Most of us believe that having a prominent lower jaw (mandible) is merely a gift of genetics. However, many doctors claim environmental factors have an even bigger impact on facial shape. Mewing, a new trend for changing facial structure, proves that with consistent and accurate practice, you can achieve the jawline of your dreams.
Mewing is a series of exercises and activities that were introduced by Dr. John Mew and his son Dr. Mike Mew. Dr. John Mew is the creator of orthotropics, which is the science of guiding facial growth and treating/preventing malocclusions.
When mewing for the lower jaw, you want to focus on being consistent with mewing, using your suprahyoid muscles, keeping your teeth together, and having a regular chewing regimen. When mewing at a young age, the mandible experiences more counter-clockwise rotation and becomes more prominent.
Mewing Effects on the Mandibular Muscles
Temporal Muscles
A 1997 study published in the Journal of Orofacial Pain wanted to see if there was a significant relationship with having the tongue in a specific posture and if it affected mandibular muscle activity. The subjects were asked to position their tongue on both the floor and on the roofs of their mouth. There was more activity of the temporalis muscle when the tongue was at the roof of the mouth(Carlson et al. 1997).
The temporal muscles are responsible for the chewing movement of the mouth and help in occluding the molars, which also creates an upward force. When a person clenches his jaw, the temporalis muscle contracts. Consequently, it controls the elevation or retraction of the mandible.
Suprahyoid Muscle Group
The same study gave matching results with the suprahyoid muscle group. This group of muscles works together to move the hyoid bone.
Your suprahyoid muscles must work cooperatively for you to swallow properly. If you’re wondering how to swallow while you’re mewing, just maintain your facial expression and roll your food back with your tongue. You’ll know you’re swallowing properly when the back third of your tongue jams up hard on your upper palate. Your thyroid cartilage will visibly move up when swallowing.
Three Most Important Mewing Techniques For Lower Jaw
The mandible and maxilla’s sutures are arranged so that it can only grow downward. The only way to make sure your jaw is long enough is to that make sure that it grows correctly during childhood and that you’re guiding it to grow forward as much as you can. After you’re done with puberty though, your gains are already set in. Only surgery will help you achieve significant results after that.
However, mewing will still have cumulative changes over several years. If you’re mewing, you want to make sure you put a particular focus on:
- Pressing forward with your tongue, not just upward. This is important because your antagonist muscles will push forward on your mandible, causing it to live up to its genetic potential and get as long as possible.
- Using your hyoid muscles to push up on your jaw. This is an aspect of mewing neglected by many.
- Mewing constantly and 24/7. This is the real reason people don’t get gains. You should mew so often that you do it in your sleep. This here trumps any other advice anyone can give you.
For more common mewing mistakes you should avoid to help you live out to your genetic potential, visit my in-depth analysis of mewing mistakes.
Getting a Good Jawline
A good jawline will always be the result of proper mewing, losing weight, and working out the jaw. Here are some ways you can get a great jawline.
Chew Gum
Our prehistoric ancestors have incredibly straight teeth and spacious jaws. This is because of their diet. They always had to chew meat and hard tubers, thus allowing them to use the full potential of their teeth and jaws.
They had wide jaws to the point that crowding of the teeth was impossible. We now have a diet of soft food that requires no effort to chew. Many scientists theorize this is why modern humans have crooked teeth and little jaw definition.
Your masseter muscles raise the mandible and move it forwards. Chewing gum will make this muscle and your jaw larger. Remember that you won’t be chewing gum for 24 hours a day.
More likely, you will be eating and chewing your food at least three times a day. Chewing gum should just be a quick exercise. Always check in with your body. If you experience pain from too much chewing, then rest. You can only do this for several hours a day tops, several days a week. Any more than that and you’re risking TMJ. Give yourself a break. Try again the next day.
I recommend starting at 10 minutes per day, five days a week. Add a few minutes each week.
Grow A Beard
One of the benefits of having a beard is that it increases your jaw volume. It makes people believe that you have a well-defined jawline. Some men with thick beards look like a whole new person.
Getting Facial Massages
Facial massages a couple of times a week allows for good blood circulation in the face, thus encouraging it to grow more muscle. It is meant to decrease stress and, at the same time, improve the definition of the face.
There are no side effects of having facial massages if done moderately. Make sure that you do this with days in between for rest.
Check If You Have Perfect Jaw Dimensions
One way to check if your mandible dimensions are within the ideal range is by taking photos of the front and side of your head and face.
Professionals have used something called natural head position to study the faces of men from different eras. This is also the best way to check your mandible area. Doing this will mean that you have to maintain your head in an upright position, and the eyes are focused at a point while maintaining distance. Usually, this is eye level in the mirror.
A study conducted via an internet survey tried to find the ideal jaw angle. Participants were shown black/white photographs of celebrities and were polled on gonial angles, intergonial width, and jaw angles in vertical positions.
The gonial angle, also called the angle of the mandible, is formed by the mandibular body and the ramus. The results of the study mentioned that those who have a 130-degree gonial angle, and an ascending ramus angle of 65-75 degrees are attractive. In contrast, the bigonial width should have the same measurement as that of the facial width.
For more information on the jaw, check out our articles on ideal jaw proportions and how to get a good jawline.
In Conclusion
Having a prominent jawline is a standard of beauty for both men and women. Mewing not only gives you a defined jawline and improved appearance but also has health benefits. For more jawline tips, visit our guide on how to get a good jawline here.
As Dr. Mike Mew mentioned, mewing doesn’t require the use of any appliances. It’s simply your commitment to do it daily and accurately. Good mewing practice will give you the jawline you’ve been waiting for. Visit our ultimate mewing guide for more information on mewing.
