Who Is Dr. Mike Mew and Should You Trust Him?

By now, you’ve probably heard about the importance of proper tongue posture, also called mewing. You may also have heard about its creator, Dr. Mike mew, which leaves the natural question: who is Dr. Mike Mew?

In short, Dr. Mike Mew is a British orthodontist who broke away from mainstream orthodontics to pursue a new field called orthotropics. He works together with his father Professor John Mew in researching and spreading the word about orthotropics.

Third Generation Dentist

As mentioned above, Dr. Mike Mew is a British orthodontist. As it turns out, Dr. Mew is a third generation dentist, which means both his father and grandfather also worked in the dentistry field.

Dr. Mew currently manages the Orthodontic Health clinic in South London, which was launched almost forty years ago by his father, Professor John Mew. In addition to managing it, Dr. Mew also practices at the clinic, where he’s achieved extremely impressive results in guiding the facial development of at least 30 children.

Of course, Dr. Mew is also a prominent face in the orthotropics community. He lectures at the London School of Facial Orthotropics, which — just like the clinic — was launched almost forty years ago by Dr. Mew’s father.

Dr Mew’s father, Professor John Mew, is considered to be the originator of the field of orthotropics. As a result, the London School of Facial Orthotropics is the oldest orthotropic teaching center in the world.

The Orthotropic Concept

What make Dr. Mike Mew and his father Professor John Mew so noteworthy is their approach to facial development and the teeth. This novel approach is called orthotropics.

While mainstream orthodontists seek to correct malocclusion or crooked teeth with the use of appliances like braces, orthotropists seek to solve the root problem. And in many cases of poor facial development and malocclusion, it’s believed that the root problem is poor tongue and general body posture.

Dr. Mike Mew and his father believe that proper posture is one of the keys to supporting healthy facial development, especially in allowing the teeth to develop without dental crowding. This is what’s given risen to the trendy practice of proper tongue posture, colloquially dubbed mewing.

Naturally, orthotropics is a controversial science. While a small number of orthodontists across the globe have shown significant interest in the Mews’ theories, even joining the so-called International Association of Facial Growth Guidance (IAFGG), many traditional orthodontists see it as bogus.

The British Orthodontic Society

In 2018, Dr. Mike Mew was expelled from the British Orthodontic Society. The British Orthodontic Society, the UK’s largest association for orthodontic professionals, made a unanimous decision to remove Dr. Mew from the Society.

In his video addressing the topic, Dr. Mike Mew shares a quote the following quote from the decision:

“Having listened to what you had to say, and having considered the matter in full, the unanimous decision of the board, is that, in our opinion, your conduct is contrary to the interests of the society. It is the board’s opinion that your social media campaign has made a number of statements which have mislead or have the potential to mislead patients and the public. The board considers that your actions, through your social media campaign, constitute a potential risk to patients, both physical and psychological, that are inconsistent with the Society’s aims of maintaining and improving professional standard to improve the quality of patient care.”

It looks like the British Orthodontic Society is definitely against Dr. Mew and his orthotropic theories. In particular, the reference to “statements which have mislead or have the potential to mislead patients and the public” suggests that many traditional orthodontists do not agree with Dr. Mew’s approach.

Is Dr. Mew “Legit”?

Given all the hype around orthotropics right now, many people are wondering whether Dr. Mew is “legit.” In other words, is Dr. Mew trustworthy and are his theories actually correct?

Unfortunately, this is a really difficult question to answer. Dr. Mew has shown us impressive transformations in children’s facial development using the orthotropic method, but significant evidence for his claims is lacking. In part, the lack of evidence is due to just how new this field is.

Dr. Mew might be right about a lot of (or all of!) what he says — including the importance of proper tongue posture on facial development. After all, his ideas definitely make sense. Until we see some conclusive evidence, though, it will be hard to know the truth.

Admittedly, Dr. Mew getting booted out of the British Orthodontic Society doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. However, if indeed Dr. Mew is correct in his claims, it could significantly reduce the need for orthodontic treatment and thus hurt the orthodontics industry, so it’s hard to tell just how objective the Society’s decision was.

Find Out More about Dr. Mew

If you want to find out more about Dr. Mew, you might already know that he’s quite active on the Orthotropics YouTube channel. Beyond that, there’s not a lot of information about Dr. Mew on the web: he has no Wikipedia page and hardly any press coverage. He does, however, have a short profile on the Orthodontics Health website.

The story is similar for Dr. Mew’s father, Professor John Mew. There is very little information about him online, aside from a few odd interviews.

To find out more about mewing and orthotropics in general, your best bet is to look at Orthotropics and London School of Facial Orthotropics websites. Both sites also contain some small amounts of information about Dr. Mew himself and his father.

Final Thoughts

As explained above, Dr. Mike Mew is a British orthodontist who practices in a specific field called orthotropics. Together with his father Professor John Mew, Dr. Mew believes that proper posture is a key factor in facial development.

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the field of orthotropics, but it might be a while until we get some conclusive studies, whether or not they’re supportive of the field.

Until then, why not check out some mewing before and after photos or read our complete guide to mewing?