UK researchers and a team from the University of Otago in New Zealand have produced a “world-first weight loss device,” called DentalSlim Diet Control, to help fight the global obesity epidemic. In a recent study, the researchers attached the device, which consists of “magnetic devices and custom-manufactured locking bolts” to patients’ teeth, preventing them from opening their mouths more than 2mm wide. The results were promising.
According to the researchers, the medieval-sounding device is fixed to the first molars with orthodontic cement by a dentist and doesn’t restrict speech or breathing. Instead, it retains patients to a liquid diet.
For the study, seven healthy, obese participants were recruited. The participants wore the devices for 14 days and were given a commercially available liquid diet to follow, with 1,200 kcal of energy per day. Over this time, the patients saw an average weight loss of 14 lb (6.36 kg).
Professor Paul Brunton, University of Otago’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Division of Health Sciences and the study’s lead researcher, explained:
The main barrier for people for successful weight loss is compliance. This helps them establish new habits, allowing them to comply with a low-calorie diet for a period of time. It really kick-starts the process. It is a non-invasive, reversible, economical, and attractive alternative to surgical procedures. The fact is, there are no adverse consequences with this device.
The DentalSlim Diet Control is certainly a less invasive, less dangerous, and more humane way to achieve weight loss than what doctors tried out in the 1980s when some obese patients had their jaws surgically wired shut. Then, this painful-sounding practice left people at serious risk of choking if they vomited.
To avoid such a risk, the new device features an emergency unlocking tool for users to carry with them at all times. None of the study’s seven participants reported having used this key. However, one patient confessed to “cheating” by sneaking in some sodas and melted chocolate.
Brunton added:
It’s hard yards. Patients who really want to do this have to be committed. But for those people who are really struggling – and let’s face it, that’s millions of people across the world – this is a way of getting them back into normal lifestyle diet habits by really pump-priming the process.
The study was published on June 25, 2021, in the British Dental Journal.
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