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A Protocol for Providing Orthodontic Jaw Wiring for Compulsive Overeating Leading to Obesity: A New Role for the Dental Professional Ted Rothstein, DDS, PhD (Facial anthropology), private practice orthodontist, NYU 1971; inventor of OJW in 1998.

 

Given that we are the caretakers of the mouth and uniquely empowered with skills and mechano-therapy to provide services to the overweight, it is our obligation and responsibility as part of a health-care team to provide our expertise to the overweight heading towards obesity and those who have already reached that state.

OJW patients will applaud and praise your effort to help them; they will not begrudge you if they regain the weight post-treatment, a problem encountered with every weight-loss method without exception. Weight loss is not the OJW provider’s prime responsibility. OJW providers are primarily responsible for the maintenance of the health of the TMJ, dentition and gingiva during the period of being wired. If members of the dental profession step forward and recognize their right and responsibility to care for selected patients who meet the criteria of being overweight or obese, based on the diagnosis of the patient’s physician the leaders of the AAO and ADA will be obliged to clearly define the dental professional’s role in providing this service  just as they did when problems of snoring and sleep apnea first came to the attention of dental professionals.

 

 

Fig 1b. Right photograph: Jaws are methodically wired apart (not obvious in this photo) to allow 2.0mm-4.0mm or more of mandibular movement in all excursions.

 Case example:  August 8, 2007, the case of MM: BMI 36; attended by an adult thumb sucking habit of 33 years. Note: Both right and left sides are wire to create an equally balanced feeling. When a patient is wired correctly the upper and lower teeth do not touch. This position is named Rothstein’s OJW position of physiologic rest. Here I have used .012” dead-soft stainless steel wire to suspend the lower jaw from the upper jaw allowing the lower jaw to move 2.0mm-4.0mm in all directions (extendable to 4.0+ mm for patient comfort on demand). Note also the use of clear attachments on the upper canines for cosmetic enhancement.

10am-10:25am

Orthodontic Jaw Wiring (OJW): The Orthodontist’s Role
in Weight Control for Their Obese Patients

credit hours: 1.0

*Ted Rothstein, DDS, PhD  

Brooklyn, NY, USA

Lecture material at:
www.drted.com/OJW DPOJW Course.htm

Dr. Rothstein, an honorary member of the AAO, is a clinician, author and inventor in private practice since 1976. Using the OJW protocol he developed, he has provided this service to 85 patients since its inception in 1998. He is the conceptual founder of the DPOJW (Dentist Providers of Orthodontic Jaw Wiring), and has presented OJW table clinics in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Paris. His patent for orthodontic jaw wiring (OJW) is presently under examination.

 

I HAVE PROVIDED OJW TO 85 PATIENTS, all of whom expressed their gratitude in no small terms. I am confident that in time OJW will become a service that members of the dental community will provide with pleasure in their own communities. I have no doubt that there will never cease to be members of the dental and medical community who look upon OJW with a jaundiced eye. I say offer the service, choose your patients carefully, do the OJW methodically and be responsive to patients needs. Most of the compulsively overweight will applaud your efforts to help them and they will not hold it against you if they regain the weight.112

or

Obesity is legion and epidemic and recognized as a precursor to a host of serious illnesses. OJW for obesity is a treatment modality for a serious "social, psychological and physiological problem that can help carefully selected patients to regain control of their weight thereby reducing or preventing the potentially grave consequences associated with obesity. I am exploring the "orthodontic" approach to help alleviate this epidemic in those cases where it may be applicable. I think dental professionals can deliver this service with compassion and intelligence. My experience to date is that it is safe, and reasonably effective when performed with the proper protocols that I have developed.107

Learning Objectives

·         What the OJW service encompasses

·         The case of NM to highlight the OJW service

·         The Informed Consent for OJW

·         Safety and effectiveness of OJW

·         Ten reasons to provide this service to your patients

 

June 13, 2008
Ted Rothstein, DDS, PhD
Specialist in Cosmetic Orthodontics
Specialist in OJW
35 Remsen St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 852–1551
www.drted.com
drted35@aol.com

January 12, 2009

Dear Dr. Rothstein:

Thank you for submitting an application to present an Oral Research Presentation at the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) 109th Annual Session in Boston, Massachusetts. Many fine applications were received for the available Oral Research presentation time slots.  The most meritorious applications were selected.  Due to time limitations, your Oral Research application was not accepted for presentation.

On behalf of the members of the Council on Scientific Affairs, we thank you for your interest in the 109th AAO Annual Session Scientific Program, and we encourage you to submit an application for a future Annual Session.

Sincerely,
Dr. Bhavna Shroff
Chair, Council on Scientific Affairs