Former Marlborough College pupil who earns £220,000 a month by saying he can 'cure ugliness' as online 'looksmaxxer' is criticised by medics for 'misleading methods'

Published: 16:17, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 16:27, 17 May 2026 A former Marlborough College pupil has started earning £220,000 by saying he can 'cure ugliness' but is facing criticism from medics for his misleading methods. Oscar Patel, 20, sells a $39 monthly membership, where he offers 'looksmaxxing' techniques to his community of around 6,600 followers. The term was made famous by online streamer Clavicular, real name Braden Peters,   refers to an internet subculture comprised mostly of young men who want to maximize their physical attractiveness. Mr Peters has promoted using bizarre techniques to improve his look, including taking a hammer to his own face and 'bonemashing' to create a better jawline  Mr Patel has followed in the footsteps of the American, promoting a 'thumb pulling' technique, where he presses the roof of his mouth with his thumbs for several minutes. And like Clavicular, Mr Patel's videos have gained traction among the 'incel' community online - a term used to mean involuntarily celibate. Medical professionals are now warning that Mr Patel and other influencers are hijacking legitimate research and attracting young men into their cult-like communities with no scientific backing. Former Marlborough College student Oscar Patel, 20, sells a $39 monthly membership, where he offers 'looksmaxxing' techniques In his videos, Mr Patel claims he was an intern at the Academy of Applied Myofunctional Sciences (AAMS) in Los Angeles, a non-profit organisation that hosts international conferences. Myofunctional therapy is considered a fringe practice within the dental industry, with clinicians finding exercises that could correct serious breathing, swallowing and chewing disorders. However, Samantha Weaver, founding member of AAMS and director of the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (AOMT) in California, claimed Mr Patel never interned at the academy. She warned that Mr Patel was preying on self-conscious young people on social media. She told The Telegraph: 'Oscar Patel is using our name and brand to leverage his credibility and gain followers. 'He did not intern and we have asked him many times to remove any reference to us in any way whatsoever. He is just taking people's money and taking advantage of what people want, which is to look better. It's a cult inside social media' Ms Weaver said she had received emails from concerned parents of children who had paid Mr Patel hundreds of pounds.  She added: 'If you're not trained, you could cause a lot of problems such as jaw pain, headaches and disrupted sleep. To be able to identify what people have, rather than blanket teaching, that is where someone like Oscar could be doing more harm.  Ms Weaver compared the influencer to a guru, making people believe that what he has done was a golden ticket. Mr Patel said on social media that he was bullied when he was younger, as people 'couldn't tell if I was a boy or girl'. He claimed that without surgery, he has been able to cure his asthma, sleep apnoea and scoliosis. He also claims to have improved his nose symmetry, crooked teeth, overbite and flat feet. His website reads: 'Changing your facial structure isn't magic - it's biology. Your bones are not static. They're dynamic, living tissue that constantly remodels based on the forces applied to them. 'This is the principle behind orthotropics, the science that shows how correct muscle posture drives healthy bone growth.  Looksmaxxing began on forums such as Lookism.net in the early 2010s. The incel culture believes an ideology about the 'black pill', where taking the black pill makes you aware that attractiveness is genetic and if you were born with the wrong face, you must 'ascend' to improve it. Medics have criticised Patel's methods, saying they lack evidence or data to back them up On his website, Mr Patel also states: 'Orthotropics show that when your lips stay sealed, your teeth rest lightly, and your tongue stays up on the roof of your mouth, your face grows forward. That's how you create a real jawline that doesn't just look better, but breathes better too. 'The second your posture drops, you start breathing through your mouth, or holding tension in your face. Your airway gets tighter. Your sleep gets worse. Your energy weakens. 'Studies even show that conditions like sleep apnea, caused by poor airway structure, can increase mortality fourfold.' His methods follow on from the late Dr John Mew, whose 'orthotropics' theory in the 1970s and 80s gave rise to the looksmaxxing influencers of today. Dr Mew experimented with clamping patients' faces in masks, including his son, Mike Mew, who continued the teachings. Both men were struck off the General Dental Council's register, but created a movement now known as 'mewing' Dr Mike Mew has since endorsed Mr Patel on social media, saying: 'Without any qualifications, without going to dental or medical school, he's managed to come up with some really interesting answers.' Grant McIntyre, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and dean of the college's Faculty of Dental Surgery, said Mr Patel's methods were 'deeply misleading and harmful'. He said the method of 'thumb pulling' lacks scientific evidence and said there is no data to support his assertion that it could address asthma or sleep apnoea. 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