If you went back before the mid-18th century and asked to see an orthodontist, people would have no idea what you were talking about. They didn’t exist We simply did not need them. Until the last couple hundred of years, our teeth were perfect. Naturally. So what has changed?

It starts with the breast. Breastfeeding is what sets us up for a lifetime of straight teeth, and nothing can replace it. Over the last couple of centuries, our jaws have gotten skinnier, a major factor leading to crooked teeth.

This is, at least in part, due to the rise of bottle feeding. Breastfeeding is like a workout for the face and jaw. It requires you to use all of your facial muscles, your tongue, and your jaw properly. This has been proven to lead to an increased pallet size with a wider jaw.

If you are able to be in a situation where you can exclusively breastfeed your child, do it. They will appreciate it for their jaw and tooth development, along with many other reasons that go beyond the mouth.

Pacifier Around the same age, many parents begin to give their children pacifiers. Avoid this at all costs. Pacifiers and thumb-sucking push the teeth out of alignment by changing the shape of the jaw and pallet.

This has the opposite effect of breastfeeding, changing the shape of the jaw in a way that is negative for development. When this change takes place, a weak jaw and crooked tooth alignment follow. Avoid pacifiers and thumb sucking.

Mouth Breathing George Caitlin (1796-1872) is an artist known for his beautiful paintings of Tribal communities across the West of America. When he spent time with these people, he observed a peculiar, yet important, ritual:

The Native Tribes made a conscious effort to close the mouths of their young while they were sleeping. This stopped the child from breathing with their mouths and forced them to, instead, breathe with their nose.

What else did he notice about these native people? Every one of them had perfectly straight teeth. Caitlin went on to write the book “Breath of Life” about the reasons the Native people breathed through their noses and the amazing advantages of the practice. He was spot on.

Mouth breathing does many harms, with one of the prevalent ones being what it does to your jaw and teeth. Mouth breathing leads to uneven jaw growth (top grows more than bottom), a narrowing of the jaw, and a deepening of the roof of the mouth.

This makes it so that the tongue (natural retainer) doesn't have room to fit between the teeth and the teeth become completely crooked. Mouth breathing is more detrimental to our health than just about any injury. Everyone, including adults, should practice nose breathing daily

Chewing Humans were built to chew far more than we do today. We used to rip tendons of animals, chew through flesh, and gnaw on bones. Now, in the modern day, we feed our babies processed mush and most people wouldn’t even tolerate a chewy, collagenous piece of meat.

This is all backward. We need to chew for the development of our jaws and proper alignment of our teeth, not to mention the extensive breathing issues that take place if we do not. Chewing is what aligns our jaw and our teeth, even for the youngest of teeth-havers

So ditch the soft foods. This applies to children and to adults. Eat tough steaks. Rip those tendons. Chomp on that fat. Bite everything off the bone. Your teeth will thank you later.

Even for us adults, chewing can help. When your body is exposed to a stimulus (chewing), it will find a way to adapt to that stimulus (straightening teeth) to make the job at hand easier. Even though our jaws aren’t as malleable as children, chewing still benefits us greatly.

Tongue Posture Possibly most important is where your tongue goes in your mouth. All of the previous topics help to naturally contribute to proper tongue posture, without even having to think about it. But this can also be practiced.

So what does proper tongue posture actually look like? You want your tongue to press up against the roof of your mouth, between your upper teeth. This is why it is so important that the previous topics are practiced to widen the jaw and make room for the tongue up there.

What does this posture do? It helps promote correct jaw development. It applies that outward pressure on your teeth, making sure they do not crowd inward, a common cause of crooked teeth.

This outward pressure, along with the inward of the lips and cheeks, allows for optimal straight teeth. They, together, act as nature’s braces.

This posture is advantageous for breathing, performance, spinal posture, and so much more. Stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth and make sure your children do so while growing up for perfect teeth.

In the end, it is 5 simple steps: Breastfeed Avoid Pacifiers Avoid mouth-breathing Chew… A lot Practice proper tongue posture All 5 for your kids but you should practice the bottom 3 as well for a better jaw and bite!

Be sure to instill these habits in your children. It will set them up for a life of proper function, aesthetics, and health. They will appreciate you more than they could know. Let’s do everything possible to make orthodontists a thing of the past!

Thanks for reading! If you like this post, consider reading my free article on everything you need to do to boost thyroid hormones (T3+T4) hence improving your looks,physique and energy: @questmoosa/note/p-155688268?r=1yk85h class="text-blue-500 hover:underline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://substack.com/@questmoo...

@questmoosa This is such an informative article. Thank you for making this. I can confirm that tongue position can be retrained. I began about 3 years ago, and only a few months in, I was waking in that new position.

@DicksonHar71541 Appreciate it, thanks for sharing

@questmoosa Do you have suggestions for fixing a cross-bite in a child naturally?

@questmoosa Ok, what's up with tongue ties?

@questmoosa I guess I should find a new job

@questmoosa Awesome post! Unprocessed foods and fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K2) are also very crucial for proper development

@questmoosa Nice

@questmoosa Your thread is everybody's favorite! #TopUnroll https://threadreaderapp.com/th... 🙏🏼@Macl3ya for 🥇unroll

@questmoosa Breast is always best!!!!

@questmoosa @threadreaderapp unroll

@questmoosa 1. Eat human flesh

@questmoosa Idk about this one chief

@questmoosa hmm