Does Mewing Actually Work for Adults? [ANSWERED]

Are you curious about the concept of mewing and its effectiveness? If you've ever wondered, "What is mewing?" and "Does mewing actually work?" you have come to the right place. Here, take a closer look at how mewing works to transform your jaw alignment, thus facial look.
Medically reviewed by
Certified specialist with 5 years of extensive dental and orthodontic experience
Does Mewing Actually Work for Adults? [ANSWERED]
Install the mewing app

Mewing is a technique developed by British orthodontist Dr. John Mew. It’s a Do-It-Yourself facial restructuring technique to chisel your jawline, reduce your double chin and improve your oral posture. The practice of mewing includes flattening your tongue against the roof of your mouth (hard palate) for a more balanced facial structure. Overall it leads to more attractive and healthy facial features.

By maintaining proper tongue posture, mewing practitioners claim that this practice can enhance facial aesthetics and even provides relief from specific breathing and swallowing issues.

Tongue posture, once a matter of little concern, has now become the focal point of attention as more and more people embrace the concept of mewing. 

However, amidst the buzz and growing popularity of mewing, one question lingers on everybody’s mind: Does mewing actually work?

In this article, we will address all your concerns, such as:

  • What is mewing?
  • Is mewing real?
  • Does mewing work to sharpen my jawline?
  • How can I benefit from mewing for my facial posture?
  • Is there any evidence that proves the efficiency of mewing?
  • Is mewing safe to practice and how fast can I see results with mewing?
  • What are the relevant experiences of active mewers?
  • And, more. 

Let’s get into it!

Get a better jawline in just 28 days

Get rid of a double chin and get an attractive jawline with a daily mewing workout

What is Mewing

Mewing, named after Dr. John Mew and his son Mike Mew, is a technique focused on proper tongue posture and jaw alignment to sharpen one’s jawline. 

The key principle of mewing revolves around correct tongue posture. This entails resting the tongue against the roof of the mouth, specifically on the palate, with the entire surface area of the tongue engaged. 

By adopting this posture, mewing proponents believe that it can promote optimal craniofacial growth and development.

(Doing Mewing Video)

Origin of Mewing

The origins of mewing can be traced back to the work of British orthodontist Dr. John Mew, who continued to advocate for the practice well into his 90s. Together with his son, Dr. Michael Mew, they promote a branch of orthodontics known as "orthotropics," which focuses on jaw posture and involves retraining the position of the tongue.

Potential Benefits of Mewing

While scientific evidence supporting the claims of mewing is limited, there are reports from individuals practicing mewing who have shared positive experiences.

Here are some reported benefits of mewing: 

Enhanced Jawline Definition

Mewing proponents claim that by maintaining proper tongue posture, it is possible to achieve a more sculpted and defined jawline. It’s the best benefit for those who want to start mewing for the jawline

Improved Breathing

Correct tongue posture and jaw alignment may contribute to better airflow and reduced mouth breathing, potentially benefiting individuals with issues like nasal congestion or sleep-related breathing disorders.

Potential Orthodontic Corrections

Some active mewers claim that mewing has helped improve teeth alignment and bite, potentially reducing the need for orthodontic interventions like braces. However, we recommend a professional evaluation for orthodontic concerns.

Facial Symmetry and Harmony

Consistent mewing, which is maintaining a proper tongue posture, may contribute to enhanced facial symmetry and overall facial harmony. This way, you get a more aesthetically pleasing facial appearance. 

Potential Postural Benefits

Correct tongue posture may impact head and neck alignment, potentially leading to improved posture and reduced strain on the cervical spine.

Can Mewing Change Your Face Shape

Many men get into mewing as a way to enhance their lower jaw and achieve a more masculine and appealing facial appearance.

On the other hand, women often seek mewing to achieve a tighter, more youthful look, aiming for a slimmer face without a double chin.

When it comes to finding evidence online to fully support the effectiveness of mewing, answers regarding reducing face fat or improving facial structure are not instantly available. 

However, 

  • Certain anecdotal evidence from individuals who have successfully changed their face shape through mewing confirms that mewing can potentially change your face shape.

  • Proponents of mewing argue that maintaining correct tongue posture can contribute to improved jawline definition. 

  • By engaging the entire surface area of the tongue against the palate, it is believed that gradual changes in facial aesthetics may occur over time.

While scientific evidence may be limited, personal success stories contribute to the growing popularity and intrigue surrounding mewing as a transformative way to improve your facial appearance. 

Mewing: x10 Your Looks

✓ Get an attractive jawline
✓ Boost your self-confidence
✓ All techniques in a one app

Learn more

Is Mewing Legit Or Just a Fad

Considering an easy accessibility of mewing, many people wonder if mewing is real or whether it can serve as an alternative to maxillofacial surgery, especially with the rise of alternative medicine in the age of the Internet. 

While this notion has some truth to it, let's delve into the origins of mewing.

Mewing was developed by British orthodontist John Mew in the 1970s as a method to improve jawline posture and avoid the need for oral surgery. John Mew began by teaching his child, Mike Mew, the technique and closely monitored his progress.

So, what exactly is mewing? It revolves around proper tongue alignment and position. The idea is to press your tongue against the hard palate while keeping it away from the upper teeth, all while maintaining sealed lips.

The beauty of mewing lies in its accessibility, as it is completely free and available to anyone willing to give it a try. 

If you want to see a progressive jawline transformation, consider downloading our Mewing App

Here on our app, you will have:

  • Step-by-step mewing exercise guides tailored to you only
  • Checklists to make sure you're doing it right
  • All-day mewing reminders for proper tongue posture
  • Safety to compare your before and after mewing progress 

Download Mewing App now and become one of the thousands that have already transformed their jawlines and improved their facial profile.

Does Mewing Actually Work (What to Expect)

With mewing becoming more of an internet sensation, you might wonder if mewing actually works. 

Let’s throw some light on this hot question, backed by the mewing practitioners’ experiences.

Mastering proper tongue position is at the core of mewing. Once you have this aspect of the mewing down, you're likely to witness noticeable results. 

However, it's important to acknowledge that mewing is not a magical overnight fix. As a non-invasive and non-surgical approach, it has its limitations. Some individuals may embark on the mewing journey expecting instant miracles or hoping to address issues that require professional medical intervention.

You'll find countless positive comments, before & after photos, and personal stories shared by individuals who have seen satisfactory and positive changes through mewing. To understand if mewing actually works, these testimonials serve as trusted social proof.

As mentioned before, the actual results won't manifest without consistent effort. If you don't practice mewing daily, your chances of success will be limited. 

To help you stay on track, you can consider downloading the Mewing App, which can guide you in developing proper tongue habits and maintaining consistency in your practice.

Moving on, let’s learn how to mew properly.

How to Mew the Right Way

At the heart of mewing is finding the right tongue position and adopting proper breathing habits. Doing mewing incorrectly not only may never produce results, but you may also harm yourself. Some mewing mistakes can lead to gaps between teeth, bite problems, neck spasms, and other problems.

To achieve a correct mewing tongue posture, make sure of the following:

  1. Your tongue is pressed against the palate, including the posterior (back) third.
  2. Tip of the tongue is right behind your front teeth but does not touch them
  3. Focus on nasal breathing. Take in breaths through your nose and avoid mouth breathing (mouth breathing can have negative effects on your teeth and jawline.)
  4. Develop a consistent habit and maintain the correct tongue position at least 6 hours a day.

Now, let's explore a more comprehensive way to practice mewing the right way. 

Steps to Mew Properly

Follow these steps to mew properly:

  1. Close your mouth, seal your lips, and touch your teeth gently (or leave little space between them)
  2. Now pronounce words like, SING or KING
  3. Hold your tongue in the position where you say the -NG sound
  4. Check if your tongue is not touching the front teeth
  5. Hold this position for as much as you can (6h a day or more)

Make sure you don’t overdo it to the extent that it starts exhausting your mouth. The next thing you might need to check is how to avoid mewing mistakes, such as cutting off the airway, grinding teeth, not maintaining proper body posture, etc. 

How Does Mewing Work

Mewing brings about positive effects by altering the natural position of the tongue at rest.

To better illustrate how mewing works, here is an animated representation of the mewing technique.

Illustration of how mewing works

Here is how the mechanism of mewing works to enhance your facial symmetry, thus your jawline. 

  • By applying pressure to the palate, the tongue helps expand it over time, creating additional room for the teeth.

  • In addition, the pressure exerted by the tongue on the palate allows the maxilla, the upper jawbone, to move forward, resulting in more appealing facial features.

To adopt a comprehensive mewing approach, it is recommended to pair mewing with facial exercises that address forward head posture.

Science-backed Effectiveness of Mewing

Although completed studies specifically focused on mewing are currently unavailable. But many scientific principles underlying mewing are found to be valuable.

Let’s have a look at some. 

  • A study titled "Interaction between deglutition, tongue posture, and malocclusion" conducted in 2016 confirms that proper tongue positioning and correct swallowing can result in palate expansion.

  • In a comprehensive 10-year follow-up study titled "Treatment and retention of relapsed anterior open-bite with low tongue posture and tongue-tie," researchers found out how correct tongue positioning can contribute to fixing open bite issues and facilitate frontal maxilla growth. These findings were validated through reevaluation after a decade.

  • An investigation conducted in 2016, titled "Association between oral habits, mouth breathing, and malocclusion," revealed a close correlation between mouth breathing and various malocclusion conditions such as increased or reduced overjet, anterior or posterior crossbite, open bite, and displacement of contact points.

  • Another study conducted by Carlson et al. in 1997, titled "The Effects of Tongue Position on Mandibular Muscle Activity," established a relationship between the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth and increased strength in chewing muscles.

These studies reflect the core of Orthotropics (mewing), i.e., correct tongue posture and nasal breathing. 

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, a huge and huge number of mewing practitioners advocate for its legitimacy, which proves the effectiveness of mewing.

Everything you need for mewing in one app:

1. Learn the correct technique

2. Make it a habit

3.Track your progress

Install

Mewing Before & After Photos (Visual Evidence)

One clear indication of Mewing's effectiveness is the immense number of positive reviews that pour in on social media every single day.

We've compiled a reasonable collection of before and after mewing photos here.

Today, social media and community platforms like Quora or Reddit are buzzing with optimistic reviews on Mewing. 

Mewing yields noticeable before and after results that extend to various aspects of the face, encompassing the mouth, jaw, nose, cheeks, teeth, and even the overall facial structure.

To witness concrete visual evidence and outcomes, check out our Mewing App. Here, you will find genuine photographs and documented results. 

As for the results of Mewing before & after photos, here are some of the real-life mewing transformations you’d like to see.

Mewing before and after transformation 

Mewing before and after results

Mewing before and after

Mewing before and after


Before these results excite you, let’s make it clear – mewing won’t work overnight. Facial restructuring takes time. But with the diligent and proper practice of mewing as a consistent habit, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you can start seeing the results.

This brings us to the most expected question, “How quickly can I see results with mewing”?

Let’s look at it in detail below. 

How Long Does It Take for Mewing to Work

Mewing is a facial-enhancing technique where you need to flatten your tongue against the roof of your mouth (hard palate). 

Curious about the timeframe for Mewing to show results? While the speed of progress varies for different individuals, certain factors influence the transformation process.

Some of the main factors may include:

  • Your tongue position at the start
  • Whether or not you were breathing through your mouth before
  • Are your teeth touching while mewing and resting position?
  • The severity of your double chin 
  • Total hours you hold your tongue in the correct position
  • Whether you are doing just mewing or adopting a holistic mewing approach. It can include practicing posture exercises, facial exercises, and tongue chewing

For "natural mewers" who naturally press their tongues against their palates, transitioning to hard mewing may be necessary for desired changes, as they have predominantly engaged in soft mewing.

Age also plays a role, with changes occurring more gradually as time passes. Beyond age 25, transformations primarily manifest in soft tissues like reducing a double chin and toning jaw muscles, rather than major skeletal modifications.

It's important to note that mewing also requires mental training, especially if you're used to unconsciously moving your tongue away from the upper jaw. Over time, muscles develop their memory, adopting proper posture as second nature.

Now, when do you start seeing results with mewing?

Based on patient experiences, visible mewing results typically appear within a few weeks to several months, commonly within 3 to 6 months.

Although there is no straight answer to how quickly can you see results with mewing – but consistency and embracing proper tongue posture will pay off big time. Embrace the journey, knowing that progress comes with time, dedication, and a belief in the transformative potential of mewing.

Start today with Free Mewing Quiz here to see how fast can mewing take to bring visible results. 

Is Mewing Really Effective (Research Confirms It Is!)

The primary evidence supporting the effectiveness of mewing comes from the personal experiences of individuals. Interestingly enough, these individuals have voluntarily undertaken the practice, sharing their own words and photographic evidence.

Now, what research says about the effectiveness of mewing?

Several mewing (tongue position) studies provide evidence that mewing has impressive potential to reshape jaw muscles. Here are two research studies: 

  • A noteworthy peer-reviewed study conducted with 33 participants showed that when the tongue was positioned against the roof of the mouth during mewing, the activity of the right temporalis muscle increased compared to baseline or when the tongue was resting on the floor of the mouth.

And, since 28 of the participants were women, it gives us a green signal that mewing brings positive results among the female population.

  • Another research study reveals that the facial skeleton tends to expand over time. While males typically have a larger jaw and different orbital rims (the area around the eyes) with a larger pyriform aperture compared to females, both genders experience vertical changes in the height of the facial skeleton. 

Both of these studies serve as compelling evidence that mewing holds promise for achieving successful outcomes for individuals of all genders.

Is Mewing Healthy and Safe

If you think of mewing, you’d know it's mostly about maintaining proper tongue posture for improved oral health. This accounts that mewing is completely healthy and safe to practice. 

The field of mewing is rife with popular articles discussing its potential to address concerns such as neck fat reduction, jawline definition, and overall facial structure improvement. While these claims sound promising, it is important to note that mewing may not always serve as a substitute for orthognathic surgery.

It’s important you consider that certain health conditions can potentially worsen with improper mewing, including:

  • Jaw pain, specifically related to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TDJ).
  • Teeth and jaw misalignment.
  • Crooked teeth.
  • Poor body posture.
  • Breathlessness or shortness of breath.
  • Teeth grinding and the development of bruxism.
  • Buck teeth or an increase in the gap between teeth.
  • Facial asymmetry.
  • Increased space between the chin and neck.

Although it’s better to note that these conditions are not inherent side effects of mewing itself but rather the result of improper mewing techniques. This highlights the importance of the seemingly simple yet essential initial step of maintaining proper tongue posture. 

By ensuring correct tongue posture and learning how to mew properly, one can significantly minimize the risk of encountering these issues while mewing.

Mewing App, our top-rated app for mewing, offers numerous mewing techniques and jawline exercises to help sharpen your jaw

Stay consistent with the reminder feature, and track your progress easily by saving before and after pictures directly to the app.

To get started, simply download the Mewing app – a perfectly chiseled jawline and enhanced facial profile are within your reach!

FAQs - How Does Mewing Actually Work 

Does mewing actually work and is there any scientific evidence?

There is no official scientific verdict about mewing but several studies regarding proper tongue posture and nasal breathing do support the effectiveness of mewing. Some studies have demonstrated a correlation between tongue position and muscle activity in the jaw. What’s more insisting is the positive reviews by active mewers who consistently practiced mewing and saw visible results. 

Does mewing work for adults?

Yes, mewing can be effective for adults. While it is commonly believed that facial changes are more easily achievable during childhood and adolescence, mewing has already brought about promising visible results for adults.

Does mewing work with braces?

Braces are specifically designed to align teeth and jaw positions, and the treatment plan should take priority over mewing techniques. We recommend that you talk to your dentist about whether or not should you try mewing with braces. 

However, you can always practice complementary methods to achieve a more pronounced jawline - facial exercises, jaw and tongue strengthening, posture exercises, and nasal breathing.

Does hard mewing work and should you try hard mewing?

Hard mewing involves applying greater pressure to the palate and surrounding structures. Since traditional or soft mewing is simply repositioning your tongue properly against the roof of your mouth, hard mewing is practiced with high pressure. 

We recommend you master proper tongue posture and make mewing your full-time habit before going for hard mewing. With time when mewing becomes your 24/7 habit, it’d be easier and safe to exert more pressure against your palate, i.e. hard mewing. 

Does mewing actually work on older individuals?

Mewing is potentially safe for individuals of all age groups, including older ones as well. While facial changes may occur more gradually in older individuals due to natural aging processes, mewing can still contribute to reduced double chin, improved posture, jaw alignment, and overall facial aesthetics. 

We recommend you set expectations realistically and understand that individual results may vary based on factors such as overall health, consistency in practicing mewing, and proper tongue placement. 

You can always take our free quiz to determine your goals with mewing as per your age and gender. 

If you’re still skeptical about whether or not does mewing actually work, consider installing our Mewing App.

Here you will get mewing before and after transformation and all the guidance on the right mewing techniques to finally achieve the sculpted jawline, you have always longed for! 

…Just as 100K+ other users who are happier and have all of these benefits!

Download the app now to get started.

The information provided in this article is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or a substitute for professional guidance. Mewing and other techniques mentioned on this website may not be suitable for everyone, and individual results may vary. We strongly recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare professional, such as an orthodontist, dentist, or myofunctional therapist, before starting any new oral or facial exercises, particularly if you have existing dental, orthodontic, or health concerns.
Written by
Yury Nebyshynets
June 27, 2023