Mewing: does it work, what does research say about tongue posture and what really changes the jaw?

What is mewing?

Mewing involves deliberately pressing the tongue firmly against the hard and soft palate. Supporters claim that prolonged practice alters facial bone development and defines the jawline; this is how the 2025 systematic review by Seraj et al. describes it.

It is worth distinguishing mewing from normal resting tongue posture. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) describes a typical resting position as lips closed, breathing through the nose, teeth slightly apart and the tongue tip near the front of the palate, on the gum behind the upper incisors or near the lower incisors.

The difference matters: resting tongue posture requires no effort, whereas mewing involves active pressure. ASHA calls abnormal patterns, such as persistent mouth breathing or pushing the tongue between the teeth when swallowing, orofacial myofunctional disorders.

Where did mewing come from, and why is it so popular?

The name refers to British dentist John Mew, who popularised the method according to the review by Seraj et al. The authors write that anecdotal accounts and social-media videos built its following.

Online mewing consists of the exercise alone, without an appliance or supervision. Its popularity is linked to looksmaxxing, advice on improving facial appearance. A 2026 social-media analysis by Grillo et al. describes these practices as widespread, especially among young men, and promoted partly through pseudoscientific language and downplaying risks.

Paediatricians have noticed the trend too. In 2026, the American journal Pediatrics published an article on looksmaxxing, from mewing to peptides, as an emerging issue in child and adolescent care.

Does mewing work? What the research says

There is no good evidence that mewing changes the shape of the face or jaw. The 2025 systematic review by Seraj et al. highlights the lack of studies assessing its effectiveness and describes a method made popular by anecdotes and viral videos.

The same review assessed a broader group of methods: facial exercises, myofunctional therapy and massage. It included 12 studies involving 321 women aged 30 to 70; improvements affected only selected facial areas, and the authors judged the evidence insufficient to confirm effectiveness. Two studies of myofunctional therapy involving 57 people found no statistically significant improvement in appearance.

Exercises for the tongue and throat muscles can, however, change function, as sleep apnoea research shows. A 2015 meta-analysis by Camacho et al. reports that myofunctional therapy reduced the apnoea-hypopnoea index by around 50% in adults and 62% in children (based on 2 small studies in children), and the authors see it as an adjunctive treatment. This finding concerns breathing during sleep, not bone shape.

Tongue posture and the bite are associated, but the direction of that relationship is unclear. ASHA states that malocclusion clearly co-occurs with signs of myofunctional disorders, estimated to affect 62 to 73.3% of orthodontic patients, while stressing that studies show correlation rather than causation.

Mewing, the bite and the jaw: claims and evidence

The table compares common claims about mewing with research and guidelines. It assesses the evidence, not the people doing the exercises.

What really changes a child’s jaw shape?

In children, orthodontic treatment during growth changes jaw shape and position, following examination and imaging. A 2018 Cochrane review (27 randomised trials, 1 251 participants) reports that functional appliances reduced protrusion of the upper incisors in adolescents compared with no treatment, although the evidence was low quality.

The same review showed that early treatment at ages 7 to 11 reduced incisor injury risk: new injury was reported in 30% of children treated later and 19% treated early. Other benefits of early treatment were not confirmed.

For protruding lower teeth (Class III malocclusion), a 2024 Cochrane review (29 studies, 1 169 children aged 5 to 13) found moderate-certainty evidence that non-surgical treatment, such as a facemask, improved overjet by an average of 5.03 mm immediately after treatment. In the only long-term study, the effect was smaller after 3 years and absent after 6, but children treated with a facemask were less often judged likely to need future jaw surgery.

A child’s narrow upper jaw can be widened with an appliance, such as a Hyrax expander, before the midpalatal suture fuses, as described in the article on Hyrax. If a child persistently breathes through their mouth, the cause is investigated first, as the article on mouth breathing in children explains.

Can mewing change an adult’s bite?

Mewing has no documented effect on an adult’s bite or upper-jaw bones. The midpalatal suture, which allows upper-jaw expansion in children, is fused in most adults: in a study of 78 adults, only 12% had an unfused suture (Angelieri et al., 2017).

Adult malocclusion is treated with fixed braces or aligners. For severe skeletal discrepancies, the 2024 Cochrane review notes that adults may need orthognathic surgery, surgical correction of jaw position. A separate article on adult braces describes orthodontic treatment options in adulthood.

Can mewing cause harm?

There are no studies of mewing’s safety, so it is impossible to say how often it causes harm. The review by Seraj et al. recorded no adverse effects in studies of facial exercises, but these were small studies of other methods.

Caution makes sense if you have temporomandibular joint symptoms. The US National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) recommends reducing habits such as clenching, chewing gum and nail biting, and avoiding methods that permanently change the joint, teeth or bite. If any of the following symptoms, listed by NIDCR as possible signs of temporomandibular disorders, occur during exercises, stop and consult a dentist.

Another risk is pressure over appearance. The authors of the 2026 analysis write that looksmaxxing communities promote practices they consider dangerous alongside mewing, such as so-called bonesmashing. If worries about facial appearance occupy a lot of time or affect your wellbeing, consider discussing them with a doctor.

• Pain in the chewing muscles or the joint in front of the ear, including pain spreading to the face or neck.
• Jaw stiffness, restricted mouth opening or jaw locking.
• Painful clicking, popping or grating in the joint when opening and closing the mouth.
• A change in how the upper and lower teeth fit together.
• Ringing in the ears, hearing loss or dizziness.

When should you ask an orthodontist or speech and language therapist about tongue posture?

A dentist or orthodontist can advise on tongue posture and the bite, with a speech and language therapist also involved for swallowing, speech or breathing difficulties. ASHA describes treatment of myofunctional disorders as the work of trained speech and language therapists collaborating with a dentist, orthodontist, ENT specialist and allergist.

The situations below are good reasons for a consultation, whether or not someone has tried mewing. A separate article on temporomandibular joint pain discusses jaw pain and clicking in more detail.

• A child persistently breathes through their mouth or sleeps with their mouth open.
• The tongue pushes between the teeth during swallowing or speech.
• The front teeth do not meet when the mouth is closed, or the lower jaw shifts sideways on biting.
• The lower front teeth sit ahead of the upper ones.
• Jaw pain or a change in the bite develops, including during exercises.

Orthodontic consultation at DentalBlue

At DentalBlue in Białystok, orthodontic treatment is planned digitally using cephalometric analysis, and the clinic’s own radiology unit performs cephalometric X-rays, panoramic X-rays and CBCT scans. At consultation, the orthodontist can assess the bite and jaw position and explain whether the malocclusion requires treatment.

In the clinic’s price list, “Konsultacja ortodontyczna” (orthodontic consultation) costs 300 zł, “Cefalometria” (cephalometric X-ray) 120 zł and “Plan leczenia z analizą cefalometryczną” (treatment plan with cephalometric analysis) 380 zł. The final scope and cost are agreed at consultation, and prices may change.