Controversy over braces to lose weight

DentalSlim diet control. It’s the name of the oral device that researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, have developed to aid in weight loss. After the publication of an article with the first results obtained in a small study to analyze its tolerability, they aroused strong criticism, to the point that some consider it a method of torture.

What is DentalSlim diet check? According to its creators, it is an intraoral device that a dentist places on the teeth of the upper and lower back. Use magnetic devices with custom locking bolts.

By setting it up, the user can only open your mouth about 2 millimeters, which limits him to consuming a liquid diet, but allows free speech and does not restrict breathing, they say.

“Researchers Develop World’s First Weight Loss Device.” This is the title of the statement in which the University of Otago announces the first clinical results that were published in the article published in British Dental Journal (BDJ).

Results

Professor Paul Brunton, the study’s principal investigator, associate vice chancellor for health sciences at the university, said that “it will be a efficient, safe and affordable tool for obese people. It is placed by a dentist, the user can remove it in an emergency, and it can be put on and taken off multiple times.

“The biggest obstacle for people to successful weight loss is the fulfillment and it helps them establish new habits, allowing them to stick to a low calorie diet for a while, ”argued Brunton and said it helps start the weight loss process.

For the study, the team of researchers recruited seven healthy obese participants. During the two weeks that DentalSlim Diet Control restricted the opening of their mouths, they consumed a commercially available liquid diet.

Comfort and tolerability were evaluated through a quality of life questionnaire carried out during the day-to-day checks. 1, 7 and 14 and two weeks later development extraction.

Participants reached a average weight loss of 6.36 kilos, which is about 5.1% of their body weight. They said they had difficulty pronouncing certain words and felt tense and embarrassed “only once in a while,” as the journal article reported.

In addition, they “hardly ever” reported any change in taste sensation or were uncomfortable drinking the liquids. However, they indicated that they sometimes felt uncomfortable and felt that life in general was less satisfying. Qualitative analysis showed that participants were satisfied with the outcome and motivated to lose more weight, according to the authors.

“The the tolerance of the device was good, promoting weight loss over a two-week trial period, ”the researchers concluded.

“It’s an alternative non-invasive, reversible, economical and attractive to surgeries “such as bariatric surgery, analyzed Brunton, who also argued that” it has no adverse consequences.

Who is it for? For its developers, the tool could be particularly useful for those who need lose pounds before you can have surgery and for people with diabetes.

The researchers themselves recognize that the practice of surgical jaw closure became popular in the 1980s, but risks carried; vomiting carried a risk of suffocation and after 9 to 12 months the patients developed gum disease. In some cases, there were persistent problems with restriction of jaw movement, and some acute psychiatric illnesses developed.

“The good thing is that after two or three weeks of use, they can disconnect magnets. Then they could have a period with a less restricted diet and then resume treatment, ”Brunton said. Additionally, he said patients were given a tool to open the device in an emergency, but none of the study participants needed to use it.

And he added that the device would contribute to a Step-by-step approach for weight loss supported by the advice of a dietician-nutritionist, which would help achieve long-term weight loss goals.

reviews

But what researchers are calling a new tool “that can help fight the global obesity epidemic,” DentalSlim Diet Control has generated a strong response on social media, with many users (including healthcare professionals ) accusing researchers of embarrassing obese people and question the ethics of the trial. The tweet already has over 3,400 comments.

One of the critics called him “disgusting and dehumanized”while another said there was a risk of unhealthy eating habits.

“Maybe instead of developing torture devices, they could study how the medical profession consistently fails based on the outdated and inappropriate BMI (Body Mass Index) scale, ”one user posted.

The researchers noted in their article that the trial was approved by an ethics committee and was conducted according to international guidelines.