Stopping Orthodontic Retainers? By Dr Mike Mew 

the million dollar question.

I got rid of my retainer and have been mewing for about a year. While my teeth are not perfectly straight as they were when my braces come off, my bite actually fits together a lot better now. The retainers were actually holding my teeth in an unnatural, and uncomfortable position despite the fact that they were superficially aligned straighter.

I'm 17 and it's been 5 months without a retainer and I've had 0 relapse. I've been practicing tongue posture for 6 months now and I started when I had braces on. My face looks much more full as if my skull has expanded. My breathing has improved as well. The only difference between my teeth now and my teeth 5 months ago is that they used to appear straight up and down | and now they are slightly looking more like >. I feel like I have more room in my mouth and it's much easier to talk, chew, and breath than it was 5 months ago. There's also been a significant difference in my facial appearance as well EDIT: I have had relapse but I don't regret it. I ended up getting arch expansion therapy and FastBraces. I replied to this comment with an update. See it in the replies below.

He gives me such mad scientist vibes, but I love him.

this video is 8 minutes of breathing ASMR

Currently I’m 15. I had braces for 2 and a half years and I’ve worn my retainer for 7 months so far. Recently I have figured out the correct tongue posture and have been exhibiting it during the day and wearing a retainer at night for about 2 weeks so far. I’ve decided to stop wearing retainer and go full mewing. My concern is that my teeth may revert back to their pre-braces state in which i had a tooth gap in my front 2 top teeth and that would be noticeable enough for my parents to notice I’ve stopped wearing my retainer. I will try to update you guys on my experience in the future. 1 month update: my teeth have had little to no relapse and no tooth gaps. My jawline has gotten noticeably better and when I flex my jaw muscles I can see small dimples/hollow cheeks(can’t tell which one it is). Please note I also train my jaw muscles. 2 month update: my jawline has still gotten more defined and my chin has noticeably moved forward. Also my cheekbones are beginning to really poke out. As for my teeth, my upper’s are still almost entirely straight and my lowers a little less straight. Before I decided to take my retainer off, I assumed that I wasn’t seeing my orthodontist anymore. But I had a visit like a week ago, and they could tell I hadn’t been wearing my retainer because the bottom part of my retainer did not fit all the way on. It was a bit tight on my top teeth but they still fit. Fast forward a week, I have been wearing my retainer most of the day by their instructions, and my teeth now more or less fit the retainer fully. I am not a 100% sure on this, but my theory is that since the tongue would physically prevent the top teeth from becoming more narrow, they stay the same or expand. But until the mandible fully moves up and forward, your lower teeth will to an extent be crowded, because as Mike said in one of his other vids “you only have so much face”. I have to see them again in 3 weeks, but after that I plan on only wearing the bottom retainers when I sleep until my mandible is fully/mostly up and forward. 4 month edit: I decided to not wear retainers again because it’s hard to mew when I do it. There is a very small tooth gap between my front teeth but I think it might be because my mouth hangs a bit open when I sleep. I am using mouth tape for sleeping now and I actually highly recommend it, so we’ll see what happens with the whole tooth gap thing. My mandible has definitely moved more and I can feel the more of my ramus bone now. I also noticed the other day when looking at my reflections that I’m starting to get hollow cheeks(without flexing) and they are definitely visible when I flex with ideal lighting. 6 month edit: My face is still getting more forward growth and I’m almost at the point where my chin is as forward as my lips. I’ve noticed that majority of the time when I look at my reflection I can see faint hollow cheeks and I can always see them when I flex my chewing muscles now. I would highly recommend from my experience that you get mouth tape. This allows your mouth to stay closed when you sleep which is important because unless you’re a mewer from the start your face will be too long for you lips to stay completely shut when your asleep. I also credit this with preventing my tooth gap as that faint black line in between my teeth in the beginning has essentially completely disappeared. You can get mouth tape at your local pharmacy. I also forgot to mention that using mouth tape will allow you to properly mew at night time which furthers your results. 9 month update: So last weekend I just had my dentist visit and I was contemplating whether to put my retainers back in for a week so that my teeth would be perfectly straight just in case the dentist realized I wasn’t using my retainer and alerted my parents. Long story short I decided not to use them at all because that would slow down my mewing results and would interfere with habits somewhat. It would also be annoying because I would have to wear them pretty much all day and deal with tooth ache pain as my teeth made the slight readjustment. Note that this was my first time seeing the dentist without wearing my retainer for several months. Turns out they didn’t even notice. The person doing my teeth asked if I was still using my retainer and I told her yes. She then took a look and said “yeah I can tell”. When the actual doctor went to check me out at the end he looked several times at my bite and smile and concluded that everything looked good. I can not stress enough the importance of mouth tape at night. I’m still seeing results as there is still much room for improvement before I have a jawline and facial structure like that of someone who has been mewing their whole life. Based on my results so far it seems it will take another year or so to get me to that top level. I have noticed that I look much better in pictures than I used to and I am no longer embarrassed whenever I see a picture of me at unflattering angles. I have also noticed that any time I try to remind myself for proper tongue posture I realize that I have been doing it and having the proper posture comes so naturally now. I don’t know if I said this earlier but for proper tongue posture you don’t want to continually push your tongue up but rather it should be held by a vacuum. To do this you should repeatedly swallow your saliva and you’ll find that your tongue is pretty much glued to the palate. I have also noticed that this isn’t necessary sometimes and the tongue just sticks there on its own. Keep pushing guys! 11 month update: I’m sill continuing to see change and find myself closing the gap to ideal facial form. I’ve just today come to the realization that chapstick actually hinders lip seal. If you think about chapstick makes your lips moisturized which is the job of the lip seal. In the absence of chapstick you tell whether your lips are in a proper seal based on whether they are dry or not but chapstick prevents this from happening. The also reduce the friction on your lips making it harder to lip seal. I decided not to use chapstick at all today and I’ve noticed significant improvements in lips chaps when sealed and it’s easier to lip seal(it also looks more attractive). 17 month update: I’m still seeing great results and I’ve gotten several compliments on my looks from both friends and strangers. I still don’t think I’ve fully maxed out the mewing gains but the results are promising. Stay the course guys and you will achieve great results with time. I’m still using mouth tape and still no pillow both of which have been great. Also for the chapstick! If you find your lips getting too chapped, it’s ok to use it as long as you only put it on the outer edges of your lips. You don’t want to put it where your lips touch because that will make lip seal worse.

A long-term night retainer is the second most harmful thing I was ever advised to do orthodontically (first was removing 4 healthy teeth). Every night the retainer pushed teeth to where the dentist thought they should be; every day my teeth and soft tissues fought back, trying to create some kind of occlusion and mouth fit. Every 24 hours, back and forth, for years. Never comfortable at any point. The retainer also forced open-mouth breathing at night, gradually worsening everything - except for the alignment of the upper arch, which was isolated from, and in conflict with, all other working parts. Eventually the facial pain and dysfunction caused by this became extreme and intolerable. We need to be very careful about getting retention right. If an orthodontic result is *so unsustainable* that it needs to be held there by force long-term, then it's really not a good result for that patient, is it?!

5:29 *I N H A L E*

1:03 Basically, if you've been mewing without your retainer for a while and you feel like the teeth have expanded, then congrats you're teeth have positive feedback and you don't need your retainer. But if you feel like they've relapsed a bit, you have my condolences you have negative feedback. But are you willing to lose your straight teeth for a better developed face?

I used to have an underbite (I wore braces when I was 17-20), when I was a teenager it turned out that I had an incorrect swallowing habit. I was constantly pushing my jaw forward with my tongue. The thing is, my orthodontist said that I swallowed like that because of my underbite, not the other way round. Now that I think about it, it didn't make much sense since no one in my family has underbite, so I couldn't have just inherited it. I found out about Dr Mew's theories very recently, and first thing I thought was "damn, did I mess up my chance at mewing by wearing braces?" xD I was very glad to have found this video, among others. I'm wearing permanent retainers, so I should still be able to get some effects with these. It's pretty hard for me right now, my palate is a bit too narrow for my tongue to fit in, but I'm going to do my best. Everybody, stay determined! :)

after looking into orthotropics ive really been inspired to fix my face + neck posture. i had braces between the ages of 12-16, and wore my retainer for two years up until this point, where ive decided to quit. after braces i began to suffer horrible tmj issues, increasingly bad neck posture (forward head) and i realize now that i was a slight mouthbreather when i wasnt paying attention. now i finally looked in the mirror and realized i have facial downswing, with a really weak jaw and no jaw definition on the sides, but i couldnt tell as i had been compensating with my forward head and tilting my head upwards. i know it will be hard and the results won't be so dramatic as i'm eighteen now and the growth will therefore be much slower, but im determined to fix these issues to the best of my ability so that i can have more confidence, and reap the health benefits. i'm so glad i found this channel before my problems get too severe that i may require surgery. thank you dr mew for sharing your research and making it available to the wider public.

If you look closely, you could see that Mike Mew breathes through his mouth every time he talks. He also swallows and breaths so loudly... I don't get that.

My orthodontist had me on retainers and now my molars don't touch at rest when I align my incisors. Forcing me to have an underbite when I chew and when I talk if I do it unconsciously. I hate the type of retainers I got lol :( I used to have a beautiful jawline and my face was very defined. I had a long journey with braces and retainers for like 7 years. I new there was a very big problem when I started noticing developing nasolabial folds at the young age of 17 or 18??!!! I was so sad omg lol. Thank god I chewed them so much they broke ☺️👍

Dear Dr. Mew(s)! My mouth had a slight overbite, large front teeth, a small pallet, (from childhood night mouth breathing?) and a large tongue when they pulled my 4 "wisdom teeth" and my upper k9's before giving me braces when i was 13 years old. I was also given head gear which i only wore a dozen times, and had horrible pain with rubberband fittings every time. After getting my braces off, when I was 16, i had a permanent bottom retainer put in and was given a removable top retainer to wear most of the time. I didn't wear it much but once every other week for "testing" until I went to college and ditched it entirely at 18. My tongue always had issues being too large, but the general look of my teeth was pretty straight yet always aligned slightly off. Luckily, i think because my tongue was so big (and perhaps because of a time i dream-induced choking on my tongue when i had a cold with terrible nasal congestion), i have not been a night mouth-breather since childhood. I also had my upper retainer Removed before having my son, and then my tongue finally had space not to get cut on the top. My opinion was that it wasn't helping and that i could have removed it earlier, but I am not sure. I have not had any problems with alignment since it was removed. I always have to use effort to keep my tongue from getting bit on the sides of my mouth, and this forced me to (over-time!!)discover the Tongue-on-roof swallowing technique, and realize that it was better than the tongue on bottom teeth breathing. Now i have discovered this channel, and Orthotropics and have been practicing the exact techniques and watching vids, and am already feeling a difference in mouth and jaw. Thanks for all the wonderful important information, I will teach my 5 year old son, and his father is already practicing too!! Thank you both!!

Dr. Mew, you don't seem to be providing any clear or definitive answers when it comes to this question... People are simply asking you, will wearing retainers hinder the process of mewing? And if so, should one stop wearing retainers all together even if it means possible relapse and teeth going back to their original crowded position? I myself had braces for 3 years after having very crowded teeth and an overbite, after I was done with braces, I would wear my retainers all of the time except for when I went out or would eat something. Now, would it be fine for me to only wear my retainers at night since I can't really control my tongue to be at the roof of my mouth while I am asleep? I do want to continue mewing for its benefits, but if that means my teeth will go back to being crowded due to not wearing retainers anymore, I do not know what to do in this case. Do you suggest wearing retainers only at night in order to keep my teeth straight or will this give the "stake in the ground effect" where it will loosen my teeth or something along those lines? Please, I would greatly appreciate a response if you are not busy, or from anyone for that matter, thank you.

I’ve been mewing for almost 8 months and had little to no progress, I just came across the thought that my retainers may be inhibiting my mewing progress and apparently many others too. Glad this vids out there!

It’s been a few months without me wearing my retainers and the results are great actually! first of all my jaw pain stopped without my retainers and my face has gotten shorter/ mewing has worked!!

If one is trying to expand the maxilla, I would think a fixed retainer bridging the maxilla suture line (behind top four teeth) would inhibit expansion. Would love a response from Mike.

I had braces from 15-17 and had been wearing retainer at night for the past 5 years. Recently I started mewing and haven't worn my retainer for about 4-6 weeks now. When I tried my retainer on again the top felt some pressure so that indicate my teeth had shifted (the bottom remain the same). I feel it too during the day like my right side of the face got weaker especially when I try to bite. I wish there's an orthodontist familiar with mewing who can help me out cause now idk if i should continue not wearing my retainer or put it on again :/ Edit 1--Update 1: 2 months later. I decided to not put my retainers back on. My overbite did not come back even though I have sleep apnea and probably opened my mouth during sleep. But during the day I keep my mouth close. The only mewing method I'm able to practice so far is tounge position and this is actually going great for me. My teeth still nice and I feel "normal" like this is where they're supposed to be :)

I have been practicing mewing but have also been wearing retainers, I will say I noticed a little difference in my left check bone while mewing with retainers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the retainers are actually holding me back from getting full results from mewing. I am scared of my teeth going back to how they were if I don’t use my retainers (I had pretty bad teeth before). I also only live once though, and I will look back and regret and wonder “what if” I had stopped wearing my retainers and gave mewing my all? As of today I am going to stop wearing retainers and only mew and other practices for my face (mount tape when sleeping, chewing, chin tucks, etc). I will update every month. Please reply to this comment after a month has passed in case I forget to update. *Update After 1 Month* - So it has been 1 month since I have stopped wearing my retainers. My teeth are still pretty straight, 1 tooth has shifted a little but nothing crazy, teeth still look fine. In terms of my overall facial structure, not a crazy difference, yesterday though I did notice that my face might be getting leaner and my jaw muscles are getting bigger. I also am eating a lot better, eating fruit and food that I have to chew more. I think chin tucks help a lot though, I have been a bit inconsistent with the chin tucks but after this update I will get back to doing them. So overall for this update of Month 1, not a crazy difference, but am starting to notice jaw line getting a bit more defined, jaw muscles getting bigger, and overall facial structure seems to look a bit better than before, but again, not a big difference. Oh and also, I haven’t actually been actively mewing. I noticed during this month that if your neck posture sucks, mewing will be too hard to do consistently. So what I’ve actually been focusing on at the moment is practicing proper neck posture and chin tucks help a lot with this. So I haven’t actually been mewing for the past few weeks, BUT, I definitely will, but I feel it is very hard if your neck posture is not good. *Update 2, 3 months in* - So after 3 months of not wearing my retainers, I can say that my jawline has gotten better. Now what I will say is it’s not from mewing, but from having correct neck posture. Guys practice chin tucks the way they teach here, they definitely help. I will say a pillow cube helps as well, you can look them Up online, but I sleep with a pillow cube not a normal pillow and it helps for me to sleep with correct neck posture. The way I see it, if your neck posture sucks, forget about getting results mewing. Neck posture is good, my jawline definitely is more visible. In terms of my overall face, it honestly stills looks the same, but my jawline is definitely more visible. Now for my teeth, my teeth have definitely shifted, but nothing crazy, still looks pretty much the same, the only con is that I know have my wisdom teeth coming in, so with those coming in, it can shift my teeth around even more. I’m looking for those to get removed soon. So overall for update 3, jawline more defined/more visible, teeth haven’t really shifted, mewing I haven’t been really trying to do, but as I improve my neck posture I believe correct tongue posture will be much easier and I will naturally do it in my Sleep.

I'm mewing with braces rn idk what's ahead but screw it. Into my 2nd week rn and noticed my cheekbones have gotten slightly different, not sure if they're getting prominent or flat I just wish I knew about all of this sooner. At least I had no extractions I guess

4 years without retainers (always too lazy to wear them anyway), no relapse whatsoever. sure they don't fit anymore, but it's because my teeth become even straighter, my dental arch wider, and my bite fit even better. but the time between me starting braces and quitting retainers is about 10-11 years so i guess that's a factor too

finally a video on that one question does resting you chin(with the weight of your head) on your plam or knuckle have any effect on the shape of the skull

Hypothetically, how long should I wear the retainer after getting braces off to stabilize the teeth before I try ditching them?

Could one possibly just cut out the top & bottom front pieces of their Essix (Invisiglign-like) retainer & just use those pieces as the nightly retainer & proceed with mewing to further widen arches?

Thank you so much for these phenomenal videos! I am an opera singer and have had orthodontic treatment that succesfully corected a posterior unilateral crosbite in my mid twenties. No extractions, my maxila was widened but it had also been reduced in sagital length - positioning my jaw a touch further back and changing it’s opening axis. I’ve had both fixed and essix retainers and decided to stop wearing the essix retainers after 2 years of night wear a few days ago, after researching potential causes for tmj hypermobility and excessive masseter/ pterigoid /temporalis tension, and coming across your video. I’ve also seen a dentist yesterday to repair a fractured cusp, and he mentioned that the bite, at least on the crossbite side was very uneven in terms of where the pressure was applied (probably because of the asimetric left to right toothewear from the unilateral crosbite??!?) Do you think that not adjusting the bite/ cusp heights post orthodontic treatment could give me further tmj problems in the long run or worse, encourage relapse due to where the pressure is applied on the molars? I am a bit worried particularly because, as i’ve learned:-)))) due to the nature of my profession these ‘minor’ changes could have a profound impact/ unintended consequences . What do you think?

I’m glad I took the risk. Had crooked teeth, underbite, and gap on my teeth before braces. My upper teeth don’t even show when I talk. Even with braces my smile didn’t look right. After 4 yrs of braces I had retainers. THENNN I happened to know about mewing. I completely gave up on my upper retainers. Best decision I’ve ever made. In 3 weeks after removing my retainers for good I had a gap on my teeth which was the original position of my teeth. But slowly the gap on my front teeth closed and my maxilla expanded. My teeth are perfectly aligned even without retainers. My upper teeth are visible and I can smile confidently now. It’s been 5 months and I still have perfectly aligned teeth. Even better than what I looked like after braces and with retainers.

Without retainers my 3 years wearing braces were a waste... after a new orthodontic treatment i now wear it... don't want to risk...

The musculoskeletal system is mapped out on the majority of the brain! Our *awareness* plus *knowledge* like that which you give us equals *results* WITHOUT unforeseen problems that accompany an appliance

I’ve been mewing a month without retainers and now my bottom teeth are starting to relapse and I’m scared it will get worse I don’t know what to do getting braces again is out of the question it’s too expensive I don’t want to ruin my teeth but my face is really messed up and I’m 15 so I feel like I can actual make a change if I start now and I don’t want to regret not starting I don’t know what to do😩😩

I wear hawley retainers and want to start mewing but I’m afraid to take my retainers out in the fear of relapse happening. Will I see a difference if I mew while having the retainers on??

Am I cooked from using a hawley for 10 years throughout puberty

I've had extensive orthodontic treatment (extractions, multiple sets of braces, contraptions, etc.) all of my childhood through early adulthood which attempted to correct my open bite. It all resulted in a double jaw surgery nearly 10 years ago. I am now a firm believer in alternative health and avoiding any surgery, as the body can heal itself. I still diligently wear my invisaligne retainers nightly as I worry about my bite or teeth shifting after going through so many years of treatment. I do think my tongue position corrected itself as a result of the surgery. My upper jaw was moved up and forward and a bilateral sagittal split on the lower jaw. I have screws and plates in my face. While my tongue position/swallowing is better, I wonder if it could be improved and I worry it might still be weak. I'm willing to start paying close attention to my tongue and swallowing and work on strengthening. Could any benefit be gained from this, even though I have undergone surgery? Can my upper arch still change and how so? Will it be misaligned with my lower jaw or will the lower adjust itself properly? I'm just wondering if any of this is advisable if one has already had corrective jaw surgery. Optimally I probably shouldn't have had such a surgery but we were unaware of the alternatives. I am always looking for more improvement but I wouldn't want to do anything that could negatively affect things or waste time reenforcing technique. Thanks for any input.

Are fixed retainers on the lower teeth bad for expansion as well?

So the best way is to wear the fixed retainer?

thanks a lot for this informative video. i have a fixed retainer anyway, and I have veen wondering for a while now wether or not I should start mewing. I'll start working on my oral posture now :) Thank you Dr. Mew

Okay I’ve stopped my retainers for a few days and wow my teeth have moved into a comfortable position and now just my back teeth touch when I bite down!! Before it was really uncomfortable. Mewing is helping it and my retainers already don’t fit

3 years ago I got Invisalign in order to correct my really bad overbite as well as crowding. I finished my braces a while back and now I only wear my retainers all of the time in the house before I eat and take them off when I go out in order to keep my teeth straight. I know that I have to wear the retainer at night simply because my teeth slowly, over time, start shifting back to their original form and I can tell because when I put my retainer back in after a while, it's tighter than before. How would you suggest I go about mewing in this situation? Do I stop wearing my Invisalign retainers all together and just do mewing? Although I have heard bad relapse stories in this case. Can I do Mewing with the retainers on? Should I mew throughout the day without the retainers and then just put the retainers on at night? I would really appreciate advice on what would be best in this situation as I don't really seem to find any clear answers on this.

When you mew doesn't the whole maxilla get pulled forward? wouldn't it make sense that even with removable retainers on, mewing is still effective? since you are pushing forward the whole maxilla and not only just the teeth?

Its still not clear u said i would either relapse or improve but u didnt explain what thats dependent on, im assuming u r referring to ones ability to maintain good oral posture but its not clear. Personally i have no problems maintaining good oral posture 24/7 so will i relapse even while maintaining perfect oral posture? Also its not quite clear as to the type of fixed retainer u referring too, my retainer is kinda like the second retainer u showed but it doesnt have any of the notches that connect to each individual tooth it just has the wire and piece of wax that connects to the top of the mouth, is that compatible with mewing? The only problem with it is ever since my wisdom teeth started growing in the back portion has been raised and is now taking up more tongue space. *nevermind my retainer does have little notches for the teeth in the wax part and grooves in the wire part

How can it sometimes be just one teeth (cuspid, upper arch) that's rotated? Naturally kept my tongue at the roof of my mouth.

Retainers hinder the movement of the jaws and can cause tmd issues.beware

are there any discussions of inappropriate orthodontics relative to facial development. At 12, i had upper 1st bicuspids removed to allow incisors to be pulled back. From age 12-18, my lower jaw continued to grow, creating an underbite. Left alone, i would have had a healthy bite and pleasing facial formation. Instead, a dentist i worked for periodically called me to meet a patient as an example of an “overdeveloped German jaw.” Ever since orthodontia, i have had extreme maloclusion and wobbly teeth.

I had mild cross bite before using braces. When I was born my incisors touched tip to tip when biting directly over each other. After years of chewing with my front teeth my bottom teeth were pushed forward so that they were in front of my top teeth. I had braces for around 17 months (it should have been 12 but I didn’t wear my rubber bands - although a faster fix would last less I guess). However I had a clear plastic retainer. It took up a lot of tongue room in my experience and it made my mouth feel too open so I decided to not wear it. It’s been over 6.5 months since I got off my braces and I haven’t worn my retainers a single night but my teeth haven’t at all relapsed (maybe a millimeter or so of forward lower tooth movement towards the old position but my teeth fit very comfortably). I’ve always felt that simply by keeping my teeth in contact when my mouth is closed (I breathe through the nose even at night, which I know because my lips are sometimes sealed shut by dried moisture in the morning and my nose isn’t stuffy) I could prevent my upper and lower teeth from moving past each other (which would be necessary for my bite to relapse into cross bite as my rear teeth never had any problems, only my front 4-6) and since they can’t go through each other my mouth would need to be open with my teeth apart for that to happen. My retainers don’t fit perfectly anymore but I can still force them on by biting (I’ve worn it at most an hour at a time and now only on either my upper or lower teeth at a time to alleviate the mouth discomfort- I produce a lot of saliva and it was annoying to swallow with the retainer trapping some) despite the long period. My teeth have always been very straight and my dental arch width is over 50 mm based on my measurement. I seem to have exceptionally good oral posture and it’s like that for our whole family (I’m Indian and we eat traditional homemade food) with my tongue firmly against the roof of my mouth and my teeth in contact with my lips firmly closed and proper (“Mona Lisa “as you put it) swallowing form. As a result I have a very defined square jawline and have a significant amount of forward growth (dividing line at around 30-35 degrees) and high pronounces cheekbones (but no bulge because I don’t swallow with my buccinators). I was born in India (I’m a 14 year old male) but have lived in the US since I was 5, but despite a fairly soft diet my jaw resting tone doesn’t seem to be at all low, in fact I look a lot like some of the images you display of indigenous facial structures. Simply by maintaining my oral habits is it possible for my teeth to permanently stabilize in this position with at most a couple millimeters of deviation from the original? The reason they relapse is from the slow forces from the displaced tissues and bone right (I only had to move my teeth and not my jaw because of how mild the cross bite was)? So couldn’t counteract that by lightly biting my teeth together when closed all the time until my tissues settle in this position? I still have a lot of growing due to my age so my jaws are more susceptible to my efforts and are less likely to relapse due to the decreased amount of time it was in the pre-orthodontic position correct?

Can anybody tell me if the same applies with a permanent retainer?

If I have an Invisalign retainer that I usually wear all the time, do I have to not wear the retainer anymore in order to do mewing? Or can I just do mewing while wearing my Invisalign retainer?

NOW THE ONLY QUESTION HERE THAT WE WANT U TO ANSWER IS " CAN I MEW WITH BRACES?" LIKE THIS IF YOU WANT DR. MEW TO ANSWER THIS!!

I've been mewing for 4 years and had no change on my face, all because of my orthodontic retairner I guess

Anybody made good results while wearing permanent retainers?

I have 4 upper and 6 lower fixed retainers under my essix retainers. If I stopped wearing my essix and only depended on my fixed, would it my teeth still be alright and straight? I don’t wanna just throw my hard work and money down the drain :/

So fixed retainers do not block the expansion of the mandible ? I had a recessed jaw line when I was 16. Stupidly I accepted the decision by the dentist to remove two teeth from the upper mandible in order to tighten the gaps and level the upper teeth with the lower eliminating the recessed jawline. That made my mouth smaller and my face smaller. I didn’t like the result. I stopped using the variable retainer since 4 years ago( I’m 24 now). I still have the fixed ones. Fortunately I stopped treatment when I was 19 so that the holes didn’t close completely. I was hoping to widen my teeth structure and face through mewing. Wouldn’t the fixed retainer be a liability ?

I stopped wearing it after a few months and after ten years my teeth are still perfect but i tried the retainer some time ago and it doesnt align like it used to at all

Got it ok. So fixed retainer won’t stop us from increasing the arches.. but what about expanding our maxilla? I’m 1.5 years in with bracess, extracted premolars top and bottom, noticed a flatter side profile... not enough room to chew my food, so I’m hoping to be able to practice mewing now and forever.. in order to expand my maxilla as well as increasing my pallet arches.

I love your honesty Mike

Mr Mew, you talk about the tongue and upper arch a lot, but what about the lower arch? What force straightens that out? Is there any, or are you screwed once your jaw grew a bit downward, your arch narrowed and your teeth crowded?

How can you reverse premolar extraction retraction safely? How can you fix the maxilla after the damage that were done?

So, permanent retainers behind the first 4 teeth are not bad at all. Great!

Does anyone know if I could wear the bottom retainer ?

I'm 19 and have been out of braces for 4 years. I have basically stopped wearing my removable top retainer since beginning proper posture a couple months ago. I have noticed a gap appearing between my two front teeth. Has anyone else had this problem?

I have a retainer on my front upper and bottom teeth and I believe that it holds my front teeth in the back, while my jaw and maxilla went forward due to mewing, causing me to develop a sunken in mouth area.

I have a narrow palate and still wear retainers ( 20 years old) should I just ditch them or not?

Do y'all think it would be a good idea to continue wearing the lower retainers I understand that the upper retainer restricts palatal expansion, but it seems to me that the lower retainers would not have an effect. Any advice?

I’ve been having good tongue posture for just one day and came here because I put my retainers on and my teeth felt uncomfortable. Does this mean my teeth have moved and I shouldn’t use retainers??

I have this first plastic retainer in which you discussed . I still use the bottom half , but have removed the top half about 8 months ago -- I use the bottom one plus I tape my mouth -- this stops me from chomping down on my teeth -while I sleep at night - I dont understand however why this teeth chomping while sleeping never happened befor having braces but does now should I remove both retainers.... I do the myofunctional therapy but I need to get back into my mewing .. my jaws doing far better at the time I was doing it relentlessly .. my maxillaa is a lot more comfortable now that I have removed the top half of my retainer , and it seems as if the bottom retainer may stop my teeth from shifting -- rather I feel as it may be helping my maxilla grow to fit over it .. my bite seems to be getting better every day and no teeth are shifting in a way that is either noticeable or problematic . it's only my experience -- but it may be worth your time in accessing those facts and seeing if this may be a good start for retainer removal --- in theory ..

Mewing widens the palate so a invisalign retainer would be contraproductive, but thats only for the upper teeth or am i wrong? Because i have invisalign and i want the Benefits from mewing after im done with the treatment. My Main issue is the lower teeth not the upper teeth, so could i still wear lower teeth retainer later on and ditch the upper teeth retainer?

I stopped retainers for a couple weeks then put them back on after my mum screamed at me, now a year later mewing with retainers in at night I think has actually partly damaged my enamel ? I really want to stop again

Im 19 and have had fixed retaniers on both my upper and lower front teeth for 3 years. Ive been practicing toung posture for around a month now and can feel my teeth moving. thought my fixed retainers might negatively impact the growth . Thank you for the videos

This is such a hard situation to be in. You either stop wearing retainers and start mewing where there is a chance of relapse, gaps between the teeth etc and spending money to restart the whole orthodontic process all over again. Or you start mewing and turn into a gigachad. I think the best solution, which is not easy for most, is to actually get an appointment with Mike Mew and let him figure out a solution because every person's teeth is different.

i love how mike keeps mouth breathing in this video

Dr mike mew , could you please make a video on airway blockage when performing correct tongue posture? i find it a very important and concerning topic

I really want to start mewing, But i wear retainers. What should i do?

But what if I had gap between teeth before orthodonthic treatment, will mewing cause teeth to form gap like it was before orthodonthic treatment?

I have a important question. Im almost at the end of my Invisalign journey (~2years) and i‘ve been mewing since the beginning. My main problems are the lower front teeth. Will a fixed retainer at the lower front teeth stop any expansion or forward growth? It’s very import that I expand since my mandible is a bit to small for my teeth especially at the front.

stop your retainer unless you are severely downward grown and cannot mew and keep a correct neck posture without an airway obstruction. If you have sleep disordered breathing it may not be a good idea to chuck those retainers just because you probably don't have space to mew. For everyone else, stop the retainer man. He is being vague here because he doesn't want to lose his license and he doesn't want to give a one size fits all answer!! I stopped 4 months ago, ZERO relapse and jaw got wider.

So I'm 20, have been wearing a retainer every night since I was 16. The dentist misaligned my jaw so it was lopsided, I started mewing in Feb but thought that my retainer was stopping progress. Took it off Wednesday night, it's now Monday. My jaw is much more in line, I can put a straight line relatively down my nose lips and chin. But my front bottom teeth are overcrowding and crooked already. (Just the front 3/4 teeth, rest are fine). I don't like how my bottom teeth look so I'm wearing my retainer again watching this but I don't want to let my jaw go lopsided again either, what do I do? Thinking about changing dentists to one to help correct my jaw, other one just said tough shit when I was 16.

I had my 4 teeth extracted for braces. So can i ditch my retainer and focus on mewing? . I have good tounge posture. I am not sure whether it may cause gap between my teeth. Plz help.

I’m a bit worried that my teeth will disalign if I stop wearing my retainers

This cloud be a good argument to research on. Retainers vs biobloc stage 3 or the biobloc posture training device.

Is having your wisdom teeth removed bad for bone structure?

Diet is a big factor too in strengthening teeth too.

will only wearing bottom essix retainers affect mewing progress?

I think I will try not wearing retainers for a while. I am only getting older (20) so my facial structure is only getting less malleable. I have a bit of a jaw click and I want to see if it improves with mewing. If my teeth start getting too messed up I can just start wearing the retainers again. But it's worth a try I think.

I have a fixed retainer behind 6 of my front teeth. I've been mewing for 2 months and I've already achieved some palatal expansion. But still, I have no clue what are the consequences of having this fixed retainer on the maxilla going up and forward.

So the ideal is getting braces late, and then leaving them on for as long as possible so the teeth can continue to adjust while the jaw is developing and adjusting. I got mine on at 20 and have had them for about a year now. I’m going to leave them on for as long as possible so I can keep having them expand evenly as I mew.

All i want to know is can you get forwards movement without palate expansion.

I have invisilign currently do I wear them while mewing or just ditch the invisilign and focus on mewing (keep in mind the reason I got invisilign was cause I had a overbite). #mikemewpersonalresponce

Dr. Mew, I really need your answers on this as I cannot find any answers on this online and would like your opinion on this as you seem to give rather vague answers in this video and no actual clear or definitive answers or consensus on the matter. Does wearing an Invisalign Clear/Plastic Retainer at night when you are not mewing prevent the results from Mewing? Do you think that I am safe to stop wearing my Invisalign plastic/clear retainers forever and not even put them on at night? Because I hear some claim that retainers at night can prevent results from mewing but then others saying that it is fine. My main concern with this is that I do not want my teeth to revert back to their original crowded and overbite form that I had before my Invisalign braces, but I also want to get results from mewing the best that I can. Do you think stopping this Invisalign Clear retainer use at night can cause retention or my teeth to go back to being crowded? It's a catch 22 basically because wearing the retainers at night can potentially revert any type of progress that I have made in the day from pushing my tongue on the roof of my mouth to expand my maxilla, but at the same time, not wearing the retainers at night could make my teeth crowded again and there is no 100% certain way of me knowing which way things are going to go. Do you think that getting a permanent or bonded/fixed braces in the back of my teeth and having proper tongue posture or pushing my tongue on the roof of my mouth would be another viable option or would this prevent mewing results as well? Bottom line, is wearing the retainer at night harmful or not? Should people risk ditching retainers forever with the risk of retention? Should they just get fixed retainers behind their teeth instead?. I understand this is a pretty lengthy comment, but I really wanted your opinion on this. If you could answer my questions and/or give any advice on this, I would greatly appreciate it, thank you.

How about invisalines ? Do they restrict maxilla growth ?

i didnt know youtube comments had so many teeth experts

what if I had braces and a double jaw surgery for a skeletal croosbite? my teeth were perfectly straight but my upper arch was too small especially on one side. will I get benefits from you if I had a double jaw surgery? I am 24 btw

I had 4 pre-molars extracted and now i pretend to take off the braces. Should i use retainers to prevent open the spaces between the teeth or just the proper oral posture and tongue placement is enough to avoid it? I 've been doing mewing for about 1 year and a half. Obs: i am currently 2 years and 3 months in the orthodontic treatment with braces, it was necessary the extractions cause it was a open bite case. Age :21

Please answere this question Dr mew, can we mew with hawley retainers on

It’s kind of sad how I want to stop but I live with my strict mum who is a dentist 😢

I had braces as a kid, and my ortho told me after a year of wearing my retainer that I no longer had to wear it. Even though I was a nose breather, and pretty sure my tongue was resting on the roof of my mouth that whole time, my teeth did shift. The front teeth weren’t too bad, but the bottom teeth got crowded. I ended up in Invisalign again. :/

6:41 short period of time what does it mean

I'm mewing with my plastic retainer and there's a invisible on the back of my lower teeth. I'll keep at least for a few months to train the technique more and to not jiggle them I guess

What exercises do U exactly recommend if no fixed retainer so U prevent relaps? :-) By the way, thank you for all your very exciting speeches

SHOULD I WEAR A RETAINER OR NOT??? IS IT BAD TO WEAR A RETAINER??

I do not have a desk in my house. I do all my work and sitting in my bed with improper body posture. Is this ok for my face?

So what’s the verdict on Invisalign? All the dental terminologies made what you were saying a bit difficult to understand.