Braces, A Symptom of Weakness

The need for braces is an illusion for the majority of people. The reason braces are required in the first place is to cure crooked teeth. However, crooked teeth occur when there is a lack space within the jaw to align themselves properly. Small jaws are caused by bad habits compounded over time.

Have you ever wondered how people in the past dealt with teeth problems? Today, the average person might assume the average person a few hundred years ago must have been burdened by constant dental infections and horrendously crooked teeth. 

After all, they must not have known anything about dental/orthodontic science back then… right? Well yeah, they didn’t, but they also didn’t need to. Unlike today, the lifestyles they led bred perfect healthy teeth, whereas many people suffer from horrible alignment issues. Almost every kid is getting braces nowadays, and that is not necessarily good.

Crooked, impacted, crowded teeth all happen because there is a lack of space within the jaw. This also increases the chances of food particles getting stuck, increasing the likelihood of infection. But why is this more of a problem than it was even a few decades ago? Because of this phenomenon, researchers are beginning to realize craniofacial dystrophy. This syndrome is thought to be one of the underlying causes of malocclusion.

Craniofacial dystrophy is the result of a lack of masticatory effort and oral posture. Masticatory effort is how much work your jaw does to eat. What does working out your face have to with its structure? For example, people go to the gym to develop their bodily muscles; in turn, they grow while also inducing structural changes to the musculoskeletal system that help support that additional stress. Research has shown that working out promotes bone growth, resulting in healthy, dense bones. Overall muscular development also helps with bodily posture. It is not different for the face. Masticatory exertion (jaw muscle presence) not only promotes healthy bone development but must promote healthy facial posture as well.

Oral posture is also affected by breathing and swallowing patterns. They result in the jaw hanging loose. Many modern people resort to breathing out of their mouths instead of their noses because, on average, breathing issues are more prominent than they used to be. Airway functionality and jaw structure are interrelated, one causing the other in a toxic feedback loop. One factor contributing to this is allergies. Because of modernization and false visions of “cleanliness”, many have weak immune systems that easily react, congest the airways, and force people to breathe out of their mouths. Insulated environments tend to have dry air that causes congestion as well. 

Swallowing patterns are also symptomatic of our modern lifestyles. Soft foods decrease jaw muscular hypertrophy and allow eaters to indulge in less than ideal swallowing patterns. Over time, these lead to changes in an individual’s facial morphology for the worse. Swallowing patterns are also enforced from childhood.

The emergence of new attitudes regarding breastfeeding and its necessity has led to babies drinking milk from bottles instead of their mothers, which does not require much force. The swallowing habits required during breastfeeding are not necessary with regular bottles, instilling less than ideal swallowing patterns.

All of these interrelated factors affect the development of the face, for better or for worse. It is essential to understand that humans are not supposed to need braces. Braces, like any other treatment or solution, are intended to solve problems. 

The problem of small weak jaws and crooked teeth is not intrinsic to the human experience; they result from deterioration in the quality of our lifestyles. Modernization has led to the isolation and protection of individuals from the world around them, making them weak in specific regards. As it relates to facial development, people have become weak with their jaw structure, immune systems, aerobic efficiency, facial muscle presence, dental health, and looks. 

However, these trends can be accounted for by incorporating healthy facial habits and a general adjustment to the way we live our lives. People have to be less abject to our consciousness’s primal base and associating civilization with arbitrary notions of cleanliness and ease. Sometimes, everything is not supposed to be so easy, that includes chewing food.

That is what APE is about. It’s about making people more conscious of their own compliance and adjusting for it. To become Ape. Chew Ape Gum to incorporate this lifestyle as it relates to facial health. Figure out the rest for yourself.