Latest weight-loss gimmick requires you to see the dentist

It's hard enough to go on a diet. The latest dieting gimmick makes you go to the dentist, too.

An Atlanta company plans to begin selling a dental device that fits in your mouth and forces you to take smaller bites.

It could help you lose weight -- as long as you actually use it when you eat. The gadget isn't permanently attached, so you can leave it out and wolf down big bites anytime you want.

But Scientific Intake believes its DDS System is more palatable than a strict diet or surgery. The company expects to begin selling its devices Wednesday for about $400 apiece.

The company's chief executive says he lost 14 pounds simply by wearing it off and on over five months.

"Many people today ... eat so quickly their stomach doesn't have a chance to get message to the brain" to stop eating, said CEO William Longley. "This helps slow you down, so you feel satisfied on less food."

To get the device, a dentist takes a mold of your mouth and sends it to Scientific Intake, which produces the plastic retainer-like gizmo and ships it back to the dentist for fitting.

With 30 percent of U.S. adults considered to be obese, health officials, nutritionists and even entrepreneurs such as Longley have been searching for answers.

Nutritionists agree that the DDS gadget could help, but some were mystified as to why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars for this approach.

Read more...