Netflix has just released a new documentary titled “Open Wide” on 23 Jan about orthodontists John Mew and Mike Mew.
The documentary explores the father-and-son duo who are fighting to upend mainstream orthodontics through their ‘mewing’ techniques which purports to transform the shape of one’s jawline through the placement of one’s tongue in the mouth.
The technique and buzz it gathered on social media was seen by different members of the dental and scientist community as highly contentious due to its lack of scientific evidence. Mike Mew’s ‘mewing’ techniques reported gathered nearly 2bn views on TikTok and he faced a misconduct hearing at the General Dental Council of the UK in November 2022.
The official logline of the movie reads: “John Mew has waged a lonely war against the industry — and that teenage rite of passage, braces, for decades. With his son Mike now taking up the fight, the Mews’ fringe theories have turned into a full-blown online sensation. But even while mewing goes viral on TikTok and the Mews churn out content for their millions of followers, Mike is pursued by the British Orthodontic Society and threatened with expulsion by the very people who took away his father’s license.”
The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) has spoken out against the technique in the past when consumer awareness of it was growing. The AAO further said that it has developed a consumer blog, organic social media posts, press releases, and some additional outreach, via the Consumer Awareness Program and paid digital media.
The AAO is developing these additional consumer-focused materials on mewing to inform the public about the inflated promises and complicated treatment issues that can arise from this practice.
In one of the AAO’s published article on the matter, it said that the scientific evidence supporting mewing’s jawline-sculpting claims is “as thin as dental floss” and that there is no current research that suggests the technique provides any benefit to your jawline or oral health.
It asserted that facial restructuring is not simply achievable by changing the resting position of one’s tongue. It is a complex process that involves moving jaw bones, facial bones, and soft tissue, and maxillofacial deformities are usually corrected with orthodontic treatment.
Moreover, the AAO added that improperly forcing one’s tongue into unnatural positions may lead to undesired effects and could actually disrupt tooth alignment, worsen bite problems and speech issues, and require complicated treatment to resolve.
While DIY methods for facial restructuring, like mewing, are appealing options for those seeking an easy, at-home solution, it does not fully account for what is happening below the surface and the AAO does not recommend any attempts to move teeth or align jaws without appropriate supervision, as they likely will not achieve the results one is aiming for.
As reported by Variety Film, the documentary’s director Sara Goldblatt said in a statement: “What’s in a face? The answer I learned from John and Mike Mew is: so much more than you think. I was drawn to the two men because of the controversy surrounding their unorthodox beliefs, and discovered a story about family and legacy and why we care about the things we care about. It is a real rabbit hole, and I hope people will enjoy going down it as much as I did.”
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