Does this process widen the palate?

It does and it does it the only correct way in my view.

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The question that Gen Zers seem to love to ask me is “Does this widen the palate?”

I’m not a Looksmaxxer and don’t delve very deep into those communities but it seems like the width of your palate is a key parameter that everyone is trying to optimize for.

And while I understand why… I do think they often have an unhealthy view on how to optimize it.

And today i’ll explain what I mean.

Why the preoccupation with palate width?

I guess it’s easy to understand why palate width has become a primary goal. It is essentially what determines whether you have crooked teeth.

And a narrow palate is a reflection of an at least somewhat crushed skull as I explained here.

Crooked teeth = Crushed skull

A palate is never narrow in isolation. It is a reflection of what is happening in the entire skull.

Plus it gives you the long, narrow face that GenZers dread. And is often associated to airway issues.

For these reasons it has been the target of Mike Mew in a fair bit of his content. Because it is part of what “Mewing” aims to correct.

So young folks try to widen it almost at all costs.

Which is not the way to think about it in my view. Because you can still have a very good body and health with a narrow palate in my experience… as long as it is natural.

But the minute you widen it artificially… it often triggers a collapse process via the flattening of the curve of spee.

How not to widen the palate?

Orthodontists try to widen the palate in isolation with things like palate expanders and braces. This is completely wrong for the reasons I explained here:

Palate expanders are completely wrong

You’re forcing the palate and teeth wider without inflating the soft tissue ‘balloon’ that surrounds the entire skull. And so the bones will just compensate to adjust.

Which makes the skull and face more assymetric. Something that most folks that have used a palate expander can attest to.

It’s like pushing a Coke can against a wall. The Coke can (your face) is going to crush before the wall (the soft tissue) moves.

Also, almost all cases I’ve seen of using an aggressive palate expander resulted in flaring at least some of the teeth out.

The right way to widen the palate

The right way to widen the palate is via the soft tissue. And working via the soft tissue means upholding my two rules:

• Add vertical between the upper and lower teeth

• Unlock the occlusion (upper and lower teeth should not come together in a fixed position)

Anything you do that does that expands the palate in my view. It can be flat composite, a flat plane splint, a Reviv, etc.

And you will never ‘just’ expand the palate. Rather you will be inflating the entire balloon of soft tissue that surrounds the skull.

And thus allowing the bones to move outwards in a natural, albeit slow way.

You just don’t widen the palate without inflating the skull in my view. It’s like drawing a circle on a deflated balloon and then expecting the circle to get bigger without the entire balloon getting bigger. They will expand together when you inflate it.

Expanding the palate = improving curve of spee

This is what i’ve consistently seen to be true over the years. As my curve of spee improved, my skull inflated , my palate widened and a small posterior open bite formed.

Why? Because improving curve of spee is the same as developing a small posterior open bite. You don’t get one without the other.

And so when folks tell me they widened the palate I like to ask if they developed a posterior open bite.

If they haven’t then they most likely did not expand the palate. Or if they did, they did it my cheating and using a palate expander or something. ie. they did it at the expense of creating assymetry in their skull.

But some folks who say they do a lot of mewing or thumbpulling will in fact have developed a small posterior open bite and gotten true palate expansion.

And if they wear a mouthguard like Reviv while they do it they will achieve it much faster as I explained here.

The Fundamental Flaw in Mewing is Easily Correctable

Evidence of what I am saying

Many people ask me for my proof that Reviv expands the palate.

And while I’ve expanded the palate many times during my recoveries I never bothered measuring it. It just didn’t matter to me.

My journey has always been about function.

But you just need to look at Myobrace for plenty of examples of natural palate expansion through a simple mouthguard. Like the picture above or the one below.

Myobrace, Reviv, Toothpillow, and every other similar mouthguard work exactly the same in my view.

And there are a number of folks that are doing Reviv now that have mentioned their palates expanded a bit. And i’m sure many others will be measuring this and showing their progress in the months ahead.

It takes time though.

Because doing it the ‘right’ way entails fixing the entire skull and skeleton as you do it. Thus you also do not, in my view, expand your palate without having functional improvements (eg. energy, neurology, etc.)

6 months of Myobrace use

Closing thoughts

So the answer to folks who want to widen their palate with Reviv is YES. It does widen the palate.

But it does it slowly.

Because it does it the ‘right’ way.

And if you want to do it really fast be my guest and use a palate expander. But I think you will be sorry that you did that.

As i’ve already met a number of people over the years who went that route and were sorry they did.

Be the little pig who built his house out of bricks ;)