Key Assumption

From speaking with a plethora of different people in the dental industry, we found that most dental workers experience back pain (upper or lower) due to poor practice of ergonomics. It turns out that dentists are only taught proper ergonomics in dental school for a few weeks and ultimately never revisit the lesson. For many, proper posture and positioning is overlooked as a way to mitigate pain and lengthen careers. We also learned that dentists are fitted for loops in dental school prior to figuring out their preferred positioning leading to more adverse effects in the long-term. A key piece of information that we learned but had not considered prior to the interviews was that different types of dental workers have varying schedules. A dentist will spend roughly only 4 to 5 hours operating on patients, while dental hygienists and dental assistants may spend nearly the entire day operating over patients. We also assumed that they would experience similar types of pain. However, dentists and orthodontists mostly experience lower back pains, while dental hygienists and assistants are more prone to upper back, shoulder, and cervical pains. In our conversation with Dr. Baratta, we found out that one of his former dental hygienists ultimately had to cut her career short and retire after only seven years working in the dental industry. We were informed that she would be missing days of work because her upper back pain was so severe.

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Vinnie Baratta and Katie Mathys both told us they spend over $300 every month on physical therapy, massages, and going to the chiropractor. Baratta told us he uses a dental ergonomic chair called a “saddle” chair that is designed to help dentists while they are sitting and operating on a patient. Both Mathys and Baratta told us they cared about their appearance to their patients. Baratta told us that the average dentist has around $250-300k in student loans after having to do 8 years of school and then an optional residency. This is a pretty hefty number if your back pain prevents you from doing the work that is supposed to pay that number down. Baratta also shared with us that he would be willing to pay anywhere from $100-$250 for a back brace that would reduce his back pain. He also shared with us that loupes make dental workers' lives easier from an ergonomic standpoint, but we would not be replacing them in the market because their main benefit is being able to see the patient’s mouth better.

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Dr. Thomas Harrison was just recently awarded 2022 Dentist of the Year for Texas. He told us that the ergonomics they teach in business school works, but only on the ideal patient. He told us that ergonomics goes out the window when operating on kids, disabled patients, and elderly patients because they either cannot sit in perfect patient position or do not want to. This forces the dentist to work around the patient’s position. Harrison told us that early on in his practice, the bones in his neck started to spur and started damaging his nerves so badly that he got to the point where he could not pick up anything with his left hand. He had to get surgery where they had to shave down the bone spurs in his neck for him to properly function anymore. 

 

We learned that when it came to the idea of wearing a back brace, they had 3 main concerns. Their number one concern was how they would be perceived by their patients if they were wearing a back brace. Many thought that a back brace would make them appear disabled or look robotic/armory. We learned that dentists pay a lot of money for their scrubs and their loupes (magnifying lens glasses) because they are slightly vain and care about patient perception and also perception by other dental workers. The second thing they were most concerned about was the restrictiveness of our brace. They told us they would need to be able to reach up and around them during surgeries and operating on a patient. The third thing they were most concerned about was the breathability of the device. They were worried it would make them sweaty and hot when performing long operations.