A VCU DENTAL STUDENT BRACES FOR SUCCESS AJ Hostetler

A VCU DENTAL STUDENT BRACES FOR SUCCESS

AJ Hostetler; VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation Reprint with permission from the VCU School of Dentistry

Christina Gordon, a Virginia Commonwealth University dental student who dislikes flossing, invented a cleaning device for orthodontic patients who wear braces. This year, her invention became one of several projects awarded funding by VCU to help it reach the commercial market.

As a preteen, Gordon, now a doctoral student in the VCU School of Dentistry and Vice President of the Class of 2023, wore braces and struggled to clean her teeth. She agrees with those who complain that the recommended oral hygiene for orthodontic patients — brushing with a manual or electric toothbrush, cleansing the areas around the brackets and under the wire with an interproximal brush and flossing — is complicated and time-consuming, even though they know the process reduces the risk of cavities and gum disease.

Gordon believes her device, the Proxy-Flosser, could ease the daily cleaning routine of the more than 4 million Americans who wear braces. “I’m a dental student, but despite this fact, I absolutely hate flossing,” she said. “However, flossing is absolutely essential for the maintenance of oral hygiene, and especially important among children and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment.”

Her product can simultaneously floss and clean around braces in one motion, saving consumers time and money. Orthodontic patients would be encouraged to follow the proper cleaning regimen, she said. The $10,000 award for Gordon allows her to work on prototype development. The support came from VCU’s Commercialization Fund, a resource designed to help bring projects to a more mature stage of development to improve their chances of being licensed and brought to market. The fund is managed by VCU Innovation Gateway, which is responsible for protecting and licensing university-created intellectual property, supporting VCU-created ventures, and partnering with industry leaders and regional economic development teams.

“Innovation Gateway is honored to support VCU inventors, whether faculty members or students such as Gordon,

Christina Gordon

through the Commercialization Fund,” said Ivelina Metcheva, Ph.D., senior executive director for Innovation Gateway. Over the last five years, the fund has provided over $1.7 million in funding to 58 projects. Recipients have gone on to receive more than $18.5 million in follow-on funding, secure eight licenses and launch five Virginiabased startup companies.