavor.

I also order these. I throw the soft ones out, because they stick between teeth and are too soft to chew on. I pick out the hard ones, like glass, and then chew a bunch of those. My jaw is quite big now, thinking it is not as aesthetic before, but my orthodontist said that jaw muscle hypertrophy will lead to added bone mass on lower jaw bone at the muscle connection points. So the idea is - you chew hard for a year, then stop, the muscle goes away, but the added bone mass remains. Does that sound logical?

@allixa Yep, that's the brand I got! I'm glad it works for others, but it's just not pleasant enough for me to continue. I do like the taste, though.

Whether it's the glass pieces or the softer ones, they just get so stuck in my teeth I need to physically extract the gum. It might just depend on the mouth.

Posted by: Sclera

@progress Very interesting! Yes, my jaw still moves back and forth as well as up and down, though the motion is not nearly as circular as it is with CMC. I feel like my face is wide, given my proportions, but very short, so I do believe that there's just not a lot of room in my mouth. I am very curious about what changes may occur as my palate widens.

I've been trying to be more conscious of the mechanics of my chewing. The best I can tell, my default motion involves some slight counterclockwise rotation, resulting in a grinding motion going slightly right to left (and maybe a little front to back) across my teeth. This is easier to discern with a bolus of gum on both sides of my mouth. When I try to reverse directions (left to right) it feels strange, like interlacing your fingers with the counterintuitive thumb on top. I wonder if this contributes to my occlusal cant with my right side lower than the left. Today I tried to do all of my chewing exercises with a clockwise motion. Does your chewing rotation have a habitual orientation? How does it relate to your plane of occlusion? 

Posted by: krollic

I'm not by any means very knowledgeable about orthrotropics or its functions and terminology. This is just what I've noticed when  doing it. Purely anecdotal. 

My masseter feels substantially more worked out when I open mouth chew. I attribute this to the greater (full) range of motion and less assistance from cheek and lip muscles. By not fatiguing my cheeks/lips during these chewing exercises I have noticed they have reduced in size over time and become less swollen. Also my lips are thinner and more uniform, especially the lower one which I think is a more desirable trait in men at least. My palate width is about 41mm and I started at around 39mm. My level of recession is minimal as I've always had closed mouth and lip posture with minor tongue support (just the tip) throughout my life.

I notice the most intense workout is when open my jaw fully and have a large amount of gum/rubber material far back in the molars or spread across all my teeth in a U shape.

To reiterate, compared to closed mouth chewing which I was doing for several months I have noticed with this exercise: Reduction in puffy cheeks/lips/nasolabial crease, a much more tiresome workout which leaves my jaw muscles aching hard after 1-2 hours (with closed mouth chewing I could likely do it all day) an obvious increase in jaw size and strength + jawline definition, an easier time keeping my jaw closed throughout the day and night without even thinking about it. I aim to chew at least a full pack of gum at once, maybe 2 if I've recovered from chewing for a few days. 

Very generalized to say thin lips look good on all men. Some of us with longer philtrums actually benefit from increased lip girth since it shortens the philtrum and makes me look less primitive and more harmonious. My features are very masculine as it is so having one neotenous trait actually helps my facial aesthetics.

Your thinking is very black and white. 

Posted by: Apollo

I've been trying to be more conscious of the mechanics of my chewing. The best I can tell, my default motion involves some slight counterclockwise rotation, resulting in a grinding motion going slightly right to left (and maybe a little front to back) across my teeth. This is easier to discern with a bolus of gum on both sides of my mouth. When I try to reverse directions (left to right) it feels strange, like interlacing your fingers with the counterintuitive thumb on top. I wonder if this contributes to my occlusal cant with my right side lower than the left. Today I tried to do all of my chewing exercises with a clockwise motion. Does your chewing rotation have a habitual orientation? How does it relate to your plane of occlusion? 

I'm going back through my old pictures now. There was a time when I used to do all my chewing on the right side of my mouth. Sure enough, looking at pictures from that time, my teeth are canted with the right side being higher and the left side lower, and the right side is more expanded as well. So there is definitely a connection between chewing patterns and smile tilt. It looks like in my case the side that did more chewing was pushed up higher and was more expanded just from absorbing more of the lower jaw forces. Does that hold true in your case as well?

As for the circular motion of the lower jaw, that's actually something that myofunctional therapists concentrate on with young patients. They call it 'rotary chewing' and they stress that it should be balanced and able to happen in both directions on both sides. Perhaps evening your chewing motion out or trying to balance it with both sides and directions will help level your smile over time.

Posted by: Le_Fort_or_Bust

I also order these. I throw the soft ones out, because they stick between teeth and are too soft to chew on. I pick out the hard ones, like glass, and then chew a bunch of those. My jaw is quite big now, thinking it is not as aesthetic before, but my orthodontist said that jaw muscle hypertrophy will lead to added bone mass on lower jaw bone at the muscle connection points. So the idea is - you chew hard for a year, then stop, the muscle goes away, but the added bone mass remains. Does that sound logical?

The idea of putting on extra muscle in order to grow more bone does sound logical, and it's probably true as well, but I don't like the idea of creating an unbalanced look on purpose in order to build more jaw bone. Because then wouldn't you just be creating unbalanced bone growth? I just have a gut feeling that it isn't a great way to go.

Posted by: Sclera

@allixa Yep, that's the brand I got! I'm glad it works for others, but it's just not pleasant enough for me to continue. I do like the taste, though.

Whether it's the glass pieces or the softer ones, they just get so stuck in my teeth I need to physically extract the gum. It might just depend on the mouth.

That's very interesting that the soft pieces get stuck between your teeth, and that another person reported the same thing. To me the soft pieces are perfect and I can chew them for weeks. When you chew them do they start tearing apart and dissolving or do they just squish between your teeth? Perhaps your bite force is much greater than mine.

The only thing I can think of is that I rinse the gum off before chewing it, but I don't think it would have that much of an effect. I am just rinsing off that white power/sand that is on the pieces.

@allixa For me, parts of the ball either tear off into tiny little pieces that then get caught in my teeth, or strings of the larger ball get stuck, or the entire ball does -- it varied.

I have had a history of clenching my teeth at night (this is has stopped since mewing), so bite force might be a factor!

@Meltcel Very generalized to say thin lips look good on all men. Some of us with longer philtrums actually benefit from increased lip girth since it shortens the philtrum and makes me look less primitive and more harmonious. My features are very masculine as it is so having one neotenous trait actually helps my facial aesthetics.

Your thinking is very black and white.

I do hope that I haven't caused any offense; you sound a bit confrontational. 

My impression was that facial studies have outlined that thinner lips on men are more typically more attractive. Isn't trying to mask an inferior philtrum with an enlarged set of lips just trying to create a compensatory illusion of proportionality which doesn't harmonize with the rest face? If I look up pictures of male models i.e those with ideal facial development nearly all of them seem to have thinner lips that are equal in relative size and not out-turned due to them being "underdeveloped" compared to those who utilize their lips too much.

I wouldn't know anything about promoting infantile features to offset masculine ones. That sounds like pseudo coping to me.

Posted by: krollic

@Meltcel Very generalized to say thin lips look good on all men. Some of us with longer philtrums actually benefit from increased lip girth since it shortens the philtrum and makes me look less primitive and more harmonious. My features are very masculine as it is so having one neotenous trait actually helps my facial aesthetics.

Your thinking is very black and white.

I do hope that I haven't caused any offense; you sound a bit confrontational. 

My impression was that facial studies have outlined that thinner lips on men are more typically more attractive. Isn't trying to mask an inferior philtrum with an enlarged set of lips just trying to create a compensatory illusion of proportionality which doesn't harmonize with the rest face? If I look up pictures of male models i.e those with ideal facial development nearly all of them seem to have thinner lips that are equal in relative size and not out-turned due to them being "underdeveloped" compared to those who utilize their lips too much.

I wouldn't know anything about promoting infantile features to offset masculine ones. That sounds like pseudo coping to me.

All male models have fuller lips or at least medium sized. 

Anyway it is all about facial harmony which isn't one size fits all since our bone structures are vastly different. Some men look good with full symmetric lips for  myriad of reasons. Again. Black and White. I am not saying you are wrong in open mouth chewing thinning your lips or that thin lips can't be aesthetic. 

List of aesthetic men with decent sized lip pouts and/or other neotenous traits:

Brad Pitt (flat forehead, shorter nose)

Jordan Barrett (small mouth with potty lips)

Most Spaniard footballers have full lips and flat vertical foreheads. Those that don't have a vertical forehead have larger eyes (Cesc Fabregas) 

Harry Styles (full lips, flat vertical forehead)

Andreas Eriksen (full lips)

Tom Cullen (full lips and flat vertical forehead) 

None of the above men lost attractiveness with infantile features. They key is they had 2 features at max as infantile. Infantile faces only kill men when they affect the lower third and a nose that is too short. Either that or a bulbous forehead. But being slightly infantile makes men look like pretty boys as opposed to super rugged types. Male aesthetics are not across the board equal. 

Just going off what women tell me. Anyway my point is you can't be too absolutist on this stuff.  Aesthetic ideals aren't one size fits all. If you know what looks  good on you then more power to you.

I wanted to bump this thread because more and more recently I've been realizing that the importance of chewing tough gum to supplement your craniofacial exercises can't be understated and that if you're not doing them then you're really jeopardizing your facial gains. For around a month now I've been open-mouth chewing Falim gum for at least a couple of hours a day. You can get a pack of 100 on ebay for only 8 dollars and in my case, free shipping. The flavoured stuff tastes great.

I knew that strengthening your jaw muscles would make mewing easier but I underestimated how much easier it makes it. It's getting to the point where I put zero effort into keeping my teeth together and if I want to open my jaw then I have to make it a conscious action. This is ideal because it means I don't relapse during the day but more importantly I can keep my jaw closed throughout the entire night! I was under the impression initially that night-mewing was an unconscious, learned behavior like proper positioning of the back of the tongue but it's not; it seems to be all jaw strength. Given some time you can pretty easily make your jaw powerful enough that it will apply sufficient force without any willpower. I remember someone here posted a picture of a bodybuilder standing demonstrating that they were so strong that they didn't need to put any effort into activating the muscles that kept them upright.

I'm gonna start doing tongue exercises more because I want my tongue to be stronger so it can more easily counter the forces made by my jaw. I don't want to be biting too hard together after all and get grinding. Anyway I'm really excited about this and wanted to share it w/ you guys lol

Posted by: krollic

I wanted to bump this thread because more and more recently I've been realizing that the importance of chewing tough gum to supplement your craniofacial exercises can't be understated and that if you're not doing them then you're really jeopardizing your facial gains. For around a month now I've been open-mouth chewing Falim gum for at least a couple of hours a day. You can get a pack of 100 on ebay for only 8 dollars and in my case, free shipping. The flavoured stuff tastes great.

I knew that strengthening your jaw muscles would make mewing easier but I underestimated how much easier it makes it. It's getting to the point where I put zero effort into keeping my teeth together and if I want to open my jaw then I have to make it a conscious action. This is ideal because it means I don't relapse during the day but more importantly I can keep my jaw closed throughout the entire night! I was under the impression initially that night-mewing was an unconscious, learned behavior like proper positioning of the back of the tongue but it's not; it seems to be all jaw strength. Given some time you can pretty easily make your jaw powerful enough that it will apply sufficient force without any willpower. I remember someone here posted a picture of a bodybuilder standing demonstrating that they were so strong that they didn't need to put any effort into activating the muscles that kept them upright.

I'm gonna start doing tongue exercises more because I want my tongue to be stronger so it can more easily counter the forces made by my jaw. I don't want to be biting too hard together after all and get grinding. Anyway I'm really excited about this and wanted to share it w/ you guys lol

I've always thought that the jaw was even more important than most people realized.. and maybe more important than the tongue in some ways. I've noticed that people with tongue ties can still have great facial development if their jaws are big and strong. I've seen lots of examples of this.

There is definitely a large focus on the tongue in most Mew communities. It's good to read someone else saying that focusing on the jaw helped them make positive changes. I actually incorporate a good amount of jaw muscles into my swallow technique and I have seen good changes from it.

Keeping the mouth shut without even trying probably comes from muscle strength like you said but also muscle length. I've seen people who overdo the chewing by chewing huge wads of gum and end up lengthening their jaw muscles and making their face worse. Do you chew just one piece at a time?

I'm not familiar with the concept of muscle lengthening. Is it about them getting longer so they change the resting location of your bones?

I've upped the amount of gum I chew to quite a lot, usually slightly more every couple of days so I don't stagnate. When I think I've gone far enough I'll dial it back. I'm aiming to at least get to that stage where I can unconsciously keep my jaw shut with a slight force all the time. Do you think I should only be using a small amount? Seems like its hard to make strength process with just that little.

Would you say Dr. Mews jaw is over developed, for instance?

Cheers

Muscle lengthening just means that if you chew pieces that are too big to where your teeth don't come into contact that often, and you do it for long periods of time every day, your jaw muscles will get longer and longer due to being streched to where it will be harder to keep your teeth in contact without trying. You said that the opposite is happening for you though, so as long as it keeps working I wouldn't worry too much.

I actually used the reverse of this theory to make my jaw muscles shorter, I clench every time I swallow which I figured would make my jaw more likely to stay closed over time through constant contraction of the muscles making them shorter and it worked. I don't do it too forcefully though, I think that would lead to more issues. But I used to have issues keeping my teeth together but now I don't even have to try.

Mew's jaw is definitely overdeveloped but he might just be doing too much CMC. CMC leads to that bloated masseter look. If he did OMC I think things would balance out.

With chewing I can't say for sure what you should or shouldn't do, you have to do what works but just be careful and understand that there are potential downsides if you overdo it. There was a poster on Lookism called 'Ugliest' who used to come in all the time talking about how great chewing was, and how much it made him look better and get a better jawline, but then about a year later he came back and said it ruined all his teeth, gave him clicking in his throat, ruined his looks, etc. I think his issue was chewing too much gum and chewing gum that was too hard for too long a time, also doing CMC instead of OMC.. you can read some of his posts here:

https://imgur.com/a/1lzuG

Yeah, I think the stuff he said about no teeth contact while chewing is crap. I go for the full range of motion and contact even with several pieces of gum; doesn't mean my teeth are getting pulverized together.

I've only seen benefits with OMC and good range of motion.  Can't do that and CMC without looking very silly. If it starts to cause problems I'll dial it back.

So far my strategy has been to imagine Ugg or Zog sitting in a damp, poorly lit cave chewing on a piece of tattered animal hide and try and do what they would do. Caveman don't believe in civilized chewing etiquette so why should I.

Generally a muscle that gets hypetrtophied gets shorter, which is why bodybuilders often have low mobility. As long as masseters get a workout, they should not lengthen regardless of the way you engage them. There is likely some other mechanism involved, such as remodelling of mandibular condyles.

Re: clench swallow - So confused about how the clench swallow concept is presented. I've always swallowed and clenched my teeth at the same time, otherwise I swallow wrong? It's not common practice to clench swallow, I take it?

Yeah re: lookism guy that wrecked his teeth, I believe it. I remember when I first chewed gum like Mewers may recommend, about 2 hours a day during my early 20s. Bored some holes in my teeth after 6 months, dentist told me to stop, though my jaw was poppin'.

I'm trying to strike some kind of balance. OMC food 30 times each bite is mainly what I do. Got some gum and tooth powder with calcium carbonate in them, will chew 30 mins a day OR 1-2 hours every other day, not sure what will work out best, but I'm going to dial back from how I chewed in my early 20s. I do think chewing is important and probably a lack of chewing is behind my 2mm deviated midline. Vitamin k, d and magnesium are being taken for dental health. I think the chewie idea might help with dental damage prevention, brb stealing my daughter's chew toys heh.

Re: OMC - I think I've been doing this a few months now and the one area of my face I didn't like aside from slight asymmetry, my nasal labial folds, are nearly gone now. Can't believe how many massages I did over the years, or that people pay big bucks for fillers, when it can be so easily resolved like this... very legit practice.

Also had some thoughts about people who OMC. Seeing the video of a model OMC and then noticing my husband does it too, the thing they both have in common is wide and well developed maxilla. Not sure why the model has a great maxilla, but for my husband it was likely because he was extended breastfed. Also I think Mew said you aren't supposed to activate your lip muscles when chewing, but this is only easily done when OMCing in my experience.

Were the potholes in your teeth caused by the teeth coming together too hard or maybe grinding? Tbh, I don't really do any grinding action when I chew. Mainly just up and down and repositioning the gum w/ tongue. What do you think?

Posted by: krollic

Were the potholes in your teeth caused by the teeth coming together too hard or maybe grinding? Tbh, I don't really do any grinding action when I chew. Mainly just up and down and repositioning the gum w/ tongue. What do you think?

I don't think I was grinding, just chewing like I chew food. Also maybe the type of gum makes a difference, I was chewing this chemical-laden sugar free type of gum I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole these days. If you get potholes calcium carbonate tooth paste helped me, I also hope my supplements will help prevent any damage and strengthen teeth

Posted by: Sclera

I don't know about what Mike Mew gives out, but I chew using a silicone teething/chew toy necklace I bought off of Amazon that I then cut up in pieces that were more "gum" sized. You can also buy surgical tubing by the yard, but I hated the way it suctioned in my mouth, and the sound and chewing sensation was not pleasant. Others recommend mastic gum, but all it did was stick to my teeth.

The cut-up chew toy has been a happy medium for me. If you search in Amazon for silicone chew necklace, you'll get a ton of results.

EDIT: And it's been said here a lot, but open mouth chewing is key. I've seen huge results in the change of my jaw and bite. My lips look much more even, and I have less chipmunk cheeks and more definition in my face.

I did the same as you lol, but I cut 2 pieces from a sillicone mouthguard hopefully it's not unhealthy. I never began to chew as a daily habit though, I will start now

get out falim gum on ebay. it's very cheap for how much you get of it imo

Posted by: Progress

Generally a muscle that gets hypetrtophied gets shorter, which is why bodybuilders often have low mobility. As long as masseters get a workout, they should not lengthen regardless of the way you engage them. There is likely some other mechanism involved, such as remodelling of mandibular condyles.

I'm actually reading something different online right now. It might be worth making a thread about. A lot of sites are saying that working out muscles causes the fibers to lengthen. I'm going to have to look into this more and see how it might apply to the face muscles.

Posted by: Greensmoothies

Re: clench swallow - So confused about how the clench swallow concept is presented. I've always swallowed and clenched my teeth at the same time, otherwise I swallow wrong? It's not common practice to clench swallow, I take it?

 When I first read about the push swallow that Mew talks about, I made a very conscious effort to use only my tongue muscles to swallow. So much so that I was allowing the tongue to push my teeth apart with each swallow. That's why I had to rename it to the clench swallow and start making sure to use my jaw muscles as well.

Posted by: Allixa

Posted by: Progress

Generally a muscle that gets hypetrtophied gets shorter, which is why bodybuilders often have low mobility. As long as masseters get a workout, they should not lengthen regardless of the way you engage them. There is likely some other mechanism involved, such as remodelling of mandibular condyles.

I'm actually reading something different online right now. It might be worth making a thread about. A lot of sites are saying that working out muscles causes the fibers to lengthen. I'm going to have to look into this more and see how it might apply to the face muscles.

 

I think it could be said that chronically unused muscles are shortened in order to protect them from injury of sudden use. Exercising such muscle does lead to increased mobility as it returns to conscious control. So keeping a muscle fit and healthy maintains a certain baseline mobility. Problems appear when certain muscle groups are hypertrophied more than their counterparts. Increased bulk/tone of one muscle makes it harder for the opposing muscle to balance it out, because even at rest the increased bulk would grant the former superior pull. 

I'm unsure as to whether the length of muscle fibers is a direct determinant of flexibility. Looking forward to what you find out.

Has anyone tried the shawawi mastic gum? How similar are they to the Falim gum ya'll are recommending?

https://www.amazon.com/Mastic-Chewing-Gum-sharawi-250g/dp/B000LQOEY6/ref=sr_1_sc_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1523138776&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=shrawi+mastic+gum

Has anyone tried the shawawi mastic gum? How similar are they to the Falim gum ya'll are recommending?

https://www.amazon.com/Mastic-Chewing-Gum-sharawi-250g/dp/B000LQOEY6/ref=sr_1_sc_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1523138776&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=shrawi+mastic+gum

@Allixa This might be a bit off topic, but I have recently brought this gum. And it is a really good work out, my jaw gets tired at around the hour mark of chewing. Although, it says on the packing that it recommends to rinse the gum with water before use? Why is this? For me it makes it soft, and it gets stuck to my teeth. So, I just chew it without rinsing? Do you do this?

Back on topic, I chew this gum with my jaw, although I can't tongue chew with mastic gum. I cant seem to press it hard enough with my tongue against my palate, if I do (which isn't often), it gets stuck to my palate and I have great difficulty taking it off with my tongue, so I have to use my fingers.

Just curious how you utilize the gum. Thanks

@matt

They recommend to rinse the gum because it is usually covered in fine white sand due to the way they harvest it (off the ground). The kind I have has a white powder on it that I don't like the idea of putting in my mouth, so I do rinse it off. If it doesn't bother you then maybe it's not a problem, but I wonder if chewing on sand is a good idea for your teeth enamel. I definitely do rinse it off, and have never noticed the gum change texture because of it.

This gum is absolutely way too tough for tongue chewing. It's best to be used as a workout for your jaw muscles. I like to open mouth chew it for about an hour like you found out. Back when I first discovered this gum I chewed it for an hour every day for a few months like clockwork and my face gained tons of width. I have a really good diet so my results are fast. I stopped chewing it often a long time ago and the width has stuck around. But yeah, I just chewed as much as I was comfortable with for an hour or so, didn't overthink it, just treated it like a workout for my jaw, and the results were good.

If you check out the success stories thread there is a picture from a guy who used the gum for hours and hours per day but only every other day. His transformation was pretty insane too so definitely go check that out. It's one of the huge pictures from another forum towards the bottom of the first page.