Croydon dentist ‘bust and broke’ after being barred

Dr Mike Mew, who attracted TikTok fame for his ‘non-mainstream methods to improve jawline shape’, has been forced out of the profession after one of his young patients suffered ‘seizure-like episodes’ during treatment, a tribunal has heard.

Dr Mew, who ran the Orthodontic Health clinic in Purley, is now facing removal from the dental register following a tribunal ruling published on November 8, after the panel met on November 4 following a seven-year investigation.

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 The Dental Professionals Hearing Service (DPHS), an arm of the General Dental Council (GDC), also imposed an immediate suspension order on him ‘for the protection of the public’, which he says will put him out of business after his family has been in dentistry for 100 years.

The panel heard how one of the patients, a boy referred to only as Patient B, was fitted with a series of dental appliances in 2018 as part of the Orthotropic treatment given to him by the dentist.

Mew has now had to move to a house rented to him by his church This included head and neck gear, to be worn for at least eight hours a day, an ‘expansion appliance’ that needed to stay in place for a minimum of 18 hours, and removable upper and lower appliances, which could only be taken out when brushing his teeth.

A former colleague of Dr Mew’s told the panel how the boy, who was two at the time, sometimes suffered post-traumatic episodes following the fittings and had ‘seizure-like episodes if pushed too far’ to wear the headgear.

While Dr Mew admits some wrongdoing, he rejects any claims that the treatment is damaging.

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said: “We did some things wrong, we didn’t spot some of the decays this kid had but you wouldn’t have seen that unless you took an x-ray and I checked that they were seeing a dentist.

Mew says his Orthodontic Health clinic on Purley\'s Pampisford Road will have to close as a result of the ruling Credit: Google Maps

“Actually she [the boy’s mum] wasn’t, then she saw a dentist relatively soon after. Maybe I should have checked he didn’t have decay before starting treatment, hands up, some things slip by.

"The patient had seizures before the treatment though. He had seizures before the treatment, so it’s not relevant.”

In their findings, the DPHS said: “In considering all its findings of fact, the committee determined that providing invasive treatments to young children, with all the attendant risks of harm and in the absence of any clinical indication, and making unjustified claims on social media, falls far short of the standards expected of dental professionals and would be viewed as serious by fellow dental professionals.”

Dr Mew believes the condemnation by the GDC was biased and effectively ruined his career.

He told the LDRS: “It has been a disaster, it’s the end of my career. I’m running a clinic that I have to suddenly close down, there’s no way out.”

Dr Mew’s family has had a clinic in Purley for over 50 years.

The current clinic, on Pampisford Road, employs four staff members but according to Dr Mew, their positions are now in jeopardy as a result of the ruling.

“We had four staff members, but there used to be eight of us two years ago. It has progressively caused me more hassle, trying to run the thing while dealing with this craziness.”

He added that his marriage broke down and now he’s living in a house rented to him by the church he attends.

The ruling found the Orthotropic treatment Dr Mew provided to two young patients was not medically necessary and could have caused harm. Orthotropic treatment is practised in a number of countries, although it remains a non-mainstream approach in the UK.

Dr Mew, a qualified dentist since 1993, was found to have provided misleading information to the parents of patient A, a girl who was six years old at the time, and encouraged them to choose treatment for her which they say was not backed up by any evidence.

The panel heard how he’d told the parents: “Most orthodontists have been told that we are not evidence-based and are ‘bad’ but few really have any idea of what we do.”

He also said: “For younger children, it is also important to push many orthodontists into giving their opinion as to what may happen in the future, as it is too easy to sit on the fence and placate parents for years until it is too late to avoid extractions or surgery.”

For the panel, these words were enough to convince them that Dr Mew was misleading them into choosing a treatment that has attracted praise and scepticism in equal measure.

Orthotropic treatment is described as a ‘non-invasive, non-surgical method aimed at guiding facial growth and malocclusion (unaligned teeth)’.

The approach, advocates claim, is based on the belief that environmental and behavioural factors play a more significant role in shaping facial structure than genetic influences.

The treatment attracted worldwide attention in recent years as part of the so-called ‘mewing phenomenon’, named after Dr Mew’s father John who pioneered the treatment.

The phenomenon garnered millions of followers from TikTok but has also been the subject of contention due to the risks involved and an apparent lack of evidence linked to the treatment.

The panel also heard of the harm caused to patients as a result of the treatment.

In particular, patient A was found to have developed a ‘traumatic ulcer’ as a result.

There was also mention of gum damage, but this was disproven.

When the LDRS put the accusation that he had caused this harm, Dr Mew said: “The ruling decided I didn’t cause harm above what would normally be a transient and minor types of damages associated with any form of orthodontist.”

Dr Mew feels strongly that the decision went against him due to what he claims was the panel’s disdain for his view on why teeth become misaligned.

While lawyers for the GDC argued that he had no evidence the treatment would achieve its aims, Dr Mew stands firm in his belief in the field.

He said: “Orthotropics has been practised in the UK for over 50 years, including on me and all of my siblings, and there has not been a single issue of harm or other problems reported in this time.

"Indeed, there has always been two schools of thought about the cause of malocclusion, that it is either genetic or environmental, and each of these has fallen in and out of favour over the decades.”

While Orthotropics has been adopted in some countries, it is not officially recognised as a treatment by the NHS or the GDC.

According to the regulator, Dr Mew is currently the only practitioner of Orthotropics in the UK.

Dr Mew described himself as one of a number of ‘rebels’ fighting for recognition of the treatment and said the decision would not alter his belief in it.

He has documented his Orthotropic treatments widely via social media and on YouTube videos, where he demonstrates the headgear to would-be patients.

He added: “I could have been a classic orthodontist and made much more money, all the way into my 30s, 40s and 50s but I didn’t.

"I’m pushing for debate, my family have been pushing for engagement on this topic for decades. I’m just a fly in the ointment for a very profitable system.”

Dr Mew said he spent around £600,000 on legal proceedings whilst fighting this case. While he hopes to take the case to the High Court, he feels much of the damage has already been done.

Dr Mew told the LDRS how his clinic provided the expensive treatment to people across the globe and experienced a notable boom in popularity following his TikTok fame.

Family member Bill Mew told the LDRS: “Mike has been flooded with messages from across the globe in support of him and in amazement and shock at the GDC’s findings.”