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Profile in Oral Health Trisha E. O'Hehir, RDH, BS, Editorial Director, Hygienetown Magazine

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Laura Morgan, RDH Laura Morgan, RDH, graduated from Coastal Bend College in Beeville, Texas, in 2001. She loves her job in a pediatric practice in Austin, Texas, and is excited and proud to help her patients achieve better oral health. In a career spanning only seven years, she has worked in a general practice, a pediatric practice, two offices in Switzerland and has invented, co-developed and patented the Platypus flossing device for use around orthodontic appliances. In a timed comparison, Laura showed that full mouth flossing with the Platypus could be done in just one minute compared to four minutes with a traditional floss threader on a patient with full orthodontic bands.

The future of the dental hygiene profession is in the hands of our young professionals who use their creativity to eliminate the barriers to achieving optimal oral health. Laura is an example of a clinician whose passion has driven her to solve the flossing problem for kids and adults with orthodontic appliances. I had the opportunity to talk with Laura recently to discover what being a dental hygienist means to her and how she has contributed to improving the oral health of many people.
plat • y • pus
  1. a small aquatic, egg-laying monotreme mammal with webbed feet, a beaver-like tail and a ducklike bill; duckbill
  2. a revolutionary new hygiene tool developed specifically for patients with orthodontic appliances; invented by Laura Morgan, RDH
by Trisha E. O'Hehir, RDH, BS, Editorial Director, Hygienetown Magazine
Laura, what inspired you to become a dental hygienist?
Morgan: I've always known that I would choose a career helping others and was inspired by my own childhood dental hygienist. I remember her being so caring and genuinely concerned for my well-being. She had me chew disclosing tablets to show me areas of plaque and spent time showing me the proper brushing technique.

We've both lived and worked in Switzerland. Of course, I was there before you were born. To me the experience really shaped my life and my career. How did your Swiss experience affect you?
Morgan: There were both personal and professional influences. I was shy and reserved and the move to Switzerland proved to be a great way for me to learn how to be independent and gain confidence in myself. Living on my own in another country was a great learning experience and a wonderful opportunity to travel and learn about other cultures. I had 17 weeks of vacation, which I treasured and used to see not only Switzerland, but other nearby countries. Professionally, I worked in two dental practices that were quite different. One was progressive with the same preventive philosophy I have, but the other was more concerned with making patients happy at the expense of removing subgingival calculus. Seeing these differences confirmed my commitment to prevention and oral health.

What prompted you to design a new flossing device?
Morgan: One of my goals as a pediatric dental hygienist is to use my knowledge and integrity with each and every patient. We see several orthodontic patients in our practice and I was noticing the prevalence of gingivitis and decalcification amongst these individuals. Good oral hygiene is vital to successful orthodontic treatment, so when I asked patients if they were flossing on a regular basis, most said, "No, not at all." Most patients said they just couldn't figure out how to floss with the threader. Others stated that flossing required too much time out of their busy schedules. Adapting dental floss through brackets and archwires can be very difficult and time consuming, especially for the younger population. For this reason many adolescents resist thorough cleaning around braces because of the lack of ease and time necessary to do so. Because of the lack of flossing, the gums were becoming more and more inflamed and moving closer to the brackets. Their clinical conditions were only getting worse as the months went by. I also dealt with parents' frustrations seeing the white spots and cavities after the braces were removed. Puffy and inflamed tissue around the brackets during the whole orthodontic experience can only lead to demineralization and eventually caries lesions.

Why did you focus on a flossing device?
Morgan: Flossing is the best way to remove the bacterial plaque that accumulates between the tooth and gum. If plaque remains in between teeth it eventually hardens and turns into calculus, which can only be removed by dental professionals. The longer this calculus remains on the teeth, the more the bacteria accumulate and build destructive colonies that eventually destroy the supporting structures.

What did you think would work to solve this problem?
Morgan: It seemed to me that a floss holder would work if it easily slipped under the archwire to reach the interproximal, subgingival surfaces. I wanted something that made flossing easier for patients so they could do it every day and prevent the serious problems I was seeing.

How long did you work on your idea?
Morgan: I worked on it about a year before submitting the patent. To make the first prototype, I used what we had in the office, starting with a toothbrush and some orthodontic wire. First, I cut the bristles cut off the toothbrush. Then I used a burr to drill a very small hole on the very end of the handle. I heated orthodontic wire and put it into the hole and used pliers to bend the wire into a shape that would slide underneath the orthodontic arch wire. My employer was very supportive and encouraged me along the way. I tested the prototypes with our patients to get clinical feedback and refine the design.

Did you know any inventors before you became an inventor?
Morgan: Yes I do know another inventor who also lives in Austin, Dr. John Updyke, who invented the White Oral Wonder (WOW) crown for anterior deciduous teeth. I asked for his advice about the patent process and getting my flosser made. With his advice, I spoke with a patent attorney and submitted the necessary paperwork to apply for a patent. I had to do a patent search to be sure my idea wasn't already patented and then I had to describe it in detail, including diagrams. Patents also require information about who will use the product, how they will use it and what the benefits are. The patent application I submitted was 25 pages long.

Did you consider manufacturing your flosser in Texas?
Morgan: I did look into manufacturing after I received notification and a confirmation number on March 14, 2007, for a provisional patent. I spoke with a plastics manufacturer in Austin and just to get started the price was $10,000. That was more than I could afford, so I began talking with different companies at the Texas Dental Meeting in May 2007, to see if anyone was interested. I was looking for just the right person who had the same passion for their work that I have for mine. That's when I met Fred Van de Perre, owner of Paradise Dental Technologies (PDT) in Missoula, Montana. His enthusiasm and compassion for the dental hygiene instruments he was manufacturing caught my attention right away.

Fred is a Townie who is very supportive of dental hygienists. What was it about Fred that caught your eye at that particular meeting?
Morgan: Fred was showing the strength of his instruments by pounding them on the table to show they wouldn't break and wanted others to give it a try! I immediately thought, "This guy knows what he is talking about and is obviously confident in the quality of his product." His instruments are all made in the United States and 100 percent guaranteed. What other company offers that? So we arranged a meeting the following morning. I showed him my prototype and shared with him my vision for the Platypus.

Once you struck a deal with Fred and PDT, what happened next?
Morgan: Between May 2007 and February 2008, when we launched the Platypus, there were several
details to work out. Manufacturing needed to be organized, which meant going from my crude prototype to
the final product.
Laura's Timeline of Employment:
Round Rock Dental Associates............ 2001-January 2003
Switzerland...........................................
(worked in Sargans and Buchs)		 January 2003-December 2003
Round Rock Dental Associates............ 2004-2005
Pediatric Dental Professionals.............
Dr. Danny Watts		 2005-Present
Receives patent for Platypus............... March 14, 2007
Receives patent for Platypus............... March 14, 2007
Platypus launches................................
through Paradise Dental Technologies		 May 2007-February 2008

This is quite exciting and should really improve the oral hygiene of those undergoing orthodontics. I'm sure other Townies would like to know, is this the way to get rich quick?
Morgan: My message to other hygienists with a product idea is don't give up your dental hygiene job! During this process, I've invested $10,000 and my first goal is to earn enough from my licensing fee on the sale of Platypus flossers to pay myself back that entire amount. After that, I'll start counting a profit. I love my job and working with kids and don't plan to give it up any time soon.

I know you've been inspired by your patients, to find a better way for them to maintain their oral health. Has anyone outside the dental office inspired you?
Morgan: Another inspiration for me is my grandmother. She was pronounced terminally ill with a heart condition and given a poor prognosis. She was hooked up to machines in the hospital for a while. I noticed that the nurses were not brushing or flossing her teeth on a daily basis, which infuriated me to no end! I thought, "Don't these nurses know that there is a strong correlation between periodontal disease and heart disease?" The fact is that people with gum disease have a 25 percent greater risk of heart disease than those with healthy gums. When a patient suffers from gum disease, the cytokines and endotoxins responsible for the inflammatory response are released into the blood stream. It has been proven that inflammation in one area of the body can cause inflammation in other areas of the body. Luckily, I was able to visit my grandmother on my lunch breaks and would floss and brush her teeth every day. I'm happy to report, she defied the prognosis of the doctors and is alive and kicking today!

Thank you Laura. You're an inspiration to us all. You followed your passion and are making a difference with the Platypus, helping orthodontic patients effectively and easily floss to achieve good oral health. The Platypus is small enough to fit in your back pocket, keep in the glove compartment in the car or in a nightstand in the bedroom, and it's so easy to use. Keep spreading the dental hygiene message of oral health and prevention. For more information, please visit www.pdtdental.com, or call 800-240-9895.
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