Modern Dentistry, and 3D Printing Technologies Help Kenjon Barner Speak More Clearly

    ALBUQUERQUE, NM, January 25, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Kenjon Barner had difficulty communicating with his lip protector mouth guard (also known as a pacifier mouth guard, or binky mouth guard) during the Philadelphia Eagles' playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons. The consequences of his inability to communicate were devastating as his teammates were not able to hear his calls, resulting in a costly turnover to the Falcons. Barner did not wish to repeat this mishap with the Eagles' NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. "I had to reach out to the best mouthpiece company out there..., and boy did they deliver!" Barner said. Barner reached out to Damage Control Mouthguards, a dental laboratory and mouth guard manufacturer, for a custom mouth guard. Damage Control is known in the mouth guard industry for making highly protective and highly fashionable custom mouth guards. They make mouth guards for many professional MMA, Football and even bull riding athletes. Custom mouth guards are hand fabricated mouth guards created to the anatomy of the athletes teeth. Therefore, they snap onto the athletes teeth allowing for better oxygen intake, and better communication while the mouthpiece is worn. The typical process of having a custom mouth guard made is to visit a dentist. At a dental office an athlete can get an impression (negative mould) of his or her teeth, then the dentist will send the impression off to his dental laboratory for fabrication or he will fabricate the mouth guard in house. Another avenue to get a custom mouth guard is to order a "self-impression kit" from Damage Control's website. When a customer receives the self-impression kit they are given written and video instructions on how to take a self impression, and a prepaid self addressed envelope is provided to ship the impression back to Damage Control for fabrication. The dilemma, however, was that the NFC Championship game was Sunday, January 21, and Barner reached out to Damage Control on Monday, January 15 as the Eagles' win against the Falcons was just two day prior. Further, Barner lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Damage Control Mouthguards is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. How in the world could Barner get a custom mouth guard made and completed by game day given the short amount of time, and the vast distance between him and Damage Control?

Enter the world of modern dentistry and modern dental technology. Damage Control has recently incorporated 3D scanning and 3D printing and CAD/CAM technologies into their mouth guard fabrication processes. Damage Control knew that this dilemma of time and distance for Barner could be solved if they could just find a dentist in Philadelphia who has also embraced these same kinds of technologies. Therefore, when Damage Control was approached by Barner, Damage Control's employee Vic Masayesva Googled, "Philadelphia dentist 3d scan". The number one result that appeared on top of the Google search page was Philadelphia Dentist Dr. Peter Hunt. Hunt is a fourth-generation dentist that delivers better dentistry using the latest technology. Dr. Hunt has incorporated 3D technologies into his dental processes, for his practice has found these technologies to make things better, simpler, faster and more economical than the traditional process. Damage Control reached out to Dr. Hunt's staff, and Dr. Hunt had Barner in his office within two hours of the phone call. Dr. Hunt did a digital impression of Barner's teeth, using a 3Shape Trios intra oral scanning machine. This is a digital method that dentists can now use to take an impression of someone's teeth and mouth and then turn the impression into a virtual model which can be sent to milling machines or 3D printing machines. Dr. Hunt sent Barner's digital impressions to Damage Control via 3Shape Communicate, Damage Control then 3D printed a model replicating Barner's teeth, fabricated his mouth guard, and had the mouth guard shipped overnight to Barner. All in a matter of three days! "The convenience, speed and low cost could not have been achieved using the traditional method," says Delano Romero Founder and CEO of Damage Control Mouthguards, "We are currently looking to partner with team dentists, or other dentist throughout the world that are looking leverage these technologies. With these technologies your dental practice can be the go to dental practice in your city, state, or province to provide the best quality fashionable mouth guards in a very timely manner."

Barner got a custom mouth guard from Damage Control that was black and had gold fangs on the mouth guard. He also put lettering I.G.I.T. on the mouth guard, which stands for, In God I Trust. Barner and the Eagles went on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 to win the NFC championships.

The Philadelphia Eagles are set to face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl February 4, 2018.

Damage Control Mouthguards is a dental laboratory that finds it is most successful when they find a better way to do something and share it with others. They do this by thinking different and approaching things from a different perspective. When they do this they know they make a real difference in the lives of their customers.

# # #