With a new year comes resolutions to be healthier and happier. ToothShower can help you achieve those goals with its innovative technology. After spending over twenty years in the dental hygiene industry, Lisa Guenst, TYL ’13, saw her fair share of gum disease. While working, she found people didn’t take care of their gums and wouldn’t realize they had gum disease.
“String floss wasn't popular and water floss was too messy for many patients,” says Guenst.
Wanting to find a happy medium for people to want to take care of their teeth, her son helped her design a prototype of the ToothShower. The prototype, and the later product, connect to your shower head to create a mess-free water pick that also has eight different accessories to give you the best smile.
“It comes from my background as a dental hygienist, I wanted to do something about the epidemic of gum disease,” says Guenst.
While attending the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, she found out about the Be Your Own Boss Bowl® (BYOBB®) hosted by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI). The Be Your Own Boss Bowl® provides a prize package including cash prizes and in-kind services packages worth over $200,000.
“The Be Your Own Boss Bowl® was extremely helpful in jumpstarting the business,”
ToothShower won the grand prize in the 20th annual BYOBB®. The prize money went to hiring engineers to create a prototype of the product. That prototype was used in their 2019 Kickstarter campaign to gain customer feedback. It sold nearly 40,000 in 40 countries. With feedback from their first campaign, they transformed their product and put it on the market.
“We make it easier and more enjoyable to prevent gum disease,” says Guenst.
The biggest highlight for Guenst is the ability to help people stay healthy. “The satisfaction that comes from helping people keeps us going,” says Guenst.
Whether you want to expand your health or help others do the same, ToothShower can help you do that. Find out more here. Learn more about the resources offered by the IEI on our website.