DENTISTRY

Dr. Louie Khouri shows how his QwikStrip can be used on a patient, in this case, dental assistant Michelle Hughes, in one of the School's clinics.

Talk with Dr. Louie Khouri and you quickly feel his passion and energy about a product he has invented that, he believes, can improve the lives of oral health care professionals and their patients.

Khouri, who earned his dental degree from Michigan in 1989, invented a product he calls "QwikStrip." He said "dentists, dental students, orthodontists, and dental hygienists will find it user friendly and safe to use. It's designed to help reduce, if not eliminate, any lacerations to a patient's lips or gums."

The product, which is held between a dentist's thumb and index finger, is about the size of a quarter.

Before the QwikStrip was launched last summer, general dentists and orthodontists used a raw steel six-inch serrated blade and abrasive strip to remove cement or other debris between a patient's teeth.

Often cumbersome for a dentist, and frequently dangerous for the patient because of the risk of cuts to the lips and cheeks, Khouri thought there had to be a better way. He decided to do something about it. Three years ago, he began sketching what a new device might look like and discussed his idea with designers and engineers.

What's Different

Khouri, who practices in Manhattan, New York, and Farmington Hills, Michigan, took the original raw steel blades, reduced their length from six inches to one, and encased them in plastic for safety and ease of use in both the anterior or posterior sections of a patient's mouth.

Last summer he finalized the product he is now marketing - a series of color-coded devices, both serrated and abrasive.

The serrated strips remove debris after cementation of crowns, veneers, bridges, inlays, or onlays. The abrasive strips can be used to smoothen and finish an interproximal restoration or create needed space interproximally (IPR) for tooth movement during orthodontic procedures. The abrasive strips have four grits and thicknesses - coarse (0.15 mm), medium (0.10 mm), fine (0.09 mm), and superfine (0.07 mm).

Another benefit of the QwikStrip is that they can be sterilized and used again, so they're cost effective.

Manufactured in New Haven, Michigan, about 500,000 QwikStrips have been sold, a number Khouri hopes will triple in the next two years.

What's Next

The original strips are straight and single sided. The new strips include a curved abrasive strip and a double-sided abrasive strip. The curved version enables the user to maintain the contour of the posterior teeth. The double-sided version can be used to create larger spaces, up to 0.4 mm or more, when needed, during orthodontic procedures. Khouri said he plans to introduce all three versions "as a much-needed, complete system for doing IPR in the near future."

Khouri can be reached by phone (646) 643-1100 or by email mynydoc@aol.com