Thomas Brown, CEO and inventor, didn’t have to venture too far from home for his product idea.

Brown founded Splintek Inc. and invented the SleepRight No-Boil Dental Guard for people who suffer from bruxism, or who grind their teeth at night while they sleep. His father was a dentist and an orthodontist.

"When I was in college, I used to work in his lab," Brown said. "I used to build models of teeth called typodots and from there we could make active appliances, retainers and things like that. While I was working in the lab, I l earned a lot about teeth and from my father, I learned about the biology as it corresponds to our product."

That lab is where Brown developed the first articulating no-boil dental guard, the first one the world had ever seen at that time. The old bite-and-boil dental guard technology has been around since the 1950s, and time hasn’t made the experience any more pleasant.

"It’s a really big, bulky product, you have to boil it at 212 degrees, then you have to bite into this hot molten plastic. It can burn you," Brown explained. "It's just not a very fun experience. We wanted to develop something where you didn’t have to go through that hassle. Something that was fast and could save time for people but still be super durable and serve its purpose to protect the teeth."

So he developed the SleepRight no-boil dental guard. Founded in 1996, Splintek is a privately held, innovation-driven company with a clinical heritage. Splintek owns, manufactures, markets and distributes high-quality Rx and over-the-counter healthcare products under the SleepRight® and HearRight® brand names. The healthcare product lines include dental guards, tongue cleaners, nasal breathe aids, vapor inhalers, sleep inhalers, ear plugs and memory foam pillows. Based in Lenexa, Kansas, all manufacturing and packaging is completed in an FDA-inspected and -registered facility.

The SleepRight No-Boil Dental Guard helps protect your teeth and dental work from the harmful effects of teeth grinding. Patented self-adjusting bite pads allow you to create a custom fit without having to boil water to fit and mold a custom dental guard. The No-Boil Dental Guard

  • Is prescribed by dental professionals
  • Offers a durable bite pad material
  • Does not require boiling water to fit
  • Was designed by a dentistry specialist
  • Features self-adjusting technology to fit all sizes
  • Is BPA- and latex-free

"We know that 95% of the population grinds their teeth at one time or another," Brown said.

If you’re among the people who grind their teeth or suffer temporomandibular joint (TMJ) headaches and you want to protect your smile, you can find the SleepRight No-Boil Dental Guard and other SleepRight products at Walmart, Rite-Aid, Target and CVS. Visit www.sleepright.com to learn more.