Dental patient develops retainer cleaner
By Emily Bregel
Staff Writer
Ten years ago, after a friend made fun of his crooked teeth, Lookout Mountain resident Mike Pollock decided it was time for braces.
The now 44-year-old businessman said that shortly after his teeth were straightened, he confronted the nagging problem of removing the calcium and dirt build-up from his orthodontic retainer.
"Short of a chisel, it's very difficult to get this stuff off," he said. "The fizzy tablets did not work for me at all."
Dissatisfied with the cleansers already on the market, Mr. Pollock set to work mixing up his own cleaner.
Retainer Splash, the recently trademarked name for the product, has kept his retainer "sparkling clean" for a decade, Mr. Pollock said.
Though he said the project had been on the back burner for years, Mr. Pollock finally in 2006 set up a company, RTSP LLC, to house and market Retainer Splash.
"It's one of those concepts I just don't want to look back someday and say, 'Gosh, I wish I had done that,' " he said.
He invested between $10,000 and $15,000 to develop and launch the product, which is available for $10.95 for an 8-ounce bottle on the Web site www.retainersplash.com, he said.
Mr. Pollock has run a management consultant business, RedPoint Management, out of his home office for five years. Although he said his true passion lies in management consulting, he's become immersed in his Retainer Splash project.
"I really get my buzz working with people and helping them develop their careers -- that's what I really want to do. But I've got to see this (project) through," he said.
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Staff Photo by John Rawlston |
Mr. Pollock declined to specify his revenues so far, aside from noting that they were "very small," but said that he has sold to people in Nashville, Virginia and North Carolina, as well as requests for samples from retail buyers in California, Missouri and Texas.
Mr. Pollock's dedication to the product comes as no surprise to his orthodontist, Dr. Dewayne McCamish, who has a dental practice on Brainerd Road.
"He was probably one of the most meticulous individuals I've ever treated," he said. "He was unhappy with the standard recommendations we made" for how to clean his retainer.
The solution is one of the most effective on the market, said Dr. McCamish, whose wife uses Retainer Splash.
"I really became a believer in his product," he said.
In the United States, about 2.7 million people a year complete orthodontic treatment and are prescribed to wear a retainer, said Pam Paladin, spokeswoman for the American Association of Orthodontists.
With such a large market, Mr. Pollock said his product could bring in significant revenues by capturing just a small percentage of the retainer-clad population.
"It's got enormous potential," he said.
An alumnus of Baylor School, Mr. Pollock graduated from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga in 1987 with a degree in psychology. He attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, graduating with a masters of science degree in organizational development in 1991.
Mr. Pollock said he hopes to find a business partner or a manufacturer who would be interested in a licensing agreement to take the product to a broader market.
"That's the dream," he said.
E-mail Emily Bregel at ebregel@timesfreepress.com
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