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Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic Kindle Edition

4.5 out of 5 stars 614 ratings

There's a silent epidemic in western civilization, and it is right under our noses. Our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth crooked and crowded, creating not only aesthetic challenges but also difficulties with breathing. Modern orthodontics has persuaded us that braces and oral devices can correct these problems. While teeth can certainly be straightened, what about the underlying causes of this rapid shift in oral evolution and the health risks posed by obstructed airways?


Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich, a pioneering orthodontist and a world-renowned evolutionist, respectively, present the biological, dietary, and cultural changes that have driven us toward this major health challenge. They propose simple adjustments that can alleviate this developing crisis, as well as a major alternative to orthodontics that promises more significant long-term relief. Jaws will change your life. Every parent should read this book.

Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The specialty of orthodontics has the potential to lead the way out of this epidemic of chronic disease (including malocclusion). We need only read and understand this book first."―Barry Raphael, Head of the Raphael Center for Integrative Orthodontics

"Every parent wants their child to grow strong and healthy. Orthodontics chosen for your child can be the most important choice to give a structural foundation to health. Sandra and Paul present important information that any parent should know about in order to give their children the cranial facial structure for beauty and health. This is a brilliant work by two brilliant scientists."―Mark Abrahamson, Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine

"About 90 percent of our children have bite problems. When more than 50 percent of a population has a problem it is an
epidemic. Sandra Kahn and Paul Ehrlich present the causes and consequences of this epidemic affecting our young generations. This book educates the public and dental community on treating and preventing the underlying problem, instead of just aligning teeth."―German Ramirez-Yañez DDS, MDSc, MSc, PhD

"Every new parent should chew on this book. Who knew that how we suckle, chew and breathe as an infant can set us off on a course toward serious orthodontic treatment, a life of sleep apnea, cardiovascular problems and sudden death while sleeping? Kahn and Ehrlich clearly and comprehensively describe a hidden epidemic that impairs the health of far too many people, young and old. They explore the causes of the epidemic, and crucially, provide practical advice that helps you prevent the epidemic from affecting your child, or amazingly, how its progress can be reversed in childhood if it has already started. This book should be in every new mom's care package when she leaves the hospital."―John Peterson Myers, Chief Scientist, Environmental Health Sciences

Jaws is a must read for every parent on this planet. It addresses the causes of our chronic health crisis and tells us how to prevent it while correcting our faces, jaws and airways. Airway health will give the most added value for this generation's overall wellness."―Michael Gelb DDS, MS

"Paul Ehrlich is the world's best-known and most distinguished ecologist, and one of the best known figures in any field of science. Now, teaming up with Sandra Kahn, he offers us his most personal and practical book to date. You'll discover the widespread consequences of how you carry out such seemingly mundane, automatic, and repetitive acts as breathing, smiling, and sleeping―and how your ways of doing those things affect peoples' perceptions of you. Read, enjoy, learn, and prepare to be astonished!"―Jared Diamond, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of
Guns, Germs, and Steel

"Your Oral Posture is your future."―John Mew, Head of the London School of Facial Orthotropics

"Elucidation of what can be called a classic public health risk factor for a little understood disease, one with heavy influence of both social determinants and individual behaviors as well as their interactions."―Kirk R. Smith, University of California, Berkeley

"Sandra Kahn and Paul Ehrlich clearly define and explain the hidden epidemic that exists around us. Emphasizing prevention and cure rather than symptom management, this book is a must read."―Dror Aizenbud, DMD, MSc, Rambam Medical Campus, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

"
Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic is a well-researched book providing unique overview and insight in to a healthcare problem frequently overlooked by child healthcare professionals. Sleep is likely as important to health and well-being as food, but receives little attention. This book is an important read for all professionals who care for children. It also asks questions for possible future research in the field of pediatric obstructive sleep disordered breathing."―Stephen H. Sheldon, author of Principles and Practice of Pediatric Sleep Medicine

"Everyone who is concerned about health needs to have this information."―William M. Hang DDS, MSD

"This epidemic has important consequences for heart health. I'm delighted
Jaws is bringing it home to both citizens and health care professionals."―Dr. John S. Schroeder, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University

"Drs. Kahn and Ehrlich's cogent narrative describing the structural, functional and behavioral changes in the human species truly challenges the cultural and educational orthodoxies in the West's disease management healthcare system. It begs the question, 'why did it take so long to bring this enlightened insight into mainstream thought with all the available evidence presented?' The answer to this question is meticulously answered in the very readable pages of this important work; read on!"―Mark A. Cruz, DDS, The Airway and Facial Development Collaborative

"This manuscript looks beyond the flashy smile that so many of us pay our orthodontists for and asks the hard question: Why is it we are almost all born with the faces of angels, yet so few maintain that face value of our innate and inborn beauty? The answer revealed is intriguing, thought provoking and a much needed call to action to fight for the fullest physical potential for all our children. A must read!"―Simon Wong, BDSc., London School of Facial Orthotropics

"People have some power to protect their children from this serious and cryptic environmental problem.
Jaws lays out both causes and cures."―Gretchen C. Daily, Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Stanford University

About the Author

Gregg Rizzo is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.



Sandra Kahn, DDS, MSD, is a graduate from the University of Mexico and the University of the Pacific. She has twenty-five years of clinical experience in orthodontics and is part of craniofacial anomalies teams at the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University. Her graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley was on physical anthropology and human craniofacial growth and development. She practices pediatric sleep apnea prevention and whole-body treatment, addressing body and oral posture to develop stronger jaws which fit all thirty-two teeth and house large healthy airways. She is an international lecturer, has published two books, Let's Face It and GOPex-Good Oral Posture Exercises!, and has translated Dr. John Mew's The Cause and Cure of Malocclusion into Spanish. She is currently the only Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics that practices exclusively Biobloc Orthotropics.



Robert M. Sapolsky is the author of several works of nonfiction, including A Primate's Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. He is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.



Paul R. Ehrlich has been a household name since the publication of his 1968 bestseller, The Population Bomb. He is Bing Professor of Population Studies Emeritus and President of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. Ehrlich is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Crafoord Prize (an explicit substitute for the Nobel Prize in fields of science where the latter is not given), the Blue Planet Prize, and numerous other international honors. He investigates a wide range of topics in population biology, ecology, evolution, human ecology, and environmental science. Much of his current effort is focused on the mechanisms of human cultural evolution and ways of directing that evolution to ameliorate the human predicament.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07B8S1P26
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stanford University Press; 1st edition (April 10, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 10, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 17.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 614 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
614 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative, with one review noting it provides a clear overview of complex topics. The readability receives mixed feedback, with several customers mentioning the writing is not very professional.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

25 customers mention "Informative"25 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting, with one customer noting it provides a clear overview of complex topics.

"Crazy informative, highly recommend." Read more

"Good read, interesting topic. Need more data to be all onboard" Read more

"...I liked this book and thought it was a good introduction to a plausible idea...." Read more

"...of this extensively illustrated book is that these problems can be solved by understanding and correcting their causes, which are clearly explained..." Read more

3 customers mention "Picture quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pictures in the book, with one mentioning before and after images.

"...a plausible explanation for crooked teeth, a good narrative, and pictures and motivation for adopting a straight posture...." Read more

"...The before and after pictures (with both desirable & undesirable results), are very telling & descriptive...." Read more

"Well written. Easy read with informative pictures." Read more

13 customers mention "Readability"8 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book, with some finding the writing unprofessional, while one customer describes it as a novel-like read.

"Good read, interesting topic. Need more data to be all onboard" Read more

"...However, the writing is not very professional and comes across as being written by a conspiracy theorist...." Read more

"This book offered a plausible explanation for crooked teeth, a good narrative, and pictures and motivation for adopting a straight posture...." Read more

"...It reads like a novel." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2024
    I wish my parents knew about this when I was a kid then maybe I wouldn't be choking on my own tongue 24/7
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2024
    Crazy informative, highly recommend.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019
    Good read, interesting topic. Need more data to be all onboard
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2025
    I learned about it from a Joe Rogan podcast. Its been so informative
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2024
    When we breathe about 20,000. 30,000 times per day and do it inefficiently, we harm our bodies. Breathing patterns can change even the pH of the body and also how our faces look. Cave men had no cavities. Their dental arches were wide enough to allow wisdom teeth to be present. They chewed natural foods and developed facial muscles accordingly. They breathed through their noses. When we processed our food to soften it and added certain elements, when we breathed through our mouths, we altered our faces, and not in a positive way. Simple changes to breathing patterns over time can change all of that, requiring less dental/orthodontial intervention, reducing cavities, and returning our flattened faces to their lovely forward posture. Nearly every child born during the last 100 years has had some intervention that hadn’t been necessary before. We need to return to practices that created functional and healthy bodies.
    16 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2022
    A bit repetitive, but so important. Our faces are deformed because of poor oral posture.

    If you want the tl;dr of what to do (not medical advice!), here it is:
    -breathe through your nose as much as possible, including when exercising
    -chew hard foods or gum (I like mastic gum) to strengthen your jaw
    -sleep with medical tape over your mouth to force yourself to breathe through your nose while asleep
    -the default state of your mouth should be: lips together, top teeth gently resting on bottom teeth (don't clench), and tongue at the roof of your mouth
    -all of these interventions are more effective the earlier in life one does them, so start today (and start your kids on them, too!)

    If you want to learn more, check out Orthotropics on YouTube (not affiliated, just think this topic is important).
    168 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2024
    This book offered a plausible explanation for crooked teeth, a good narrative, and pictures and motivation for adopting a straight posture. I am not an orthodontist or dentist, but the concepts made sense to me. The book has informed my understanding of what constitutes "good posture" to include the neck and jaw, and changed the way I think about my own posture.

    I wish the book and the authors proved the effectiveness of the approach within the orthodontia community, and offered more coverage of the criticisms to orthotropics/forwardontics. For example, I would have liked to know more about how many patients pursue forwardontics, how their compliance is measured, and the distribution of results for non-compliant and compliant patients. I believe the book's message mostly because of my intuition; the book's main evidence is historical account coupled with anecdotal descriptions of jaw shape, and a cruel study on rhesus monkeys. The book asserts its mechanisms and their importance strongly enough that I'm surprised at the lack of studies on the proposed treatments.

    I liked this book and thought it was a good introduction to a plausible idea. I hope that someone takes the flag to prove that these treatments work on the general population.
    8 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2018
    When I first saw the attractive cover of JAWS I was intrigued. So I browsed the book’s content and decided to buy it. I’m glad I did. The book is basically about the abnormal development of our jaws because of our eating and breathing habits and the long-lasting effects of such abnormalities on human health. I had no idea that the proper development of the jaws is fundamental to breathing and sleeping properly. If jaws developed abnormally, it can cause sleeping disorders which in turn can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and even cancer among other maladies. Being a professional devoted to solving environmental problems, I recognize this as a health problem, but as one caused by the greatest environmental change human beings have faced, going from hunting and gathering to practicing agriculture and industrialization. The most important message of this extensively illustrated book is that these problems can be solved by understanding and correcting their causes, which are clearly explained in the JAWS. The book should be read by anybody who has children, because its recommendations can have long lasting positive effects on the well – being of our loved ones. JAWS scientific documentation is impressive, but not intrusive. It reads like a novel.
    65 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Aaditya Barve
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opener
    Reviewed in India on October 12, 2024
    Great book and great quality
  • Abdul
    5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Read For Our Time
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2024
    This was eye-opening and gives enough reason to keep our mouth sealed when not eating or speaking. It's just a shame we need an entire book to do so nowadays...
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
    Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2018
    Everyone should read this. It would've saved me a fortune in dentist bills, and much pain had I read something like this earlier. Better late than never though!
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Carlos V.
    1.0 out of 5 stars The quality of the book is terrible
    Reviewed in Mexico on April 10, 2023
    It seems that the book was destroyed from the lower part and yet, it was sent as new. Terrible quality
    Customer image
    Carlos V.
    1.0 out of 5 stars
    The quality of the book is terrible

    Reviewed in Mexico on April 10, 2023
    It seems that the book was destroyed from the lower part and yet, it was sent as new. Terrible quality
    Images in this review
    Customer image
  • Moritz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in Germany on January 18, 2025
    I work in orthodontics and can only recommend this book!

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