Two University of Maryland, Baltimore dental professors learned there?s no limit to what people will pay for a healthy, shiny smile.
“Your teeth are very important, from a cosmetic standpoint,” said Dr. Gary Hack, a UMB dental professor. “We?re seeing tremendous growth in the cosmetic industry.”
Hack and fellow UMB dental professor Dr. Leonard Litkowski hope their tooth-care invention will take a bite out of the expanding oral health care industry ? a global pie totaling $30 billion in annual revenues.
Hack and Litkowski invented an ingredient for toothpaste and other dental products ? called NovaMin ? that relieves tooth sensitivity, re-mineralizes tooth structure, whitens teeth and enhances overall tooth health.
NovaMin Technology Inc., based in Alachua, Fla., purchased the technology and markets dental products with the substance to dental offices and companies around the world. Worldwide sales of NovaMin have thus far generated more than $3 million.
“Our view is, this represents a fundamental advance in tooth and oral care,” said Randy Scott, president and CEO of NovaMin Technology. “Our expectation is, it will become something people expect in oral and tooth products.”
Hack and Litkowski began developing the technology 12 years ago, as Hack researched tooth sensitivity and Litkowski studied bone regeneration. The two professors collaborated to create NovaMin.
For their research, development and marketing of NovaMin, Hack and Litkowski were recently named UMB?s Entrepreneurs of the Year.
“A lot of our professors have been encouraged to take their technology to the market,” Hack said.
The technology has led to 35 patents worldwide, while more than 30 additional patents are pending approval. UMB has received more than $290,000 from licenses for NovaMin.
“When we first started out, both of us were pretty naive,” Litkowski said. “It was a lot of research and development, but I don?t think we had any idea what the business side of it was.”
NovaMin appears to be gaining momentum in international markets, including Europe and Asia, Hack said. The focus now shifts to bringing the technology to the United States, in dental offices and eventually retail outlets, Litkowski said.
