Yesterday the Associated Press ran a press release badly disguised as a health story by Arthur Max promoting one business that has supposedly created a “cure” for nail biting. The Washington Post recognized that the “cure” should be in quotes (as it is in the headline they attached to the story), because the story reads exactly as a rewritten press release by the guy — a marketer, not a doctor or psychologist or researcher — “created.”

His $670 secret? A mouth guard. Well, specifically a dental night guard for either your upper or lower teeth. These are typically used to help prevent people from damaging their teeth by grinding in the middle of the night. Such grinding is often related to stress.

In this application, you apparently wear the night guard all day long (it can interfere with speech, but apparently speaking with a lisp isn’t as socially humiliating as biting your nails?).

Dentists in the U.S. can and do charge hundreds of dollars for such guards (which are custom-made to fit your specific teeth pattern). So I assume the bulk of the money is for the rest of the “treatment program” being offered by this businessman. (By the by, you can buy a “make your own dental night guard” kit on eBay for $55, so you have some idea how much the raw materials cost.)

In the fifth-to-last paragraph in this story, finally a doctor or researcher is consulted. Any worth to this guy’s “treatment”?

Well, you can tell the doc didn’t want to endorse the approach, which he called “plausible.”

But I have to ask. Why write about a “plausible” approach that has no research supporting it when the research literature is filled with stuff that, well, actually works and is empirically proven?

Shame on the Associated Press for rewriting a press release to support this guy’s business.

Gives me an idea to sell night guards as “Anxiety Busting Treatment! Make your anxiety go away over night!”

Read the whole story: Dutchman Offers ‘Cure’ for Nail Biting

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 Sep 2007
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