Here is a pretty good before and after picture of a lady that changed her tongue posture resulting in facial changes after 2 years. In short, she resolved her tongue tie problem and did Myofunctional Therapy. (retraining of the oral muscles)
I’ve been on a business trip this whole week so haven’t had chance to blog but wanted to make a quick post to share this case study.
Her site: http://www.happykansasfaces.com/blog
Traveling is interesting because at the airports and on plane you can observe many different faces and people’s postures. Most adults have learned to keep their mouth closed but what is their posture when people aren’t around? Since the face tells the story, and in many faces you can see a history of open mouth posture. As I observed people walk to their terminals I could see more instances where people had their mouth slightly open versus just sitting with people around.
On the plane when people are sleeping almost upright, mouths are falling open. I am pretty sure mine remained closed because of all the gum chewing and pushing the posterior tongue up practices. I tried both upright seat and slightly tilted down, and def think sitting upright makes the posterior tongue posture easier even while sleeping. I thought what if someone begins sleeping upright everyday will that yield even faster results? of course it’s not very feasible because of comfort issue and I guess if the head tilts down completely not sure if that’s good for the tongue posture, well probably not very good for the neck.
Tongue posture made me immune to headaches on the plane. I also made another pretty shocking discovery. I used to get really bad head aches when the plane begins to descend because of the pressure changes, and my ears would be full of pressure forever. But this past week, I never got the usual headache even once… I think this is a sign that something is changing within the cranium because of all the posterior tongue posture I’ve been doing. And the pressure build up was hardly noticeable. They say correct swallowing pattern and good tongue posture clears out the inner ear and the child is less likely to develop ear infections.
Come to think of it, as a child I remember this one instance I got a real bad ear infection. I must of been like 5 or younger, I remember because it was so painful.
I def think there is a connection between tongue posture and why I suddenly became immune to the plane head aches, and it wasn’t a fluke because I’ve been on 4 planes this week so far and not once did I get the headache where as before it was every time.
Anyways…
Her results are good but what if they can be better when pushing the posterior tongue, when I was briefly trained in Oral Myology I was never taught about the posterior.
Recently I am starting to get some flow of readers that write to me about their positive changes they are noticing since reading my blog, some with pictures and in relatively short period.
It is becoming more and more convincing just how much our faces are affected by oral posture, function, and muscle tone.
I’m only two weeks in and now I’m excited for when I’m two years in haha
I talked to/emailed her some days ago, and she said that she got her palate expanded before her tongue tie was corrected. I wish it was possible to have a change like this just by correcting tongue position, but who knows? :'(
the tongue can do wonders, it is the most important bit coincidentally it is the most difficult bit to change. when the palate is small its more challenging to get the tongue on the roof because of there is less space, unless you put a lot of effort, the body tends to revert back to what is comfortable. This is why palate expansion helps because it makes it more comfortable to adopt new tongue posture, but just because its less comfortable doesn’t mean you can’t put effort in raising the tongue up and eventually it can expand the palate as well.
Oh, I didn’t see your reply before.. Thank you so much! I find it very reassuring 🙂
I’ve been doing this for four months or so, and I already see some little changes in my face/nose (they’re noticeable when looking at my side profile in the mirror, and also with touch), but my palate’s width, or my face’s width/height haven’t changed -at least not for the better. I will keep doing this anyway, since I rather try to have a whole relaxed tongue plastered on the roof of my mouth, than a permanently tensed tip. And I feel it gets easier with time and practice. 🙂
Those are some drastic changes for sure. Although I must say, I think she looks better in the before pictures. She just looks a little more feminine in the before pictures and a little less afterwords.
Hi ^^ do you think it would be possible to expand the palate naturally through correct tongue posture ? For people who can’t afford to have orthodontics done on them .. thanks
it can be done but requires consistent effort with your tongue posture & function. (correct swallowing)
Thanks for your reply ! Would you recommend pushing forward and up with the tongue or pushing sideways (to widen intermolar space) instead ?
This is f*cking AMAZING. This is like legit plastic surgery. I’ve been doing this for nearly 4 mouths.
WOW, I am truly inspired from this post and before/after pics.
I am a member of the ortho/palate relapse and used to wear braces years ago, but didn’t keep up with the maintance. When I went to the dentist for braces, the dentist had me on a palate expansion then put the braces on. If I can remember my face structure was a lot better with braces. Now since my palate went narrow again and teeth shifted back out of place, my face structure is horrible (ie long nose,gaunt look). I just started doing the nose breathing and will see a dentist within two months to get braces and palate expansion again. There is a device called “Patakara” that may help without a palate expansion.
Hi, I have a severe overbite/overjet (I reckon I have both), and I almost but not quite qualify for jaw surgery on the NHS. So, you can imagine that I have a lot of vertical jaw growth, much much more than most people.
Anyway, having been refused jaw surgery by the NHS, I found CP’s blog and began following the instructions wherein.
It took me three months of deliberate effort, that is forcing my tongue as to push my upper dental arch to widen, before I could easily place my tongue on the roof of my mouth. I made a lot of silly faces in the process, and even gave myself headaches. I also had strange sensations of movement in my face.
However after three months of consistent effort, I*, with a severe overjet and overbite and narrow dental arches managed to do it. In all likelihood I reckon it is possible for most people to do.
After the three months my cheekbones can be felt under my skin for the first time since I can remember, my nose is more forward, and my mandible although very defective has moved forwards.
For some reason, my facial symmetry, which was extremely bad and is still quite bad, improved.
You see some of pictures here:
1/ https://ausefulobsession.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/reflection-3-29-12-14-the-ugly-duckling/
2/ https://ausefulobsession.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/my-before-and-afters-so-far/
I am forever grateful to CP for posting this content, it has made an incalculable difference to my quality of life. People used to mock me for being unattractive in shops, in the street, and from cars most days. Now, this is no longer the case, and some people have even flirted with me and said that I am attractive which had not happened ever before. I don’t necessarily think that I am, my profile is terrible, and there is a lot of asymmetry, but the improvement has been drastic.
I would like to add, that is not shameless self promotion, no it is a visual demonstration of how effective CP’s suggestions can be, even in the worst of cases. There are lots of pictures in my blog.
thanks for sharing, I do see the progress, keep it up 🙂
Can to gue posture naturally reverse extraction orthodontics? I had them and my face is totally horrible looking.
difficult to say, to completely reverse it and get implant space I don’t believe is possible. but good tongue posture can improve any face even if some teeth are missing. Look at the actress Catherine Zeta Jones, she had extraction orthodontics but still has a beautiful face because she has great lip seal, tongue posture, & function.
You mentioned ” pushing the posterior tongue”. What does that mean exactly? By the way, within one month of practicing proper oral posture – I can feel and see my cheekbones again – and my sagging brow appears to have lifted!! I can’t wait to see more results!!
I purchased the Nose Breathe Mouthpiece (http://www.nosebreathe.com) from Dr. Steven Sue DDS and it has been a tremendous help in that it helps to position the tongue correctly inside the mouth. No guess work needed. Once you put the mouthpiece in and give it a slight tap with your teeth, the tongue gravitates to the roof of the mouth. I have recommended the mouthpiece to family and friends and we are all in agreement. GREAT product.
Dear CP,
These are my photos. Thank you for the reference. I would have been happy to dialogue with you regarding my process and results.
Your question “Her results are good but what if they can be better when pushing the posterior tongue? When I was briefly trained in Oral Myology I was never taught about the posterior.” is easily answered.
Yes, I am pushing the posterior / base of tongue. The tongue is in complete contact with the palate from incisive papilla to just anterior of the uvula. My guess is that if I indeed had the proper anterior face development / maxillary placement that I would be able to achieve contact with the base of tongue to the uvula.
Given that I am nearly 50 years old, I was shocked at the results achieved. None of the result was intended or sought out for facial osseous changes. My whole goal was to rid myself of Migraine headache and neck / shoulder pain.
Here the link to my recently published case history (for all of the clinical details) published in Cranio UK.
http://www.happykansasfaces.com/uploads/2/9/2/7/29276427/cranio_uk_article.pdf
I can assure you that my own personal journey has fueled the fire for helping others and getting out the message that facial / neck musculature tone and patterning changes lives.
My work centers around infants in trying to identify patterns and factors that contribute to airway and facial posture issues from birth. My findings are nothing short of shocking!
Thank you for your good work on this blog.
Sincerely,
Michale Fetzik, BSN OMT
thanks for writing, you are looking fantastic, your before & after is quite inspiring.
Sleeping upright is really hard for me. I try it often because of my restricted airways and sleep apnea… but yeah. Not comfortable. Though not impossible according to this article on Tibetan monks and nuns in retreat.
http://www.theminimalists.com/drew/
I’m guessing like everything it’s something you can train yourself to do.
The before and after pictures are interesting. As are the comments. @Zoe you are inspiring me to push harder as I type this, so thanks for that. It hurts my toungue because my teeth are quite sharp and my toungue doesn’t fit but I’m persevering.
When putting the tongue on the roof of my mouth , do i have to put force when it is resting on the roof of my mouth?
Angela,
The tongue tip should start at the bump behind the two front teeth and lay out the full length of the palate to the soft palate. The action on the palate should be that of a ‘suction cup’. So like the soft plastic suction cups you use to hang something on a window would be the best way to explain this connection. When in this position you open your mouth, the tongue stays on the palate and eventually pops or unsticks falling away from the palate.
Overall it’s a soft gentle push with a negative suction.
Hope this helps!
I physically can’t do that Michale, ^
”The tongue tip should start at the bump behind the two front teeth and lay out the full length of the palate to the soft palate.”
If I want to get the back of the tongue up, and have my tongue lie the entire length, I have to manouver my tongue forwards (so that it actually sticks out between my front teeth). That’s the only way to get the back of the tongue up (otherwise it’s just the tip).
This causes the sides of my tongue, to be squished really badly against my teeth, causing crinkling and pain, especially as my lower jaw is actually biting upwards, to maintain the back of tongue on the roof of my mouth.
And, I’m worried that I might be pushing my front teeth in an odd direction. :/
AND,
In order to get my full tongue into this position, the ONLY way is to keep my teeth separated, and in their chronic under bite position. If I put my teeth so that the front teeth are together (which feels really unnatural to me, as none of my back teeth meet when I do this) the back of my tongue, again, does not touch the roof of my mouth. So with my tongue being up, I’m actually exacerbating my HUGE overbite, and retracting my chin into it’s recessed position even more.
(This recessed position is actually how I sleep and go about my day – rather than being open mouthed – I tend to clamp my jaws shut in an overbite, with little room for my tongue).
I’m hoping that if I go with the tongue being flat, and I manage to expand my jaw, the overbite will fix itself as a consequence?
I’m thinking that my jaw simply isn’t big enough, although a crude measuring using a cut up straw, a marker pen, and a ruler, seems to suggest that I’m 35mm at my narrowest molars, which doesn’t seem *that* small. But maybe I need a head start, so a palatial expander, might give me what I need to begin with.
I’ve sent out a few emails to dentists/orthodontists, etc, today. I don’t live in an English speaking country, and they seem to favor old school extractions and braces techniques, so I’ll have to see what they come back to me with… but I’m eager to try. I don’t know what system they use, and if they’ll expect me to wear braces afterwards, so I’ve got to do my homework carefully, and be as informed going into this as I can be.
I hit 42 and the sleep apnea started… it’s almost like do or die, as I choke on throat mucus all night long. Who knew I had a narrow airway and collapsing nostrils, until my hormones made it clear… and suddenly my decades long record of sleeping like a log ceased!
The only thing that I’m wondering about an expander is:
1. will it push my teeth out, so that I have to further treatment to reign them back in again.
2. will it cure my HUGE overbite?
3. will I need further devices or treatment, and if so, what?
These are things I need to find out…
Lucy,
If you’d like, email me at coach@myofunctionalcenter.com.
I consult with cases like yours to help you find professionals to help. These are situations we work with in our office every day, so we are very familiar with what you are experiencing.
Thank you,
Michale
My maxilla has dropped significantly, much farther than that of the woman’s here, and I’m only 16 years old. I just wonder, is it even possible for me to achieve changes in my face when my maxilla is already so low?
My face is sagging after doing tounge posture.Do tounge posture cause sagging of skin initially.
Mike Mew said that there is no actual proof that oral posture changes faces in adulthood, only in theory. But according to this article that is false as the lady’s face changed wonderfully.
And i believe this site is affiliated with Mike Mew… Something fishy is going on.
What seems fishy?
What have you come up with?
After extraction orthodontics on upper teeth my upper front teeth are pushed back and there isnt enough space forward wise for my tongue to stretch out. I took off the braces 6 months earlier due to negative facial changes. I have been practicing correct oral posture for a month and a half although only two weeks without braces. Over a period of many months or years practicing correct oral posture will my palate go forwards and be able to house my tongue forward wise?
Dear Claiming Power,
I’ve been practicing oral posture the past couple months and it wasn’t until a few weeks ago, that I started noticing changes, especially with my cheekbones where they started to be more prominent on the sides and I started to have less baggier eyes giving me a more ‘wide eye’ appearance. My friends have started to notice it as well. But as of recent my progress has been going down hill, I became sick and as a result had a nasal congestion. So during my sleep I would automatically revert to mouth breathing. I tried a lot of products to help with nasal congestion, but it forms back at night when I’m asleep; I’d find myself waking up mouth breathing. I think it helps to point out that I’m currently on orthodontic braces.
Anyways, I noticed from pictures and mirror angles that one side of my top teeth aren’t as a wide as the other (like one side of them reaches my cheeks when I smile and the other doesn’t) and I’m beginning to suspect that this is the main reason why I have an apparent asymmetrical face. My face wasn’t like this growing up, I had pretty optimal facial development until asthma started to kick in and I began mouth breathing. My question is, how would I go about fixing my asymmetric top teeth? Should I push lacking side more with the sides of my tongue to apply more pressure?(with the top of my tongue still touching the palate). That way eventually it would begin to reach my cheek giving me a more symmetric and full face?
Thanks for all your work and info, I believe this can help change my life.
Dude I’ve noticed the thing too! Ever since I got braces and my teeth expanded my cheekbones became more prominent but my right cheek isn’t as prominent and noticed it’s because the right side of my upper teeth isn’t as wide as the left. I’m trying to push my lacking side too with more tongue pressure but idk if it works and I worry it may change my brace movement
How can I fix an overbite ?
I have been wearing braces for 1 year now. I didn’t knowthe consequences of it. I had a really wide arch before but now it’s so narrow. I cannot place my tongue on the roof of my mouth.Therefore I asked my dentist in my last visit to widen the arch but my dentist said that it will ruin my face if Ido it and I will not be able to eat as my upper set of teeth will not meet my lower set of teeth and I will have my gap back again in my front teeth. But I was able to eat properly even when I had a wide arch. So should Itellmy dentist to widen it? I don’t know. Please help. Will i really be nor able to eat because of it? Please answer.
Does resting your tongue on the upper palate widen it? If yes, is there any way that i can’t make it wider? I kinda like my smile already where it’s just narrow. My lower jaw though is the one that’s wide and it moved to the right and it’s overcrowded as well. So when i smile, some of my teeth on the lower right can be seen due to improper filling and due to my narrow upper palate i guess. What do i do? PLEASE HELP. It seems to worsen and i look even more uglier 🙁
My case looks exactly like this actress. I also like her narrow upper palate just like mine. But mine seems to be changing angles. Please help me Mr. CP and Thank you very much.
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=kathryn+bernardo&biw=1024&bih=537&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinzL3r98LLAhVIkZQKHUBjApcQ_AUIBigB#imgdii=v-1f2qKgBi9FuM{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3A{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3Bv-1f2qKgBi9FuM{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3A{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3BSbkcCNS3XDrcPM{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3A&imgrc=v-1f2qKgBi9FuM{ae022d2295c0485893c83c8425b5bfafafba893c2d19b1bb9bc4c7c9bf3eeba6}3A