Working

Vonda Strong-Manley, RDH, MS

From a young age, there were two things Vonda Strong-Manley, RDH, MS, knew for certain she wanted to become: a dental hygienist and an inventor. "In fourth grade, I did a science fair project on the histology of the tooth. For some reason, I was just fascinated by it; by what all is in a tooth, how it works and what it does."

The allure of a career in dental hygiene was solidified a few years later when two of her older brothers married dental assistants. "I really admired them and looked up to them," said Strong-Manley, referring to her sisters-in-law. "I would go to their dental offices and they seemed like really nice work environments, and I thought 'I want to be in this type of environment.'"

After graduating from high school, Strong-Manley enrolled in a four-month dental assisting program so that she could work as a dental assistant while attending dental hygiene school.

In 1979, Strong-Manley graduated from Eastern Washington University with her bachelor of science in dental hygiene. A native of California, Strong-Manley chose to attend college in Washington State because, at the time, it allowed dental hygienists the most progressive expanded duties options. "We were giving anesthetic and doing some restorative work even back then," she explained.

After graduation, Strong-Manley practiced as a clinical dental hygienist. While working full time in clinical practice, she attended graduate school at night. In 1982, she graduated from Whitworth College with her master of science in Health Sciences.

Strong-Manley enjoyed interacting with her patients, but cringed every time she saw that somebody was scheduled for full-mouth X-rays. "I just knew something had to be done about this. I would always say to patients as I was running out of the room to take the X-ray, "I'm sorry, I'll be really fast, I know this is uncomfortable."

The idea of inventing something had been in the back of Strong-Manley's mind since she met her great aunt, who had been an inventor. "When she was a young woman it was quite unusual that woman would get a patent. As a child, I remember thinking, 'that is so cool, I want to invent something.'"

When taking X-rays, Strong-Manley would often say to herself, "Whoever invents a comfortable X-ray is going to make a million bucks. So one day I thought, why do I keep saying that?"

In the early '80s, Strong-Manley decided to stop dreaming and start creating. "I started by cutting out shapes," she said. "I had my first batch [of Edge-Ease X-Ray Comfort Cushions] made; the minimum they would make was 25,000 and I thought, oh my goodness, I'm going to take these to my grave."

"I never thought I'd go through the first 25,000, and I've sold hundreds of millions," said Strong-Manley. "I gave them to my friends, and before I knew it they were asking for more and more."

In 1985, Strong-Manley established Strong Dental Products and applied for her first patent. In 1989, after working in clinical practice for 10 years, Strong-Manley decided it was time to focus solely on her young, growing business.

Over the last two decades, Strong Dental Products has transformed, as the dental industry has gone through many technology-related changes. "I originally thought, digital is going to come out and my product isn't going to be needed anymore," said Strong-Manley. She quickly realized that digital X-ray products were even more uncomfortable and complicated than traditional ones. "I [realized] there are so many things I can do to incorporate simplicity into a new product and improve the comfort."

In the last few years, Strong-Manley has concentrated on getting her new products to market. She now has a private label agreement with Patterson Dental, meaning that in addition to her own name, her products will bear that of Patterson Dental as well, which she expects will jump-start sales.

When manufacturing new products-which she herself designs-Strong-Manley always remembers her guiding motto: "More comfortable for the patient and easier for the operator." To date, she has applied for and received six dental-related patents.

Strong-Manley misses the patient-interaction side of working as a clinical dental hygienist. "I loved the whole nurturing aspect of hygiene. You get so close to the families when you see the little kids grow up, and I miss the camaraderie of the office staff who became like family."

"Throughout my whole career, when taking X-rays, I would say things like, 'why can't somebody make these X-rays more comfortable?'" said Strong-Manley. "It makes me feel good that I've improved the comfort of X-rays in the dental profession."

In addition to her dental-related products, Strong-Manley has also invented numerous other goods, including Beach Sunless Tanning Lotion, which was featured on The Today Show.

Strong-Manley has been a member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association for nearly 20 years. To find out more about Vonda Strong-Manley, please contact her via email at vondamanley@comcast.net or her Web site at strongdentalproducts.com.

This edition of Working was prepared by Katie Barge