Mouth closing device to fight obesity causes scandal

Mouth closing device to fight obesity causes scandal

A less controversial invention. New Zealand researchers have developed a mouth-locking device, called DentalSlim Diet Control, which is believed to help obese people lose weight quickly.

Presented as a “world first,” this machine is powered by magnets that completely prevent the wearer from opening their mouths. The device, which has not yet been commercialized, is applied by a dentist to the molars. Once installed, it allows the jaws to open only two millimeters.

Fight obesity?

According to Paul Brunton, a health researcher at the University of Otago (New Zealand), a patient can now eat only liquid foods but their ability to breathe or speak is not affected. “It is a non-invasive, reversible, economical and attractive alternative to surgical procedures,” he explains. “This device has no negative consequences.”

According to his team, this invention will “help combat the global obesity epidemic.” In an article published in British Journal of Dentistry In June, researchers explained that seven women who tested the device for two weeks lost an average of 6.36 kg. Patients initially found the device uncomfortable before actually judging it as ‘acceptable’.

A real tool of torture

The invention, reminiscent of the jaw-linking procedures practiced in the 1980s, is provided with a safety that allows urgent mouth removal in the event of vomiting or a panic attack. The researchers said none of the guinea pigs used this safety during testing.

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Several netizens have described the device as a simple instrument of torture. The invention sparked a deluge of criticism for its “hateful and inhuman” nature, and is a pure product of the phobias inherent in the medical world.

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