Who is Dr. Michael Mew? Dentist who started "mewing" trend on TikTok reportedly barred from practice after sharing allegedly controversial videos
Dr. Michael Mew - the orthodontist whose "mewing" techniques had gone viral on TikTok - has now reportedly been barred from practice. According to the Daily Mail, Mew was struck off after the panel of his ongoing misconduct hearing heard that his videos on orthotropics were stated to have "inappropriate and misleading" advice by the General Dental Council.
The orthodontist has been making videos on orthotropics on YouTube since 2021. Michael's mewing techniques, which had since gone viral on TikTok, were adopted by millions of teenagers around the world and claimed braces to be an unnecessary intervention. They instead advertised natural teeth alignment, which, according to Mew, could be achieved by "correcting the oral environment," as per the news outlet.
Orthotropics is allegedly a theory developed by Dr. Michael Mew's father - Professor John Mew - and claims that misaligned bites and dental problems could be fixed by muscle exercises and physiotherapy.
Dr. Michael Mew studied dentistry at the Royal London Hospital
Dr. Michael Mew was exposed to the profession by his father, Professor John Mew, also an orthodontist. According to his bio on the Mewing App's website, Mew studied dentistry at the Royal London Hospital, from where he received his degree in 1993.
Soon after Dr. Michael Mew completed his graduation and initial dental training, he worked in Australia as a "flying dentist" to further his expertise, where he took patients from underserved Aboriginal communities.
Michael was also a lecturer of restorative dentistry at the University of Witwatersrand, where he deepened his understanding of "the complex relationship between dental health, facial structure, and overall well-being," per the Mewing app website.
In 2004, Dr. Mew undertook an orthodontic specialization at Aarhus University, where he studied under Birte Melsen, who served as President of the European Orthodontic Society at the time.
During his time at Aarhus University, Michael developed an interest in the distressing trend of diminishing jaw sizes, dental crowding, and less functional facial bone structures.
His interest led to the publication of A Black Swan in 2009 and Craniofacial Dystrophy: A Possible Syndrome? in 2014.
Dr. Michael Mew was 38 when he discovered "Mewing" which, named after him, is "a simple, non-invasive practice involving correct tongue positioning against the roof of the mouth, proper jaw alignment, and improved body posture."
In 2023, Mew founded the Mewing app alongside his father, which, according to the website:
"guides users through the process of mastering mewing, providing a cost-effective and non-surgical route to improved facial structure and health."
Two years before the app was launched, the father-son duo started their YouTube channel - called Orthotropics - in October 2021. The channel has garnered over 554k subscribers over the years, which, alongside the app, has resulted in Dr. Mew's large online following.
A misconduct hearing into Mew's treatment started in April 2023
According to BBC, the misconduct hearing into Dr. Michael Mew's treatment was first held in Bloomsbury, London, in April 2023, after a six-year-old boy - one of Mew's patients - suffered "seizure-like episodes" following his treatment.
The boy - named Patient B in the court's documents - was first treated by the orthodontist in 2018, when he fitted a neck and headgear for him, prescribing him to wear it for at least eight hours a day.
The boy was also fitted with an "expansion appliance" meant to stay on for 18 hours a day, and a pair of "removable upper and lower appliances" that could only be removed while brushing.
The hearing was told that Patient B struggled to keep the devices on for the prescribed periods, and when pushed too far, would trigger seizure-like episodes. Costing the boy's parents £12,500, Mew's treatment was expected to be 36 months long but was ceased within four months due to the rising concerns of his parents.
Another patient - a six-year-old girl named Patient A - received treatment from Dr. Michael Mew in September 2016 and was advised to wear similar appliances. She was also recommended to undergo a tongue-tie release by the orthodontist.
A year later, Patient A was taken to an oral consultant by her parents, who found that she had developed a large open bite and a traumatic ulcer.
Earlier this month, the hearing panel found all of the allegations placed against Mew to be true, and concluded that he was a "risk to public safety" by offering treatments with "no objective base". An immediate suspension order was also imposed on his practice by them.