*Nobody needs a Homeoblock or retainer to get the bone-building and airway-expanding benefits of chewing. Hard, natural foods and chewing gum likely work just as effectively. Marianna Evans recommends her patients chew gum for a couple of hours a day. I too followed this advice and some days I would chomp on an extremely hard type of Turkish gum called Falim, which came in flavors like carbonate and mint grass. The stuff tasted pretty crude, but it offered a workout and delivered results.