By Thomas R. Hirsch, DDS with James Badham and Elaine Murphy

Dr. Thomas Hirsch, creator of Isolite, CEO and co-founder of Isolite Systems

The doctor will see you now.

Ah, the banes of a dentist’s existence. The patient’s mouth is too dark and too wet. The overhead light blinds her and creates shadows that hide critical areas from you. You have to fight with her tongue, and her jaw aches from holding her mouth open. The mantra, “Stay open please. Just a little wider,” does little good. You have to stop working every time she sits up and spits. Your time famine is critical, your appointment book is loaded, the waiting room is full, and you’re falling behind again.

Well, what if you could solve all those problems – right now, today, with a single product? What if you had all the light you could ever want and not a single shadow? What if ineffective aspiration, wandering tongues, and jaw-muscle fatigue could all go the way of the dinosaur? What if you could perform every procedure 20, 30, or even 50 percent faster? Really, truly, no kidding. What if you could diagnose a problem while your patient was in the chair, get his approval, and complete a second, unscheduled, procedure right then and there without having to schedule another appointment? What if you could schedule more procedures in a day and thus generate more profit in the same amount of time? What if you could find 90 minutes in every hour?

Guess what: You can. And all you need is the Isolite™ dryfield illumination system, an ingeniously conceived, superbly engineered, beautifully designed integrated system that will do nothing less than revolutionize your practice. Created by a dentist for dentists, Isolite is the brainchild of Thomas R. Hirsch, DDS, who has a 33-year-old practice in Malibu, California, and his brother, Jim, an accomplished industrial designer who runs his own firm 90 miles up the coast in Santa Barbara.

Maybe it’s all those creativity-inducing negative ions we’re always hearing about in the ocean air, but the brothers have come up with what is literally a winning invention: The Isolite system took home a gold medal at the 2003 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), a prestigious annual event run by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and sponsored by Business Week magazine to promote understanding of how industrial design affects quality of life and the economy.

Revolt Against the Darkness
So what is the Isolite system, and how did this revolution get started? For the story, you have to go back to the dark, pre-Isolite, age of dentistry, when doctors would regularly rail against the fates, raise their hands to the sky and cry out: Why can’t there be more light in the mouth?

After 25 years of noting that his own such pleas were going unheeded, Thomas Hirsch decided to take action. An entrepreneur and an early adopter who goes his own way, follows his own vision, and is often a step ahead of the crowd (occasionally while wearing Converse high-tops with a Giorgio Armani suit), Dr. Hirsch has long embraced dental technology with an inventor’s sense of excitement. He knew what was new, and he knew all too well that in a few fundamental areas of his profession, the state of the art simply wasn’t up to the task. More to the point of his product: The lights in the room were on, but a lot of the time you still couldn’t see what you were doing.

The operatory itself was well lit, but there was never enough light in a patient’s mouth. Overhead lights cast shadows and had to be continually repositioned. Expensive fiber-optic handpieces degraded over time, and headlamps often produced shoulder and neck pain.

And then one day, Dr. Hirsch came up with a particularly bright idea.

“I thought, why not put the light source where it’s needed most, inside the patient’s mouth?” he recalls. “Why not let the patient wear the light? I mean he’s just lying there and I’m doing all the work.”

Once in a while a product comes along that makes dentistry more fun—not just a gadget, but a true advancement. The first time I used the Isolite, I noticed that the patient's mouth was aglow in cool white light, his throat was completely protected, his teeth remained saliva free, and my assistant almost never needed to suction. What else could a dentist ask for? Well, my mirrors never fog either, even the one for intraoral photos! My hat is off to the Brothers Hirsch for conceiving the Isolite and for making that bold idea a reality for my practice.

David Niebergall, DDS – General Dentistry
With 32 years of private practice

The first time I used the Isolite system, it was a revelation. Suddenly I didn’t need my assistant to aspirate, so she could do other things, such as taking Mrs. Jones’s x-rays and cleaning up operatory 2.

After about three weeks, I noticed that I was completing procedures in about 30 to 40 percent less time and consistently finishing early. I started using the time to do more dentistry, including multiple treatments in one appointment.

The Isolite system is particularly effective when I’m working in all four quadrants. For example, if a patient has cavities in every quadrant, I can prepare the teeth in each quadrant with the laser, finding out as I go where anesthetic is needed. Then I can go back and fill the cavities. Because I can simultaneously work on the upper and lower quadrants, I mix fewer materials. I simply go back and forth, putting in fillings on one side, then moving the Isolite mouthpiece and using the same mix for fillings on the other side.

My patients appreciate that Isolite quickens procedures and is far more comfortable than a rubber dam. It’s wonderful for kids, mostly because it gets them out of the chair faster, but also because I don’t have to use as much anesthesia or a rubber dam clamp, which can hurt their little gums.

I call Isolite the “instant oral camera.” If a patient has a broken cusp, for instance, I just hand him a mirror. The light is so bright that he can immediately see what needs repairing.

And because the light transilluminates the teeth, I can diagnose problems while a patient is in the chair, then get his immediate consent to perform the necessary procedure without having to schedule another appointment.

To me, the Isolite system is the greatest thing in dentistry since lights were put in handpieces. You can take away my laser, automix materials, and any number of other tools, but I wouldn’t want to work without the Isolite system—no more fighting the tongue, dealing with saliva, and all the related drudgeries, like asking patients to “open, please” again and again. And, of course, now I can see everything.

Thanks to the Isolite system, I’m working faster and easier with fewer complications. I enjoy doing dentistry more. It makes the work less stressful, and that makes my day better.

He shared the idea with his brother, and when James showed interest, the Hirsches set out to create a prototype. The first model was “simple, straightforward, and uncomplicated,” recalls Dr. Hirsch. “We inserted a tiny light bulb into a block of clear acrylic resin and glued it to the roof of Jim’s mouth, complete with batteries – and wires hanging out. It worked for about a minute, until the resin warmed up.”

Realizing that heat and sensitive mouth tissue were incompatible, they began developing a remote source for the light. As they continued producing prototypes, the scope of their efforts widened and they started addressing related problems, such as the need to aspirate saliva and keep the tongue and cheek out of the way while maintaining sufficient illumination.

“We moved from focusing solely on the lighting challenge to searching for solutions to address all three issues,” says James. “Once we set off in that direction, we knew we were on the brink of a significant advancement in productivity for all dentists, a classic moment of technologies converging to create a quantum leap in productivity. We were no longer just building a better mousetrap.”

The next breakthrough came when, in an effort to control manufacturing costs, the brothers combined in one tool – a soft, comfortable single-mold-injection disposable mouthpiece that had no parts to assemble – solutions to dentistry’s three bedrock challenges: illumination, aspiration, and retraction. Suddenly they had something that wasn’t just evolutionary but revolutionary – and clearly superior to anything on the market.

The Isolite™ dryfield illumination system was born. The brothers applied for patents, which were granted in 2000.

Having found the big idea, the Hirsches were at a crossroad. “To realize the product’s potential,” says James, “we had to either license it or form a company ourselves to manufacture and distribute it to the dental community. We decided to take the hard road.”

Bright Makes Right
In 2001, the brothers incorporated their company as Isolite Systems, headquartered in Santa Barbara. The next year was a whirlwind of securing financing, arranging manufacturing sources, developing marketing plans, conducting field trials, and hiring employees, including Jim’s wife, Sandi. A CPA and a graduate of the entrepreneurial program at the University of Southern California School of Business Administration, Sandi brought crucial business acumen to the new venture. With everything in place, the team worked frantically to get their product to market.

“For years, I was afraid to open my dental magazines,” Tom recalls, “I was sure someone else would develop the product before us.” But no one did, which came as no surprise to Tom’s colleagues. “He’s always been one step ahead of us all,” said his former dental school roommate.

In 2002, the system was ready, and Tom began to introduce it. But in doing so, he encountered an unexpected obstacle, a kind of “too good to be true” phenomenon. The Isolite worked; he knew that. But dentists doubted that a single product could do so much. Eventually the Hirsch brothers decided that the only way to overcome dentists’ skepticism was to offer a live demonstration. So Dr. Hirsch went to the California Dental Association meeting in Anaheim, California. He took with him one prototype and his conviction that he had a revolutionary product. Using a live model in a dental chair, he put the system through its paces. Despite no advertising and with his product still in pre-production, he sold almost 60 systems.

One Good Light: The Benefits
“Illuminate, Aspirate, and Retract” is an Isolite slogan, and dentists who see the system in action quickly appreciate just how well the product functions. Dentists who purchase one find that, out of the box, it’s ready to be seamlessly integrated into their practice.

The unit consists of a fiber-optic light source and bundle coupled with a vacuum line that deliver light and aspiration to the patented disposable Isolite mouthpiece, which is molded from a soft, flexible latex-free polymer called Isoflex™. The mouthpiece, in turn, comfortably delivers tongue and cheek retraction. The bilateral symmetry of Isolite allows it to be used on the right or left side of a patients’ mouth, with access to both upper and lower arches simultaneously.

Illumination The light is the most obvious benefit of the Isolite system, the only integrated system that lights the oral cavity from the inside out, eliminating shadows created by conventional lighting. The bright white fiber-optic light (an attenuator switch allows for easy adjustment, and a built-in amber filter can be switched on for working with photosensitive materials) illuminates the entire mouth, while also transilluminating the teeth, thus enhancing diagnostic capability. A simple hand mirror becomes a powerful marketing tool as patients can quickly and clearly see trouble spots revealed by the system’s superior lighting, and consent to an unscheduled procedure.

As veteran Isolite user Dr. Dave Niebergall likes to say, “You can’t treat what you don’t see.” And because the Isolite can be switched from one side of the mouth to the other in seconds, procedures can be performed in any quadrant immediately.

“You can work on multiple arches and in different quadrants in the same appointment,” says Dr. Niebergall. “It’s like finding an extra 20 minutes every hour!”

Aspiration As the only system to provide continuous, on-demand aspiration of the buccal and sublingual vestibules, Isolite keeps patients’ mouths dry and free of debris and oral fluids. That eliminates interruptions from sit-up and spit and ends the need for a dedicated chair-side assistant to aspirate. This enables the dentist to work faster by eliminating the competition for visual access and allowing him to position the patient’s head for optimal visibility and ergonomics. Additionally, the assistant is free to perform other more profitable tasks, such as taking x-rays, studying model impressions, and doing sealants. In an economy constrained by imposed fixed prices, it’s easy to appreciate the incredible boost in productivity that results from continuous hands-free aspiration.

Retraction The Isolite system is also the only product that effectively and comfortably provides total dry field isolation to both upper and lower quadrants simultaneously, eliminating the need for cotton rolls, dry angles, or rubber dams. The mouthpiece comes in three sizes (adult small and medium, and pedo) and provides complete tongue and cheek protection and retraction. By fully retracting the tongue behind the soft wall of the mouthpiece, Isolite creates both a perceived and actual safe zone for the tongue and airway. The built-in biteblock allows the patient to comfortably rest her jaw. Freed from struggling to keep her mouth open and her tongue out of the way, and released from concerns about accidental injury, the patient is more comfortable and relaxed.

Time Machine, Money Maker
With doctor comfort being enhanced vastly via efficiency of motion, and patient comfort increased through improved mechanics of retraction, the Isolite system takes dentistry to a new level of comfort, efficiency, and profitability.

Experience with the Isolite to date has shown that a dentist seeing 50 patients every week can increase his income by 11 percent, without working extra hours. “I think of it as the dental equivalent of frequent flyer miles,” says Dr. Niebergall. “You gain extra time with every procedure.” “It’s like a new kind of time machine,” says Sandi Hirsch. “It creates time where there wasn’t any before.”

The Isolite system reduces staff time on every procedure, reduces the time you spend on both simple and complex procedures (thus allowing you to see more patients, or complete more procedures, and earn more income), and allows you to get more out of your practice in every way. Asked to identify specific dental procedures and situations in which the Isolite system would be most effective, Dr. Niebergall replied, “Any procedure where the patient has a tongue, salivary glands, cheeks, and muscles.”

With a 30-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty, there’s no risk in trying the Isolite system. So step out of the Dark Ages and into the brightest light to hit the dental profession in a very long time.

Thomas R. Hirsch, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Isolite Systems and creator of the Isolite dryfield illuminator. Based in Malibu, he has been operating his private dental practice for more than 30 years, specializing in cosmetic dentistry and full-mouth reconstruction. Dr. Hirsch has also served for 10 years as an instructor of clinical dentistry at the University of Southern California. Isolite Headquarters: 800-560-6066