The increased demands towards the usage of fake braces are relatively high.
One possible reason behind its usage is to lose weight. The use of
Intermaxillary fixation for diet control (IMFDC) is ethically questionable since
it causes more harm than good for the patients. No studies have reported the
use of Fake Braces as an Intermaxillary Fixation in Saudi Arabia. Therefore,
the aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and awareness toward the
usage of Intermaxillary Fixation (fake braces) for diet controlling in Saudi
Arabia. The study utilized a cross-sectional questionnaire with random
sampling. An online-based questionnaire was distributed through all social
media platforms, and it consisted of two sections. The first section included
demographic data of the participants, and the second section included
questions about fake braces in relation to diet control. Out of the 1230
respondents, only 72 participants believed that fake braces could be used as an
intermaxillary fixation for diet control purposes. Out of the 72 participants,
only 2 of them have worn fake braces for diet control purposes. 58.33% of the
participants were aware that wearing fake braces has many drawbacks.
Knowledge and awareness toward the usage of Intermaxillary Fixation (fake
braces) for diet controlling in Saudi Arabia was high. The prevalence of the
population in Saudi Arabia who use it in the five main regions was very low
and insignificant. More studies discussing intermaxillary fixation for the
purpose of diet control on a larger sample size are needed
Keywords: Intermaxillary Fixation, Fake braces, Diet control, weight loss