Canadian Dental Hygienist, Patricia Blundon, is the developer of a dental mirror that clips on to a saliva ejector to aid dental hygienists, assistants, and clinicians in treating patients.
In response to growing demand for the Dental Hygiene Clip Mirror, she has introduced the device to the U.S. market and plans to expand her business globally. Ms. Blundon states that she decided to introduce the Clip Mirror™ in the U.S. after years of market research and positive feedback from Canadian customers. Dentistry is world-wide so the sky is the limit”.
Ms. Blundon, who has been a Dental Hygienist for over 25 years, says she came up with the idea for the mirror about 10 years in to her career. “With an electric scaler spraying water in one hand and a mirror in the other and the patient’s tongue pushing out the saliva ejector, I thought about having a mirror clip directly on to the saliva ejector to free up a hand and wondered why no one had invented this. I thought who better than a dental hygienist to design something that a dental hygienist uses so I put the gears in motion to learn everything I could about inventing.”
The Clip Mirror™ was designed to make the job of dental hygienists and clinicians easier on their body and more efficient. As the population ages, dental clinicians may find themselves using a less than ideal posture while craning their necks and contorting their bodies to complete the necessary treatment. Ms. Blundon encourages all dental hygienists to explore and use products and techniques to help maintain proper posture. “You may not feel it right now but the damage is happening every day with every patient and eventually those minutes of compromised posture start to take their toll on your body and start speaking to you… sometimes it is a whisper and sometimes it is a loud sharp pain.”
Production of the Clip Mirror™ began with medical grade 400 series stainless steel, so that it would not rust or corrode and a precisely designed clip to snap securely to the saliva ejector while still allowing rotation if needed. The rolled clip ends allow one to feed a line of floss through and attach the Clip Mirror™ to the saliva ejector using sterile tape as an added precaution. The clip is then hand welded to a titanium mirror as the standard rhodium fails in comparison to brightness and transillumination. The Clip Mirror™ is available with a size 5 mirror and will be introducing size 4 and size 3 (Clip Mirror Mini™) in the near future.
Throughout the process of patent applications to production, Ms. Blundon says she has learned a lot and encourages other with great ideas to follow her lead and just start by writing down their idea, and searching the internet for similar products or ideas. Ms. Blundon offers her Mentor Inventor tips on her Facebook page, The Clip Mirror by DH Essentials, and invites anyone with an idea to contact her directly for free mentoring advice. She says she received a lot of great help from others along the way and would like to pay it back by helping others achieve their own dreams. To learn more about DH Essentials and the Clip Mirror™ or to contact Patricia Blundon, email patricia@blundon.ca or visit the website at www.dhessentials.ca.
Patricia Blundon, patricia@blundon.ca, www.dhessentials.ca.
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