What is meowing (and what problems can it cause) that hundreds of thousands of people practice for their selfies?

He is a British orthodontist John Mew In the 1970s, he began treating children at his clinic in the suburbs of London with an alternative therapy called orthotrophy. With it he promised not only to fix his teeth, but also to “improve his face”.

Orthotrophy is based on the idea that oral posture affects facial development. Improves jaw shape and teeth alignment. It is intended to guide facial development until a perfect face is achieved, through certain practices such as palatal expansion and correct oral posture.

John Mew practiced orthotropy for 30 years, but the technique didn't become popular until 2012, when the orthodontist's son, Mike Mew, started spreading it on his YouTube channel.

In 2018, this technique already had millions of followers and they decided to rename it meowing In honor of its creators. It is these followers, from their channels, accounts and vlogs, who are proposing this treatment, originally designed for children, as a beauty treatment for adults.

He meowing Therefore, it is a technique that first aims to change the shape of the face, using, among other methods, a certain oral posture.

Its main foundation consists of Put your tongue up and stick it to the roof of your mouth. The tip of the tongue should be placed behind the upper incisors, the rest of the tongue should be close to the roof of the mouth and the teeth should be covered. As for the lips, they should be closed.

Experts recommend keeping this position as long as possible, until it becomes a habit and is done naturally.

By implementing this custom, the meowing It promises to define the jawline, giving it a more noticeable shape without the need for surgery or equipment. But that's not all: its followers claim that the practice helps straighten teeth and treat sleep apnea, sinusitis, snoring and jaw pain. All these are without scientific basis.

The jawline is a horseshoe-shaped bony structure that forms the letter L on each side of our face. The angle formed by this letter L can be modified throughout our life.

During childhood and adolescence, bone growth affects the shape of the jaw.

However, in adulthood, the most significant cause of jaw structure change is bone resorption due to tooth loss.

Apart from this, if we want to significantly change the shape or structure of our jaw, we need to use corrective appliances or maxillofacial surgery.

The tongue is a very complex muscular organ with 17 muscles. These muscles are designed for activities such as speaking, chewing and swallowing.

That is, the tongue prefers to devote itself to exploring flavors and juggling words rather than spending hours pressing against the walls that make up our palate.

Force the status of the proposed language meowing Not only is it ineffective Many oral health experts warn of its dangers. Among them, for example, changes in the temporomandibular joints or displacement of teeth and their inability to align properly.

Given all this, it is not surprising that in 2019 Michael Mew was expelled from the British Society of Orthodontics, accused of providing inappropriate treatments and promoting alternatives not supported by scientific orthodontics.

Despite the rejection of the scientific community, in practice meowing has permeated society and It has more followers with a few good hands Influencers Social networks are flooded with their before and after photos.

This confirms that the Internet continues to be a great springboard for spreading hoaxes without scientific basis. Fortunately, it also has a legion of quality experts and science evangelists who have debunked the technique's scams one by one.

When it comes to health, let's follow the advice of experts. Maybe we won't look as good as we want in the photo, but we will be healthy.

* Gemma Díaz Gil is Professor of Human Anatomy and Embryology at Rey Juan Carlos University.