When Dr. Thad Johnston’s team couldn’t find an agreeable solution for doing streamlined two-handed dentistry, he invented one himself, combining a high-volume evacuator with a dental mirror.

BY EDWARD KOBESKY. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF DR. THAD JOHNSTON

RUN, DON’T WALK, to a patent attorney if you ever have a great idea—or even think you do. That’s Dr. Thad Johnston’s advice for dentists who, like him, devise a problem-solving product with genuine commercial potential. Not that he set out to do so. “The whole thing was just trying to come up with a better idea for my hygienists,” he says.

The a-ha moment happened on a late Friday afternoon during the summer of 2020 at Dr. Johnston’s practice in Gastonia, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. His team was shopping for something to help them reduce dangerous aerosols while performing dentistry with fewer hands as patients flooded back after Covid lockdowns. “We tried a few products for running their ultrasonics, but the team just wasn’t satisfied,” he says. “After everybody went home, I sat down, grabbed an HVE tip and a mirror and started trying to figure it out: basically, a way to combine them without it being a big deal.”

Forward, Fast

It was a rollercoaster ride thereafter. Dr. Johnston, who has a BS in aerospace and an engineer dad, is a born problem solver. A few days later, after doing some preliminary drawings and fiddling with the parts, he developed a working prototype for his team. “Do you guys think we have something here?” he asked. The answer was a resounding yes. The team agreed: This was something many other offices could embrace.

He called a friend, former Benco Dental service tech Stephen Petterson, to ask if he knew any industry insiders who could point him in the right direction for taking it to market. (Spoi­ler alert: Petterson did.) A few twists and turns later, he found himself on the phone with Stacie Barth, a former senior execu­tive at Hu-Friedy. “We talked for what seemed like an hour,” Dr. Johnston says. “She told me what to research in terms of patents to see if there was already something similar. There wasn’t. And that kind of got the whole thing going.”

Loose Lips Sink Inventors

At this point, Dr. Johnston knew it was high time to hire a patent attorney. “He told me, ‘Do not share this with anyone. Don’t ask anybody for recommendations on how to make it better. Because if you do, and you get this patent, they can stake a claim.’ ” His attorney fast-tracked the work, and by the following week, Dr. Johnston had a provisional patent for the HVE Mirror Connect Kit. Hiring a patent lawyer was expensive, he admits, but worth it in more ways than one. “He could really express for the paperwork, in detail, what I was trying to convey. I think that was a big help getting the provisional.”

Part inspiration, part perspiration: Dr. Johnston’s initial drawings showed all the major features of the HVE Mirror Connect Kit, including an early idea of how the mirror might securely lock into place.

Taking shape: Dr. Johnston’s first prototype was shaped and cut using—what else?—an old dental bur.

First time’s the charm: Unlike the work of most inventors, Dr. Johnston’s initial project was a home run that was quickly licensed by Hu-Friedy.

Dog days: Dr. Johnston was awarded a provisional patent within weeks of his invention during summer 2020, but it would take years of waiting (and considerable legal fees) before final approval.

Better idea: The production version of Hu-Friedy’s HVE Mirror Connect Kit transforms standard four-handed dentistry into comfortably streamlined two-handed dentistry, combining the visibility of an integrated mirror and high-volume evacuator with a lacrosse-style mouth that optimizes suction.

Hu-Friedy ended up with a joint patent recognizing Dr. Johnston’s ingenious contributions, like developing a set of teeth that allowed the mirror to click firmly into the HVE instead of the grub screw arrangement that he originally imagined.

Dr. Johnston briefly entertained the idea of developing and manufacturing it himself, but that would’ve cost a small fortune. Besides, Hu-Friedy helped him get this far and was waiting in the wings—and there was still work to do. “It landed on Jim Stango, Hu-Friedy’s director of engineering, to help massage it into a viable product,” Dr. Johnston says. They ended up with a joint patent recognizing his ingenious contributions, like developing a set of teeth that allowed the mirror to click firmly into the HVE instead of the grub screw arrangement that Dr. Johnston originally imagined.

To Market, to Market

In the years since, progress has been more deliberate. The wheels at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office turn slowly, and Dr. Johnston’s  final patent wasn’t awarded until the end of 2024—more than three years since his lightbulb moment. Along the way, he negotiated a licensing deal with Hu-Friedy, which he believes is a better choice than selling one’s  invention outright. “This way, the inventor benefits from royalties for the life of the patent. We’ll share in its success or failure, and we’ll both have skin in the game.” The product is catching on, and Dr. Johnston says it’s gratifying that other practices will benefit from his idea—and perhaps subsequent ones as well. “I’m always looking at things and seeing if there’s a better way to do them.”