Re: Dental appliance - personal experience

[Guest guest]

This is too funny - I have a couple daughters that would agree that

dental appliances in general cause you to eat less - because it's soo

hard.

My youngest just got an expander and she 'can't eat anything' because

everything gets stuck. She could hardly drink water the first day

because she had to relearn how to swallow. My 10 yo is giving her

tips - she had one several years ago.

> http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-05-18-dental-

appliance_x.htm

>

> Dental appliance ensures that you don't stuff your face

> By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

>

> A dental appliance designed to help dieters take smaller bites and

eat more

> slowly hits the market Wednesday.

> By , Jr. , USA TODAY

>

> 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 Longley, founder of Scientific Intake in

Atlanta,

> which is making and marketing the product. The effect on speech is

minor,

> 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.

>

> " You don't need a $500 device to slow yourself down when eating, "

says

> Ayoob, a pediatric nutritionist at the Albert Einstein College of

Medicine

> in New York. " You need to make your meal last a half an hour.

Choose a

> smaller plate, serve yourself less food, and make sure you take

that time to

> eat and relax for at least 30 minutes. That's easier to do if you

eat with

> other people and carry on a conversation.

>

> " The French manage to eat slowly without a device, because they

make it a

> priority to enjoy the food experience. "

>

> 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.

>

> To test the device, researchers at the Pennington Biomedical

Research Center

> at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge recruited 32

overweight people.

> Participants ate their meals at the center for two days. One day

was a

> baseline to establish caloric intake. On the second day, half the

volunteers

> wore the DDS System, and the other half didn't.

>

> 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. The DDS System " has promise but needs

additional

> research to examine its long-term utility, " says Pennington

researcher Don

> on.

>

> 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.

>

> Dentists trained in the procedure can be found on www.ddssystem.com

or by

> calling .

>

>

> © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.