Prologue

This site is a log of my experience inventing and patenting several dental devices, the most demanding of which is the film processor that you see here. On the left is one of the very first prototypes, composed of an acrylic-glued reaction tank and waste baskets for storage tanks. And that’s me in the red.

Ten years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and thousands of hours of my labor yielded the film processor that is pictured in the two photos at right. The second page of this site is about what one should know before going through the invention process. I hope these insights are helpful if you are going through the same steps that consumed a great deal of my energy and time. Following that is a log of the process that I went through.

I am placing my “rules for inventing” on the second page in case an inventor may be interested in my conclusions only. These should be helpful for those who are about to experience and take the same mind-boggling trip that I took. I hope my information will be helpful. After my “rules” is the history of my inventions.

Prologue:

I was a dentist for 35 years. Most dentists are engineers at heart, and I was no exception. We are constantly dealing with tools and procedures, and improving on those is just a natural byproduct of being a dentist. My first “invention” was what I called Floss-O’s. I found that when a piece of floss is tied in a three inch loop, it becomes so much easier to floss. Using the last three fingers on each hand to hold the floss, and the thumb and index fingers to manipulate it around the teeth, my patients could learn to do a great job of flossing very quickly. (Try it. It really works!) I was so thrilled about my invention that I could barely sleep. I very excitedly went to a recommended patent attorney who did a patent search for me. He told me, “This was the best idea he had seen in a long time!”, which made me even more excited. The search took agonizing months. When it came back, it showed that a dentist near San Francisco had already invented Floss-O’s. What a huge disappointment. The inventor apparently hadn’t done anything with the patent, as it was already ten years old. Patents were, at that time, good for 17.5 years. So he had only 7.5 years to go. Was it too difficult or costly to make a machine that would loop floss? I wrote him at the address on the patent to see what had become of his idea, and the mail was returned with NO SUCH ADDRESSEE stamped on it. The idea was so great, I couldn’t imagine that it failed! To this date it still hasn’t been manufactured, and I still can’t imagine why.

My second invention was an incredibly complex dental film processor, the story of which follows on this blog. I went from unbelievably simple, to unbelievably complex. Simple is better. If you invent, remember, Frisbees are easier than computerized machines. Of course this comes under the heading: “Obvious Advice”. I have experienced all of the traps, the highs, and the lows of this endeavor. One page of this blog will detail the conclusions that I have drawn from my adventure. If it can be helpful to anyone experiencing what I went through, then my time putting this blog together will be well spent. I also enjoy writing, and writing the story of my invention was a real experience in itself. It brought back floods of memories of what an unbelievable experience this has been. I spent many thousands of hours, and hundreds of thousands of dollars putting my idea together. I mortgaged my house to make a developer. I am now retired from both dentistry and inventing. If I had it all to do over again, I would have done both, because I think both really define who I am.