By locking fat people’s upper and lower jaws together with a tooth-to-tooth metal lock, a team from the Unviersity of Otago and from Leeds (UK), intend to slim those fat people down. So suggests a June 28, 2021 press release from the University of Otago. The press release begins:
“University of Otago and UK researchers have developed a world-first weight-loss device to help fight the global obesity epidemic.
“DentalSlim Diet Control is an intra-oral device fitted by a dental professional to the upper and lower back teeth. It uses magnetic devices with unique custom-manufactured locking bolts. It allows the wearer to open their mouths only about 2mm, restricting them to a liquid diet, but it allows free speech and doesn’t restrict breathing.”
The release includes this photo of Lead researcher (and University of Otago Health Sciences Pro-Vice-Chancellor) Professor Paul Brunton:
The researchers published a study, called “An intraoral device for weight loss: initial clinical findings,” in the British Dental Journal.
Locked Jaws, not Lockjaw
Although the method consists of locking a person’s jaws together, it should not be confused with the medical condition known as “lockjaw”. That medical condition is also called “tetanus.”