Origin of Our Company
The WrightGuard, a former company, was founded in 2011 by Dr. Michael Wright, a highly renowned prosthodontist, who is often recommended for full mouth reconstruction and implant surgeries. Dr. Wright began treating traumatic injuries suffered by NFL athletes and youths in amateur sports 23 years ago.
Interviews with several professional athletes, at that time, revealed that mouthguard usage was not mandatory in the NFL but mandatory at the amateur level. Traditional mouthguards that were available on the market were not protective due to their material design and improper sizing. In 2011, Dr. Wright launched a mouthguard awareness program to educate athletes, coaches, trainers, and parents in response to an increase in head trauma and oral facial injuries.
Dr. Wright started developing customized mouthguards for professional athletes in a variety of sports including the NFL, NBA, and professional boxing (For example, he developed customized mouthguards for NFL player Adrian Peterson, NBA player Nate Robinson, and professional Boxer Austin Trout). There was an increased demand of youth athletes desiring to emulate what their heroes (professional athletes) wore but were unable to afford the customized version of.
Dr. Wright became passionate about providing a market solution for youth athletes, and after two years of research, he decided to create his own brand of traditional “boil and bite” mouthguards, to target youth contact football athletes. Soon, the company quickly gained brand recognition through the endorsements of star athletes and the use of player’s platforms to educate and raise awareness.
Subsequently, after a soft launch of the first product, a boil-and-bite mouthguard, the company grew quickly from 2 employees to 20 in less than a year and could not keep up with the demands of the customers and needed to raise additional capital. During this time Dr. Wright also gained experience working with tooling and manufacturing companies to transform his innovative mouthguard designs into actual manufactured products. The death of Jordan McNair, a student-athlete and football star at the University of Maryland - who died due to a heat stroke - further sealed Dr. Wright’s resolve to design an even better mouthguard and conceived the concept of a smart mouthguard named ATIMEOUT™. After obtaining two United States patents, Dr. Wright founded his next company, TWG Innovations in partnership with the University of Maryland in 2019 to specifically commercialize the smart mouthguard, ATIMEOUT™.
The Team
Dr. Michael Wright, CEO and Founder
Dr. Michael Wright is a leader in the field of Prosthodontics and sports dentistry, with a background in treating traumatic injuries and complete oral reconstruction. Dr. Wright has provided enhanced cosmetic and reconstructive services beyond the scope of general dentistry for over a decade. His ultimate goal was to reduce traumatic oral/facial injuries using a proactive approach by developing his own mouthguard design, TWG Innovations.
After recent sports injuries, Dr. Wright became passionate about creating a product that would be life-saving, especially to those in youth leagues, where medical personnel are often not present.
Dr. Radi Masri Prosthodontist
Dr. Radi Masri is the chief of the division of Prosthodontics at the University of Maryland. He has more than 20 years of experience in device development and innovation.
Steven Ramirez Data Scientist
Steven J. Ramirez is the CEO of Berkeley, Calif.-based Beyond the Arc, Inc., a firm recognized as a leader in helping companies transform their customer experiences by leveraging advanced analytics. In addition to developing and executing the vision for Beyond the Arc, Ramirez leads teams of data and strategy consultants committed to client success. They analyze customer and social media data, combined with text analysis, to drive customer growth, improve customer retention, understand service breaks, and build stronger customer loyalty.
Glenn Sicard Software Engineer
Bruce Johnson Data Scientist
Dr. Arun Karunanithi Chemical/Material Engineer
Dr. Arun Karunanithi is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Denver with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on the intersection of chemical engineering, material science, and operations research applied to technology development, in areas such as point-of-care diagnostic sensor technologies. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2012 for his research related to the design and development of new eco-friendly chemicals and materials called ionic liquids.
University of Maryland Collaborators
Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
Advisors
Benjamin Young Business Mentor and Venture Capitalist
Ben is a proven leader with over 20 years of experience managing and delivering business and information technology solutions. He possesses a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit combined with a deep passion for both technology and business. His skill set ranges from executive management, software development, product management, to sales and marketing.
Specialties: Mobile & Internet Technology Strategy (includes the whole whole spectrum from Business Development to Software Development)
Vernon Davis Former NFL Athlete
Vernon Davis, a former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers (2006-2015), Denver Broncos (2016, where he won the Super Bowl), Washington Redskins (2019), and current movie actor, will serve as a brand ambassador for TWG, assisting us in reaching millions of young athletes.