Michael van Gerwen’s mouth bother as darts star had to surrender consuming steaks
At last year’s PDC World Championships, Michael van Gerwen had been among the favourites to win the title – an achievement that would ultimately go to Luke Humphries who overcame Luke Littler in the final
Darts legend Michael van Gerwen has more problems than just Luke Littler to contend with – he’s also suffering with his teeth.
The three time world title holder has been competing in what is his 18th World Championship and even to those not overly familiar with the sport, his face and eccentric mannerisms are likely recognisable. His smile too is famous, but recently it’s been causing him a bit of grief over the last year or so.
At last year’s PDC World Championships, he had been among the favourites to win the title – an achievement that would ultimately go to Luke Humphries who overcame Luke Littler in the final – but jaw troubles contributed to him going out in the quarter finals in what was ultimately a disappointing tournament for the dutchman.
He was knocked out in a 5-3 match with England’s Scott Williams, who himself was later defeated by Humphries.
Unsuccessful dental surgery in 2023 to fix an underbite is at the route of the problem. For the surgery to be carried out his jaw had to be broken, but things didn’t go well and he was left in pain. Speaking last year, he said: “I’ll have an operation in which they’re going to break my upper jaw and lower jaw. Put them right on each other. Then it’s all about recovery. Two years more in a brace. Then I’m about finished.
“Between the first operation this year and the second one, there has to be a minimum of one year. It’s because my upper jaw is a lot smaller than my lower jaw. My underbite is over a centimetre.
“Even a slice of ham, I cannot even bite properly. And because my upper jaw is too small also you get less oxygen through your nose. That creates headaches. Less sleep. Things like that.
“You have to plan things, especially with my schedule. I can still eat. But only you bite wrongly. You don’t eat how you should eat. It’s the same as the year before with my Carpal tunnel syndrome. It had to happen. There are no other options. For me, it’s not really a big thing. Given what I have gone through, sometimes I do underestimate that. I think to myself: ‘Why am I so hard on myself all the time?’ But that’s the way I am.”
Speaking to AD, he said: “They are going to break and reset my upper and lower jaw.
“My upper jaw, they are going to take it six millimetres forward and my lower jaw they are going to put back just three millimetres. I have a big underbite, a penny bowl, as they call it. That bothers me a lot.
“Anyway, with eating, but your teeth also wear down and you snore more because of it. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t bite through a slice of ham yet. You get fed up with that at some point. After this, I hope to put a stop to all the physical ailments.”
