Instructions

Thank you for having chosen me to provide you with OJW. It is my fondest hope you will reach the goals you chose by "dedicating passionately" to the OJW the number of months you elected when you completed the Informed Consent. You may expect to lose 1.5-2 pounds each week, and even more if you exercise.

Keep in mind that above all your goal is to modify your eating behavior forever. In the best of all possible worlds you achieve your weight goals and never regain the weight. In other cases you may achieve the weight loss you desire and then regain some or all of it back, and in the worst case gain even more than when you began your weight loss program.

For some losing weight control is an on again-off again lifetime process because the problem lies in some deeply rooted psychological process underlying the need to overeat. It is my fondest hope that OJW will lead you to the brink of discovery of the underlying causes of the desire to eat to excess.

*NY Times, Thursday, February 26, 2009: Study Zeroes In on Calories, Not Diet for Loss ..."it does not matter if you are counting carbohydrates, protein or fat. All that matters is that you are counting something..." (calories). The findings appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Dr. Frank M. Sacks) who reported the findings of the largest controlled study ever done on 800 adults who were assigned to one of four types of diets of about 1200 calories /day. After 2 years they has lost an average of 13 pounds at 6 months and maintained about 9 pounds of weight loss and two inch drop in waist size after two years. The average weight loss was modest. 15% of dieters lost more than 10% of their weight by the end of the study. After about a year many returned to at least some of their usual eating habits. The biggest governor of success is not the ingestion any combination of foods. Weight loss results solely from reducing the number of calories whether they be carbohydrates, protein or fat. Written by Tara Parker-Hope

The protocol for OJW requires that under ideal conditions the patients jaws remain wired apart in "Rothstein's OJW position of rest"  for 5 weeks and then the wires are removed for at least 5 days, and 3-5 days additional if the jaw felt in the least bit stiff. During the 5 days the wires were off the patient is ordered to exercise the jaws: using manual exercises or just talking, singing and chewing gum. In that way the joint if impaired would fully recover.

In only one case out of 65 did any stiffness occur in any of my OJW patients. Read A.T.'s Story She left the wires on for 12 weeks straight at the end of which time she was unable to place three fingers vertically in her mouth. (This is the norm that dentists use to test the extent of mouth opening (see photo below). At the end of the twelve weeks she was unable to open her mouth more than two fingers. She recovered full mobility in a short time.

The three finger test: patient places his/her three fingers in his/her mouth as shown above.

In all cases the OJW patient is instructed to remove the wiring at least 5 days before returning to the OJW provider's office. (S)he will check the patient's gums, teeth, and jaw mobility. If the jaws are have retained their normal mobility in all directions (open and closed, right and left) the provider will clean the teeth (inside and out) and rewire the jaws apart in "Rothstein's OJW position of rest" 

All patients are provided with two instruments at the OJW appointment:

• 1. An instrument to twist (and untwist the wires). and
• 2. A wire cutter.
• 3. The third "instrument" they are informed of is a simple fork whose tines are not pointy sharp.

The pictures below demonstrate the use of these tools to untie/remove the ligature wires.

This instrument is used to untwist the ends that were created when the jaws were wired apart. One of the loose end is held and unwrapped off the bracket.

A close up showing the utility of a fork to forcibly cause the bracket to detach.

This is a nail and cuticle scissor. I had no problem cutting the wire.

If a situation were to arise that demanded instant removal of the wiring and the patient left their wire cutter behind, a fork inserted between the wire and the tooth would forcibly cause the bracket to detach immediately allowing the wire to be lifted off the other brackets.

I like this one the best of all. It supplants the wire nipper by far and away. This is the LA CROSS cuticle trimmer #75920.Costs $3.99. I tested this and it nipped the wire open with ease. It looks good and has multiple purposes.