The Jaw Study
Why did so many of us need braces?
Old skulls in museum drawers have straight teeth. No dentists. No braces. A Penn Museum curator says crooked teeth only showed up about 200 years ago. That's too fast for genes. So what changed?
Real resin. Real tin.
The clue
One clue goes back to a lab in 1982.
Scientists raised 43 monkeys on the same food. Same diet. Same nutrients. Only one thing was different. For some, the food was tough. For the rest, it was softened.
Tough food
Jaws had to work at every meal.Softened food
Grew up with crooked, crowded teeth and narrower arches.Same food. Different texture. Different teeth.
Corruccini & Beecher, Science 218:74-76, 1982 (PMID 7123221). The authors wrote that food texture "may be a determinant."
Now, that's monkeys, not people. And food, not gum. But it is hard to unsee once you know it.
Look closer
Now look at what you chewed today.
- Coffee.
- A smoothie.
- Soft bread. Pasta. Yogurt. Something from a box.
Most days, our jaws barely work.
Then we pay for braces and call it normal. Maybe it was you, years ago, with a mouth full of metal. Maybe it was your kids. Maybe it's the crowding you see creeping back in the mirror now.
None of it felt strange, because everyone went through it. That's the part worth asking about.
What changed
Our ancestors' jaws worked at every meal.
Then
- Tough meat
- Stringy plants
- Food you had to fight
Now
- Soft
- Processed
- Gone in a few bites
Almost everything we eat today is soft. Your face and jaw muscles were built for work. Most of us stopped giving them any.
The discovery
So I looked into what dentists were doing for their own kids.
Dentists, orthodontists and clinicians. What were they doing for their own kids and patients? One thing kept coming up.
Mastic resin.
It comes from one island in Greece. Growers score the trees by hand. The sap drips out and hardens in the sun into pale little tears. People there have chewed it for thousands of years.
Why it's different
It's firm. Nothing like regular gum.
Regular gum goes soft in seconds. Mastic pushes back. You feel your jaw work from the first bite.
So your face and jaw muscles finally get the stimulus they need to grow and stay strong.
| Regular gum | Mastic resin | |
|---|---|---|
| Texture | Soft, fast | Firm. Your jaw works. |
| Made from | Gum base made in a factory | Real tree resin |
| Where | Anywhere | One island in Greece |
| History | A modern invention | Chewed for thousands of years |
Who chews it
Chewed by an NFL player, UFC fighters, health gurus and 551 clinicians.
Real people. Real posts.
Before and after
Give your jaw real work, every day.
Firm resin. A jaw that has to work. Every single day.
Tomorrow morning
Picture it. Coffee's done. You open this little tin.
Ten quiet minutes. Your jaw working the way jaws did for thousands of years.
So here's what I'd do. Grab your first box while it's up to $25 off. Tomorrow, after your coffee, feel your jaw actually work.
The Classic Pack
Real mastic resin from one island in Greece. Hand-packed in Pennsylvania.
- Up to $25 off your first box
- Cancel anytime
- Ships same or next day
Questions
Before you try it
What is mastic resin?
A natural tree resin from one island in Greece. Growers score the bark by hand, and the resin hardens into small pale tears. People there have chewed it for thousands of years.
How is it different from regular gum?
It's firm. Regular gum is made from a soft gum base and goes limp fast. Mastic pushes back, so your face and jaw muscles get real work.
Who chews it?
NFL player Taylor Rapp, UFC fighters, health creators, and 551 clinicians on FrontrowMD.
Can I cancel?
Yes. Cancel anytime.
When will it ship?
Same or next day.
Is it for everyone?
Not for people with dental work. If you have crowns, bridges, implants, braces or dentures, skip this one.
The people in those skulls never wore braces.
But they never stopped chewing.
Give your jaw something real to do again.
Try the Classic tinUp to $25 off your first box. Cancel anytime.Not for people with dental work.
Sources:
- Janet Monge, Penn Museum, interviewed by WHYY, September 14, 2016.
- Corruccini RS, Beecher RM. Occlusal variation related to soft diet in a nonhuman primate. Science. 1982;218(4567):74-76. PMID 7123221.
- Corruccini RS. An epidemiologic transition in dental occlusion in world populations. Am J Orthod. 1984. PMID 6594064.
The 1982 study was done in monkeys, with food, not gum. Athlete and creator photos are their own posts. Offer amount and terms are shown at checkout.