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There is a wonderful episode of DarkHorse Podcast with Michael Mew explaining how gum can help developing otherwise-degrading-due-to-soft-food chewing muscles a

by k_bx 5y ago

There is a wonderful episode of DarkHorse Podcast with Michael Mew explaining how gum can help developing otherwise-degrading-due-to-soft-food chewing muscles and to avoiding the need for braces ultimately.

gruez 5y ago
FWIW Michael Mew is considered a crank in dentistry so take everything you hear from him with a grain of salt. edit: nytimes piece on him and his father https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24246577 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24246577
- chubot 5y ago
  The NYTimes article (and thus the HN thread) gets distracted by the Incel connection, but the reporter ends up agreeing with Mew: But in the weeks that followed, I experienced a swift, overwhelming change in vision — the kind the Mews’ patients and viewers described undergoing. Suddenly, all around me, people with tiny jaws appeared, their chins merging with their necks, their lips hanging open unconsciously as they read a book in a cafe or stared out the window on the bus. Long faces, tired eyes, crooked smiles. It began to feel as if the Mews might be right on this single but essential point, if on nothing else. I had heard of Mew through the 2018 book "Jaws", which I recommend (I never heard of the incel thing before this article, and it seems irrelevant). Other orthodontists and anthropologists agree with him -- our jaws are in fact weak and underdeveloped compared to pre-agricultural humans, and animals like wolves and dogs (why do you think dogs need chew toys?). This is one reason I eat more whole foods (and believe in particular that children should be). I never tried chewing gum for it, but the mechanism is pretty obvious. It may or may not help a lot but will probably do something. I experienced the same thing as the NYTimes reporter. Once you start learning about this area, you can spot people in public with underdeveloped jaws and breathing problems. If you look at a class of 20 kids you can also see it on several of them. You can read their diet off their faces! Good dentists and orthodontists do this very easily so it's not an amazing thing, just something that's there once you know what to look for and pay attention.

by k_bx 5y ago

gruez 5y ago

FWIW Michael Mew is considered a crank in dentistry so take everything you hear from him with a grain of salt. edit: nytimes piece on him and his father https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24246577 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24246577

chubot 5y ago
The NYTimes article (and thus the HN thread) gets distracted by the Incel connection, but the reporter ends up agreeing with Mew: But in the weeks that followed, I experienced a swift, overwhelming change in vision — the kind the Mews’ patients and viewers described undergoing. Suddenly, all around me, people with tiny jaws appeared, their chins merging with their necks, their lips hanging open unconsciously as they read a book in a cafe or stared out the window on the bus. Long faces, tired eyes, crooked smiles. It began to feel as if the Mews might be right on this single but essential point, if on nothing else. I had heard of Mew through the 2018 book "Jaws", which I recommend (I never heard of the incel thing before this article, and it seems irrelevant). Other orthodontists and anthropologists agree with him -- our jaws are in fact weak and underdeveloped compared to pre-agricultural humans, and animals like wolves and dogs (why do you think dogs need chew toys?). This is one reason I eat more whole foods (and believe in particular that children should be). I never tried chewing gum for it, but the mechanism is pretty obvious. It may or may not help a lot but will probably do something. I experienced the same thing as the NYTimes reporter. Once you start learning about this area, you can spot people in public with underdeveloped jaws and breathing problems. If you look at a class of 20 kids you can also see it on several of them. You can read their diet off their faces! Good dentists and orthodontists do this very easily so it's not an amazing thing, just something that's there once you know what to look for and pay attention.