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Dr. Anil Makkar was trudging up the stairs of his home in Truro, N.S., after a busy day at his dental practice when his cellphone rang.
He peered at the name on the call display in disbelief before bringing the phone to his ear.
"Doc? Doc, is that you? It's Manny. Do you remember me from spring training camp last week?"
The caller was baseball superstar Manny Ramirez. The small-town dentist had met the baseball player five days earlier at the Boston Red Sox spring training camp in Fort Meyers, Fla. While there, he had hand-delivered to Mr. Ramirez a specially fitted sports orthotic designed by his company, Pure Power Mouthguard Group. They had chatted briefly about the device, but Dr. Makkar still couldn't believe that a world-famous athlete was calling him on his cell.
He paced to his bedroom and stared wide-eyed at his wife, Neeraj Makkar, as Mr. Ramirez continued speaking in his rich Dominican accent.
"I would like to talk to you about sponsorship," the athlete said, explaining that he loved the mouthguard. When the dentist hung up a few minutes later, he knew that everything had changed for his small company. Finally, after more than two years of travel, trade shows and an aggressive, but uphill, media relations campaign, he had hit a home run.
Like a match touched to tinder, news media across North America were suddenly clamouring to tell the story of the plastic moulds that not only protect teeth but, even more important, improve athletic performance.
At that point, in March, 2008, only 30 specially trained neuromuscular dentists were fitting the devices for clients, and some 50 professional athletes and 100 amateurs were using them. Today, more than 250 dentists in North America, Australia and Singapore are distributing the mouthguards, while about 225 professional athletes and 2,000 amateur athletes have been fitted. Only dentists certified by the Pure Power Mouthguard can do the fittings.
Some of these athletes have noted that their strength and endurance, on tests involving chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and bench presses, have improved by as much as 50 per cent. St. Louis Rams kicker Josh Brown has increased the weights he lifts by 20 pounds, according to Dr. Makkar. And on the Pure Power Mouthguard website, NBA veteran basketball player Michael Redd claims the device has significantly helped his strength, endurance and flexibility.
In return for their endorsements, professional athletes receive free mouthguards, which typically cost $1,700. Some may be offered a limited number of company shares.
Pure Power Mouthguard's story began in January, 2006, when a Yarmouth, N.S., fisherman complained to Dr. Makkar of severe neck pain and headaches. Hoping to alleviate stress in the man's jaw hinges (a.k.a. the temporomandibular joints), the dentist fitted him with a custom-made plastic mouthpiece. Two weeks later, the patient reported his pains were gone but that's not all. Inexplicably, the fisherman also felt stronger.
Dr. Makkar began to think about applying the technology to a sports mouthguard. He approached his fitness trainer, Chuck Sproule, because the dentist had noted that the man's jaw appeared to be out of line with his spine. Using state-of-the-art neuromuscular measurement machines at his clinic, Dr. Makkar fitted Mr. Sproule for a prototype of the Pure Power Mouthguard, which placed the trainer's jaw in a relaxed position. Theoretically, this perfect positioning improves posture, opens the windpipe and releases tension in the face, neck and shoulders, allowing the rest of the body to focus.
To their delight, Mr. Sproule's balance and strength instantly improved.
Before taking his design to market in 2006, Dr. Makkar hired Aurum Ceramic Dental Laboratories in Calgary to manufacture the mouthguards from the impressions of clients' teeth that the CEO hoped would soon begin arriving from certified practitioners.
Dr. Makkar began promoting the mouthguard among fellow graduates of the Dalhousie University dentistry program in Halifax. He also contacted Nova Scotia sports coaches and trainers, and persuaded a few local athletes to give the device a try.
Initially, when Dr. Makkar took his product to the market, he met plenty of resistance from skeptics who couldn't believe a mouth device could actually improve athletic performance.
Then, in December, 2007, after he conducted a 10-minute seminar about the mouthguard at a Major League Baseball trainers' association meeting in Nashville, Tenn, a Boston Red Sox trainer invited him to try it out on some of his players. But when Dr. Makkar sent a few of his certified dentists to the team's Florida spring training camp in Florida, the players scoffed at the concept.
"They all said it was hocus-pocus and full of crap," said Dr. Makkar.
One of the dentists, Dr. Scott Wagner of Jacksonville, Fla., implored the players to give the product a chance. No one was interested.
In a last-ditch attempt, Dr. Wagner approached Manny Ramirez, who was training alone on the field. "Yeah, sure, I'll try it. I'll try it," Mr. Ramirez said, and stepped inside with Dr. Wagner.
Moments later, a temporary version between his teeth, Mr. Ramirez strode back out onto the field, grabbed a bat and smashed ball after ball out of the park.
- Connect with Anil Makkar
Dr. Makkar will take your questions on the power of celebrity sponsorship for a small business on Friday, October 17 at 1 p.m. ET. Click here to submit your question.
- Expert insight
"They have to be careful about getting too locked in on this being Manny's thing. You can come out with a lot of good academic papers on the product, but if people see Manny striking out, it's not going to matter anymore," says Tatsuya Nakagawa, owner of Burnaby, B.C.-based Atomica Sports Marketing. He explores the risks and rewards of aligning your brand with a star athlete or celebrity in an online Q&A. Click here for more and to pose your own question to Mr. Nakagawa.
- Send us your Breakthrough
Know a business that has experienced a big breakthrough? We want to hear about it. Email: nhulsman@globeandmail.com.