Dentist behind TikTok ‘crying’ craze ‘tried to realign child’s teeth with unproven procedure’

dentist in the back tick tock The “Meow” fad, which claims to reshape the jawline without surgery, treated two children with an unproven “invasive and harmful” mouth-altering treatment, a court heard today. rice field.

Dr. Mike Mew could come under fire over his “defamatory” claims that he tried the treatment to straighten the teeth and lift the jawline of a 6-year-old boy and girl.

He was told at the hearing that he even recommended that the boy be fitted with an “extension device” when he was two years old.

Dr Mew is known for popularizing a method of facial reconstruction called “mewing,” which involves closing the mouth, tongue against a pallet, and pressing molars together.

Proponents claim that the method can change facial features, lift the jawline, relieve pain in jaw and mouth muscles, and stop snoring.

Named after his father, Professor John Mu, the trend has gone viral on social media, with 1.7 billion video views on TikTok alone.

Experts are concerned that people who need surgery or braces will instead try to fix the problem on their own.

General Dentistry Council (GDC) Hearings in Bloomsbury, London Today, it was said that Dr. Mew put arch extenders and headgear on the boy in August 2018.

The girl was also given an arch extender in September 2016.

Two months later, he also recommended that the girl undergo tongue-loosening surgery to rest her mouth in the “squeaky” position, but she never accepted it.

According to court documents, Dr. Mew told the girl’s mother:

He also said in a 2017 YouTube video, “When you create enough tongue space and children use that tongue space, it affects facial growth and craniofacial structure, brain expansion, dentition, and more. bow too.

He was quoted as adding: “If a patient walks into my office at age eight or older, they’re going into compromise territory. It’s about how hard they work.” It depends.

“If someone comes in at age five or six, I can almost completely correct them.

“If someone was younger, I could give them advice on how to correct themselves.”

In a brief opening to the hearing, Lydia Barnfather, representing the GDC, said that Dr. Mew Youtube The channel was “disparaging” about the orthodontist.

Ms Barnfather told the Professional Action Committee that Dr. Mew was trying to treat children with “head and neck gears” and “lower and upper arch extenders” to help straighten teeth and jaws. Said there was

“He believes that orthodontic treatment is falsely based on the concept of genetic etiology,” she said.

“It is his belief that environmental factors caused his face to swing downwards, leading him to diagnose what he calls craniofacial dystrophy.”

Barnfather continued, “What he’s trying to do, and what he claims, is to flip the vertical growth of the face to the lateral growth, widening the face.

“Hereby, his theory, the theory devised by this father, causes a structural change in the face, causing an enlargement of the underlying craniofacial shape, including the nasal-axillary complex, so that the teeth align naturally.” Create space in both dental arches.

He further claims that ENT (ear, nose, throat) conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea have been cured.

She claimed her concerns about his method first arose in September 2017 when she made a YouTube video that appeared to promote a so-called “squeal” treatment.

Barnfather said: “Concerns were raised about the claims he made in a YouTube post focused on facial health and appearance.

She claimed Dr. Muse believed Corrective treatment is ‘falsely based on the concept of genetic etiology’.

“He believes that environmental factors caused the downswing in his face, as he mentions, and he’s diagnosed with something called craniofacial dystrophy,” she said at the hearing.

“The diagnosis was made on a child as young as he tried to treat from the age of six, and in one particular case he sought to start treating a child as young as two.”

She shared how the dentist tried to treat children with “head and neck gear.” He also wanted to use “lower and upper arch extenders.” .

“What he advocates is translating vertical growth of the face into horizontal growth, widening the face, especially the middle of the face,” Barnfather argued.

“This causes his theory, devised by his father, to cause structural changes in the face, enlarging the underlying facial shape and creating space for the teeth to align naturally.

She added: “In addition, he claims that environmental conditions can cure obstructive sleep apnea (snoring).

“His treatment is very long, expensive, uncomfortable and very demanding for the child. I’m here.

Barnfather also noted that the GDC claims that Dr. Mew’s treatment is “unproven.”

“He should not have treated his patients the way he did, nor should he have made the claims he made,” she argued, adding, “The two children were perfectly normal for their ages.” He had a well-developed face,” he said.

“Dr. Mew is probably the most vocal proponent of what is called orthotropic squealing,” she continued.

“He was initially asked to provide evidence in support of these claims when he made them.

“Then he made a video in response to our request for evidence saying, ‘I’m very sorry. It’s a terrible system, but it’s better than the alternatives.’ He asked me to defend it.” No, it’s a negative argument.

The court was told that the boy’s mother initially believed in the treatment, but believed it was ineffective after it was performed on her son.

GDC attorneys want the hearing to be postponed for a week due to delays in providing expert evidence that Dr. Miu’s attorneys want to rely on.

They say that means they didn’t have enough time to read it so they could effectively cross-examine the witnesses.

Dr Mew’s attorney, Stephen Vullo, said at the hearing that his team of attorneys had not “hunted out experts” to provide evidence in his favor.

He added: “There is evidence to support and go further with what he is saying.”

Bullo also claimed that the girl’s mother was “totally supportive” of the treatment and was happy with it.

Hearings continue.