Markets in self-constraint

A dental appliance designed to help dieters take smaller bites and eat more slowly hits the market Wednesday.

It’s the latest addition to the $40 billion weight-loss industry, which caters to millions of Americans who are trying to lose weight. Some experts say the device may be helpful in changing behaviors. Others say this shows how truly desperate Americans have become.

The small retainer-like device, called the DDS System, fits into the top of a person’s mouth, filling much of the upper cavity. The price: $400 to $500. It’s available only through dentists who have been trained in fitting the appliance.

“You can pop it in when you go out to lunch and pop it out when you’re finished,” says William Longley, founder of Scientific Intake in Atlanta, which is making and marketing the product. The effect on speech is minor [sic], and it doesn’t interfere with swallowing, he says. Longley cites a study in Japan that showed those who ate more slowly weighed less. But some aren’t convinced.

And how does it work?

The appliance was the brainchild of a woman who had torus palatinus, a bulge of bone that grows from the center of the palate. She said it helped her stay thin all her life because she had to take smaller bites and eat more slowly. She got a patent on the appliance and licensed it to Longley almost three years ago.

…Researchers found that those wearing the dental appliance on the second day ate about 25% less food (in weight) over the course of a day than those who weren’t wearing one…

It usually takes patients a couple of meals to get used to wearing it.

“It doesn’t work if you have it in your pocket,” Longley says. And patients can override the benefits of the system by drinking milkshakes or other high-calorie drinks, he says.

Just think, people used to make fun of this sort of idea.

Comments

Comments for this post are closed