A father and son dental team in Indianapolis has developed a mouthguard designed to keep patients from biting their tongue, lip, or cheek while still numb from anesthesia.
Dealing with the challenge of postanesthetic oral trauma every day in their pediatric dental practice gave David and Scott Morgan the idea for the Toothché TLC Protector. Instead of using folded-up cotton gauze or cotton rolls, which don't provide a barrier between the teeth and the oral soft tissues, Toothché is made of a plastic that forms around the teeth as the patient bites down and is kept in place until the anesthetic wears off. It comes with a tether that can be used to attach the Toothché, via a clip, to the patient's clothing so it won't get lost should it accidentally fall out of the patient's mouth or the patient needs to remove it.
"It really hit home one day when a parent passed me a note while I was treating her daughter," Scott said. "The note said, 'Please don't let my daughter bite herself.' From that point on, I started investigating and discovered that there weren't any products available to guard against accidental biting, so my father and I decided to design one."
David R. Avery, D.D.S., M.S.D., and former chairman and professor of pediatric dentistry at Indiana University, has reviewed the product and supports its use, he added.
"The Morgans took their real-world challenge and developed a great product to help their patients," Dr. Avery said. "Not only are they going to help their patients, I think Toothché could become a standard of care in the dental community."
