Welcome to ...
Dental Hygiene Preferred
...At MyDentalHygiene.com
David Barnes, RDH
In April of 2006 the Modern Hygienist Magazine featured an article on David Barnes as part of their 'Spirit of Innovation' story. We believe it best describes the founder of Dental Hygiene Preferred so we have reproduced it for anyone who is interested in meeting their host.
“If we pursue whatever we do, whether it’s bowling or bringing a dental product to a patient-base in need, if we pursue that with a passion, that’s contagious.”
Modern solution.
San-Storage. Developed for the Head Start children’s program, the unit
allows toothbrushes to be stored at multi-use sites without cross
contamination. And the Dental Hygiene Preferred Best Fit Complete Mouth
Guard Kit. It features boil-and-bite guards in both large and small
sizes to ensure a satisfactory fit, a hard plastic storage case and a
complete set of fit and care instructions.
Making it happen. No one expected
David Barnes to be an innovator in the dental hygiene community, least of
all David Barnes. When a back injury prevented him from continuing his
career in construction, friends in the medical community suggested
hygiene, and at the age of 38 he found himself embarking on an unlikely,
second career. “It’s like having a second lease on life,” he explains.
“Most people don’t get that opportunity, or they’re not able to choose
something as exciting as dental hygiene, where you get to work with
people and see their lives change because of your help.”
Eager to educate people both in and outside the operatory, Mr. Barnes
jumped at the opportunity to work with one of his patients, a regional
director for the Head Start program, to provide informational
presentations and caries screenings for the younger students. When she
described an issue with meeting the health code standards for
toothbrushes at the program’s multi-use sites, Mr. Barnes spent a year
searching for a solution. Finding nothing to satisfy the need, he drew
on his construction background and decided to create a suitable tool to
properly house the toothbrushes. From cardboard, to acrylic, to the
patent library, to the Head Start convention in Washington, D.C.,
modifications were made, a manufacturer was found and the Sani-Storage
was created. It was released at a number of Head Start sites, but its
debut coincided with government budget cuts and production was halted.
When a new need presented itself, Mr. Barnes was ready. Bruxism was
impacting many patients whose insurance would no longer cover the
expense of a suitable mouth guard for treatment. Over-the-counter mouth
guards, while cheaper, were unsuccessful for a variety of reasons, many
of which could be traced back to a poor fit. “I made it my mission to
try and fill that void and provide something for them,” he says. Not
looking to reinvent the wheel, Mr. Barnes found a mouth guard
manufacturer in Canada and placed a large enough order that he was able
to request modifications made to his specifications. He developed a kit
with multiple sizes of the boil-and-bite guards, hoping that would solve
the problems regarding fit.
Patients loved them. His practice
and associates in the community started selling them. Next, he
approached local fitness gyms and began selling them there, as
weightlifters are some of the primary teeth-grinding culprits.
Eventually, local pharmacies got word of the kit, and asked to sell them
in their stores. The internet did not enter the marketing plan until a
patient said it would be nice to pay for the kit using PayPal. “eBay
owns PayPal, so I thought, why not?” remembers Mr. Barnes. Today, the
kit is available on Amazon.com as well, and sales are steadily growing.
“The Internet is pretty amazing,” He says. “You put something out there
for your patient’s convenience and the whole world can see it.”
The ever-after. At age 56, 16 years after graduating from hygiene
school, Mt. Barnes is still working three seven hour days in two
different practices performing clinical hygiene. He is deeply committed
to both patient and community education, especially regarding bruxism.
He will be traveling to China in November as part of World Trade
Organization government-sponsored good-will venture, sharing his mouth
guard with businesses there. As revenue for the mouth guard grows, Mr.
Barnes hopes to provide the necessary funding to make the Sani-Storage
unit available again in Head Start Programs across the country.
To fledgling inventors. Passion
makes all the difference. “Don’t discount it as a wild idea that will
never amount to anything,” he warns. “That’s the number one reason that
a lot of wonderful things never come to fruition. Passionately pursue
bringing it to the people who need it.”…