From an everyday dentist to entrepreneur

“My entire experience as a dentist changed when we moved from the classroom to the clinic. Although I was very eager to practice dentistry, I was apprehensive about injecting my first patient. As I looked around at my fellow students I could sense the same emotions from chair to chair,” Goldberg said.

Technology, which has been the dentist’s best friend, simply hasn’t affected the injection process. Dental manufacturers have challenged their research and development teams to develop an instrument that would be embraced with universal acceptance. Dentists prefer a solution that’s applicable for every patient and every injection. Yet as much as technology has changed the way dentists operate their offices, the average dentist still relies upon a dental syringe — designed 150 years ago — as the only partner to deliver an injection.

Goldberg, founder and CEO of DentalVibe, might have identified the solution that dentists and patients have been waiting for forever. Do you ever wiggle a patient’s cheek? Goldberg tried this along with several other methods and alternate solutions to enhance patient comfort during the injection process.

“I tried the Wand, but it took too long. I tried wiggling the cheek and it worked ‘some’ of the time. I tried new and stronger topical, which helped with the needle penetration but not with the pressure of the anesthesia delivery. If there was a new solution mentioned in a dental journal, I tried it.

“Inevitably, I became determined to find the perfect solution. With the core belief that dental instruments and equipment have improved vastly due to technology I started what became a seven-year journey to incorporate technology and science into the injection process.”

Using parts from all over the world, the Bressler Group and Goldberg designed a dental instrument that looked like a medical device. The original DentalVibe was made with brushed aluminum and polished to look like a sleek steel instrument.

“The initial model was very sleek and sexy, but there was a problem,” said Goldberg. It seemed that patients weren’t thrilled to see another potentially threatening device during the procedure. So, Goldberg and the design team went back to the drawing board. The result was a more patient-friendly design that included modifying the DentalVibe to resemble a power toothbrush.

Has Goldberg discovered the perfect marriage of science and technology? That’s what the company believes. Dentists have one primary objective, which is a predictable outcome to the procedure. Injections such as the palatal and mandibular block are unpredictable patient to patient, but dentists who use DentalVibe marvel at the predictable outcome.

DentalVibe utilizes VibraPulse technology. The DentalVibe sends a soothing vibration to the patient’s brain, tricking the pain gate and closing it to other sensitivities, such as the injection. The differentiating factor that DentalVibe incorporates is the pulsing effect. Goldberg explained that clinical studies have proven that the brain will ignore a constant stimulus, but by incorporating the VibraPulse feature, DentalVibe is able to consistently keep the pain gate closed and your patient in a VibraPulse comfort zone.

Have Goldberg and DentalVibe identified a universal solution for painless injections? Quite possibly. Price, which is always an important factor, doesn’t seem to be an issue as the DentalVibe is priced between $595 and $795. DentalVibe is cordless and portable so there’s no concern with it being too cumbersome or adding another unwanted foot-petal to the operatory. Yet, it seems that overall value is the primary reason that dentists are making DentalVibe the standard of care for administering injections.

“As dentists we ask ourselves, ‘what will this product do for me, my patients and my practice?’ Dentists have to make more purchasing decisions than virtually any other profession so we become savvy shoppers. In the case of DentalVibe, dentists are telling us that they appreciate how an investment that was less than $1,000 had such a noticeable impact on their practice,” said Goldberg.

When an instrument has a purpose for every patient and every procedure, there’s obvious value. If that same instrument can reduce patient anxiety and reduce the dentist’s stress administering palatal and block injections, dentistry has a winner.

Recently, the company received feedback that DentalVibe is helping dentists achieve faster, more profound anesthesia attributed to the micro-oscillation of the comfort tip, a newfound added value.

DentalVibe is already making headlines; just visit the company website to see local dentists featured on the evening news. It stands to reason that if DentalVibe can help dentists administer a more comfortable injection, it’s news. Perhaps great news.