Mewing and Sleep Apnea: Can Tongue Posture Improve Your Airway?

Medically reviewed by Allen J. Blaivas, D.O.

Written by Sherri Gordon, CLC

Posted on September 1, 2026

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Key Takeaways

Mewing, a practice that involves pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, has gained attention as a possible way to improve breathing and sleep apnea, but major sleep medicine and orthodontic organizations have not recognized it as a proven treatment.

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Can tongue posture really affect how well you breathe at night? Interest in mewing and sleep apnea has grown as people look for simple ways to improve airflow and sleep. But the connection between the two isn’t as straightforward as it may seem.

If you’re curious whether mewing could help with sleep apnea, it’s important to separate claims from evidence. Here’s what research suggests about tongue posture, breathing, and where mewing may — or may not — fit into sleep apnea care.

What Is Mewing?

Mewing involves pushing the tongue against the roof of the mouth and applying pressure. The idea is that consistently applying this pressure will change the structure of your jaw without the need for orthodontics.

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The concept of mewing was developed by Drs. John and Mike Mew, a father and son who believe that the mouth has become overcrowded and that good oral posture can alleviate that. They have also briefly discussed the role mewing could play in treating sleep apnea.

So far, major sleep medicine organizations haven’t recognized mewing as a proven treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Instead, guidelines focus on treatments supported by research like continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Meanwhile, orthodontic organizations, like the American Association of Orthodontists, have said there’s no research to support mewing claims for jaw realignment either. In fact, they note that it could negatively affect your oral health.

What Are the Risks of Mewing?

According to orthodontic experts, mewing regularly may negatively affect your bite, tooth alignment, and even your speech. Because your tongue is one of the strongest muscles in your body, putting it in unnatural positions may cause unwanted changes.

Here are some of the potential consequences of mewing.

Changes in Tooth Alignment

When you engage in mewing, the pressure from your tongue could cause your teeth to change position, especially if your tongue isn’t placed evenly across your palate. The end result could mean that some teeth are moved into a different position, creating gaps and even crooked teeth.

Issues With Your Bite

Applying pressure with your tongue in order to move your jaw could potentially cause a change in your bite or result in an overbite, underbite, or an open bite. You could also experience temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain.

If regular mewing causes extensive movement, this may require professional treatment to reverse the damage. In some cases, making these corrections could be time-consuming and costly, especially if there are complications.

Problems With Your Speech

Additionally, when your bite isn’t properly aligned, it affects how air flows through your mouth. This could lead to changes in your speech patterns and even cause a speech impediment.

How Can Tongue and Throat Exercises Affect Sleep Apnea?

Myofunctional therapy can be used to train the muscles in your mouth and face to move in ways that will support breathing. Usually, people are guided through these exercises by a trained therapist.

Also known as orofacial myofunctional therapy, this type of therapy can involve exercising your tongue, jaws, teeth, and lips. It can be used to address mouth breathing and sleep apnea. It may even be used to correct teeth grinding and temporomandibular disorders.

Myofunctional therapy may also include stimulating the tongue, speech therapy, circular breathing, singing, and playing a wind instrument. However, it’s not considered a standard treatment for OSA due to the limited evidence on its effectiveness.

That said, it may be an alternative for people hoping to avoid surgery. There also is some evidence that myofunctional therapy may reduce a person’s apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) by 50 percent. AHI measures the number of pauses in breathing a person has.

Myofunctional therapy may also reduce snoring, decrease sleepiness, and improve oxygen saturation. Some sleep experts also speculate that using myofunctional therapy alongside a CPAP device may help people who use a CPAP machine stick with their treatment.

Should You Rely on Mewing or Tongue Posture To Improve Your Sleep?

There are no research studies demonstrating that mewing can reliably open your airway or treat obstructive sleep apnea. For this reason, mewing shouldn’t replace proven sleep apnea care such as CPAP, oral appliances, or surgery.

Untreated sleep apnea may cause brain damage that affects your alertness, mood, and thinking and reasoning skills. But if your sleep apnea is treated with CPAP, there’s a good chance this damage may be reversed.

Sleep apnea can even lead to stroke, diabetes, depression, and heart disease if it’s not promptly diagnosed and treated. If you think you may have sleep apnea, talk with your doctor about proven treatments instead of relying on mewing or tongue posture.

When Should You See a Healthcare Provider for Sleep Apnea?

If you’ve been prioritizing sleep and yet still feel tired when you wake in the morning or like you need more rest, you may want to get evaluated for sleep apnea. You should also talk to a sleep specialist if your family or friends have said you snore, gasp for breath, or choke while sleeping.

Here are some potential signs and symptoms of sleep apnea that warrant a conversation with your healthcare provider:

Waking up in the middle of the night or feeling restless
Feeling short of breath or like you’re choking when you wake
Experiencing daytime sleepiness, fatigue, or exhaustion
Having a partner tell you that you snore or choke in your sleep
Experiencing unusual breathing patterns during sleep
Stopping breathing or having long pauses between breaths while asleep
Getting headaches, especially when you wake up
Having night sweats
Waking up with a dry mouth
Experiencing mood changes like depression and anxiety
Being more irritable than normal
Having trouble concentrating or paying attention
Experiencing sexual dysfunction

If your healthcare provider suspects that you have sleep apnea, they may recommend a sleep study or an at-home sleep test to help diagnose your condition. From there, they may discuss different treatment options as well as make suggestions for lifestyle changes.

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On MySleepApneaTeam, people share their experiences with sleep apnea, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

If you have sleep apnea, has your healthcare provider recommended myofunctional therapy? If so, how successful has it been? Let others know in the comments below.

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