Tongue Posture: This is What It Did to Me

Internet calls it Mewing, I call it proper tongue posture and function. It puzzles me how much evidence is out there and there are still people that calls it “bro-science”. It lacks scientific evidence they say. But science is clear: bone is remodeled thanks to the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, that balance bone resorption and formation.

The main purpose of bone remodeling is to meet its mechanical demands, suggesting that mechanical forces are among the most potent factors that influence this process [1]. In fact, mechanical loads create micro-damages into the bone tissues that trigger the healing process of remodeling [2]. Read more in the Bone Remodeling article.

The maxilla is not any different from other bones, and it does remodel according to forces. The tongue plays a crucial role in the maxilla and craniofacial development. With proper posture and function, the tongue exerts pressure up and forward on the palate, the lower part of the maxilla. This guides the maxilla to develop up and forward, giving room for healthy teeth. On the contrary, with improper tongue posture and function, the maxilla develops down and backward, narrowing the airways and the the space for the teeth, creating malocclusions.

People also question the effectiveness of proper tongue posture in adults. There is no doubt that bone remodels at a higher rate during the growth phase of an individual, this is why it is so important to avoid bottle-feeding and pacifiers for newborns, so that they can develop a healthy habit that is retained throughout their entire life. But bone remodeling happens at any age, even when older, just at a slower pace. If you were able to fix your tongue posture when teenager, you had a big advantage. When you are an adult, things are a little more complicated. Things are slower and harder, but don’t give up.

For those people that are sceptic about tongue posture and its influence on the maxilla, I want to show what happens to a male in his early 30s when the tongue support to the maxilla is missing and when it is instead re-established.

My journey started in 2014, 10 years ago. When I was 23 years old, I was seeking treatment for malocclusion. At the time I was not knowledgeable as I was today on total body health, but I already realized back then how important craniofacial development is for the whole body. I was seeking treatment because of different injuries and conditions happening throughout my body. The treatment went wrong and it was hell on earth. Any possible symptoms you can imagine, I had it (read more in My Story and in TMD Symptoms). This is how I was able to make many connections between craniofacial development and other conditions, like hair loss for example. Research after research, I later found the theory of Professor John Mew and Orthotropics. Things made sense to me. Some appliances later and with a proper tongue posture, I was able to recover from many of my symptoms.

But few years later, in 2022, some of these symptoms came back stronger, in particular tension-type headache, brain fog and chronic fatigue. This is why I was seeking treatment again. But this time around, I was 31 years old. Things were different.

My treatment consisted in a DNA appliance, but I did not realize that now I was older. All this appliance did was tipping my teeth. Furthermore, the DNA appliance did not allow my tongue to exercise its forces against the palate, thus I lost volume in my mid-face. All in all, it was the wrong treatment and I was now 32 years old.

I obviously interrupted the treatment when I realized my teeth were tipping and completely removed the appliance. I had a good tongue posture again, and in few months the results were astonishing. This is how I looked after 6 months.

It is incredible to me how big of a difference 6 months can make, especially in one’s 30s. In case you do not see the difference, here are the front pictures side by side.

Ultimately my symptoms did not go away, but this was a further confirmation of the importance of tongue posture and how much difference it can make even when we are in our 30s. In 2024 I then looked for a treatment that was more in line with my age, seeking MARPE. More to come on that.

References

[1] Chen, Jan-Hung, et al. “Boning up on Wolff’s Law: mechanical regulation of the cells that make and maintain bone.” Journal of biomechanics 43.1 (2010): 108-118.

[2] Burr, David B., et al. “Bone remodeling in response to in vivo fatigue microdamage.” Journal of biomechanics 18.3 (1985): 189-200.