A Mouth Guard to Improve ... Strength?

A Traverse City dentist has invented a mouth guard for athletes that is not only credited with relieving pain and reducing concussions but also is being touted as a tool to increase strength and improve balance among its users.

Now Dr. Michael Hutchison is taking his invention on the road, telling high school and college coaches about the enhanced capabilities of his brainchild, the PowerPlus Mouth Guard.

“So far, the response has been nothing less than stellar,” he says.

The impetus for the mouth guard started in 2000 when Hutchinson had five patients complaining of pain. “I began to explore treatments,” Hutchison tells The Ticker. “I learned that 95 percent of pain patients had bite misalignments that had not been recognized.”

So Hutchison set about developing a device to assure proper jaw alignment. The result is the PowerPlus Mouth Guard, manufactured by Mayfair Plastics in Gaylord.

“The PowerPlus Mouth Guard is designed to maximize the safety and performance for athletes participating in all sporting activities,” Hutchison says. “It positions the jaw to increase strength, while decreasing the G-force of impact-related head injuries.”

Citing university studies, Hutchison says his $40 mouth guard typically increases an athlete’s strength by 15 to 25 percent. And with 800 football players using it, only four have suffered concussions. That’s an impressive concussion rate of .5 percent. (A 2000 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine identified the concussion rate in high school football at 5.6 percent.)

The first athlete to ever use Hutchison’s device was Ralph Soffredine. Back in 2006 the former city commissioner was training for a weight lifting competition. Hutchison read about Soffredine’s training and called him to talk about the PowerPlus.

“I told him I could improve his best lift by 25 percent,” says Hutchison. Soffredine was interested and tried the new mouth guard.

"My best lift in the over-60 bench press competition was 395 pounds until I was fitted with the PowerPlus Mouth Guard,” writes Soffredine in a testimonial for the device. “The day I had it fitted I lifted 455 pounds. I went on to break the World Record using the PowerPlus Mouth Guard at 446 lbs. If you are in competition, the PowerPlus is a must have."

Since then Hutchison has provided the PowerPlus to a number of football, hockey and wrestling teams. “I realized that the biggest contribution I could make would be with the kids,” he says.

Like many inventors, Hutchison has invested a substantial amount of money and time in developing and marketing his product. In March he’ll be addressing athletic coaches in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tulsa and Phoenix.

His efforts may pay off soon in a big way. He’s attracted the attention of FuturePro Combine, a group founded by former Oakland Raiders wide receiver AC Caswell that conducts clinics for talented high school football players.