New weight-loss tool prevents mouth from opening more than 2mm

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Northerner

Northerner

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The DentalSlim Diet Control device

The DentalSlim Diet Control device is an intra-oral device fitted to the upper and lower back teeth. Photograph: University of Otago



A weight-loss tool that uses magnets to stop people from opening their mouths wide enough to eat solid food has been developed by scientists in order to tackle obesity.

The device, developed by medical professionals from the University of Otago in New Zealand and scientists from Leeds in the UK, can be fitted by dentists and uses magnetic components with locking bolts.

It has been criticised online, however, with people likening it to a medieval torture device.

The University of Otago tweeted that it was “a world-first” weight-loss device “to help fight the global obesity epidemic: an intra-oral device that restricts a person to a liquid diet.”

Called the DentalSlim Diet Control, the device allows its users to open their mouths only 2mm wide. Initially, it was trialled on seven otherwise healthy obese women from Dunedin in New Zealand for two weeks, who were given a low-calorie liquid diet.

www.theguardian.com

New weight-loss tool prevents mouth from opening more than 2mm

DentalSlim Diet, which uses magnets, has been likened to ‘medieval torture device’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

😱 😱 😱
 
How does it stop people slurping fruit juice or McFlurries instead of or more importantly as well as the "low calorie liquid diet". Surely thi is still going to involve will power and compliance with the diet to be successful and longer term when it is removed I would imagine people will slide back to their previous poor eating habits. As diabetics we all know that highly processed food is quicker to hit the blood stream than food which needs chewing so in some respects this could be less good.
Personally I think I would panic, particularly if I got a cold or hayfever and my nose was clogged. I appreciate they say it doesn't restrict breathing but I find that hard to believe and I am not sure I could run or do other physical activity with such a device and surely there is a risk of breaking teeth/jaw if you were to fall or be involved in some sort of accidental impact... or be assaulted.... and will the jaw muscles not become weakened or atrophied by lack of use? And they say it is only releaed once a week to clean your teeth! 😱
 
Good grief! I'd be having panic attacks all over the place. What a hideous device!
 
Robin said:
How is cleaning your teeth once a week enough?!
Click to expand...

I guess because you are just swallowing liquids, so no fibrous material to get stuck between teeth and start decay. The item I read specified that there was no detrimental effect in respect of bad breath or tooth decay from just brushing once a week..... something you would imagine dentist's would be up in arms about! I didn't read anything about using a mouth wash but I would assume that rinsing thoroughly with water at least once a day would be advised.
I just find it amazing that they managed to get volunteers for such a research trial. There must be some really desperate people out there.... I can't help but wonder if some leverage was used, perhaps with people who were awaiting bariatric surgery.
What if you got muscle spasm from your jaw being held in one position all the time, when it is designed to move freely. The thought of it just horrifies me!
 
😱o_O This is REAL? I thought, from the title & the picture, that’s it’s a joke! Absolutely NO WAY! Won’t be able to take asthma inhalers & definitely need to breathe through my mouth when short of breath never mind during an asthma attack! 😱 for once, this 😱 emoji ISN’T enough to fully express the HORROR of that device! 😱😱😱
 
WTF??

Apparently this isn't a hoax.
 
It’s a ’NO’ from me 😱
 
I remember a lad we knew having that 'thing' where one of the bones in his leg had decided not to grow as long as the other (and his other leg) so he had to have it separated and an external contraption fitted so they could pull the two 'raw edges' apart gradually and wait for nature to catch up with itself and then keep doing the same until it was sorted - and I thought that was horrific enough ...... ghastly. What next - the rack? the iron mask? thumb screws?
 
rebrascora said:
How does it stop people slurping fruit juice or McFlurries instead of or more importantly as well as the "low calorie liquid diet". Surely thi is still going to involve will power and compliance with the diet to be successful and longer term when it is removed I would imagine people will slide back to their previous poor eating habits.
Click to expand...
Yep.
That's why solving obesity isn't just about losing weight.
It's about tackling the root causes of over-eating in the first place.
Unfortunately, without that second bit being addressed, the first bit is doomed to failure.
 
rebrascora said:
I guess because you are just swallowing liquids, so no fibrous material to get stuck between teeth and start decay.
Click to expand...

You don't need fibrous material to start tooth decay.
Anything in the mouth will hit the teeth even if you are sucking through a straw.

There is a coating on the teeth called Apatite and fluorine in toothpaste protects this coating. Sugars and other foods change it's composition so that it effectively can dissolve.

The old joke I remember from my Chemistry lectures was "So you see, sweets really destroy your Apatite".

I laughed out loud. Everyone else groaned. I've never been cool. :(
I do like a good pun though.
 
Having spent 3 days with trismus that caused exactly this (I couldn't chew either), this is a hideous idea. All I could eat was soup through a straw, place pringles on my tongue until they dissolved and after eight mints. Nightmare.
 
Eddy Edson said:
WTF??

Apparently this isn't a hoax.
Click to expand...
No, if it hadn't been in the Guardian I probably wouldn't have posted it 😱 🙂 Although, don't I remember years ago people had their jaws wired together to stop them eating? In fact, here you go:

www.healthline.com

Jaw Wired Shut: Benefits, Tips, and Foods

Here’s what to know about when wiring your jaw shut is useful, plus plenty of tips and food ideas to get you through weeks of not being able to chew.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com
 
Northerner said:
No, if it hadn't been in the Guardian I probably wouldn't have posted it 😱 🙂 Although, don't I remember years ago people had their jaws wired together to stop them eating? In fact, here you go:

www.healthline.com

Jaw Wired Shut: Benefits, Tips, and Foods

Here’s what to know about when wiring your jaw shut is useful, plus plenty of tips and food ideas to get you through weeks of not being able to chew.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com
Click to expand...
I thought I remembered jaw wiring being a thing, for weight loss, a long time ago. In the 70s and 80s, apparently. (I remember all sorts of weird stuff from way back, I just wish I could remember the important stuff)
 
If we ever get back to kissing grandchildren this could have traumatic life time effects!!I
Carol
 
That looks like some sort of medieval torture device, I can’t believe it’s legal!

And I’ve heard of two year olds having to have half their teeth out because they are rotten, because of parents who think it’s ok to put sweet drinks into milk bottles 😱
 
My constitution is usually extremely robust, but I'd like to understand any safety mechanisms should an individual using this arrangement vomit.
 
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