Gaithersburg High School alumni, Dr. George Garbis and Viron Wildy, have developed innovative new protection for athletes provides visual alert for overheating
ThermoPact will debut its groundbreaking MouthShield to the public at this year’s Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association (PSFCA) Big 33 football weekend, where a team of Pennsylvania all-stars will go head-to-hea d with Maryland’s finest 33 high school players.
The mouthguard was created by Dr. George Garbis and Viron Wildy, 1989 graduates of Gaithersburg High School. Dr. Garbis, now a Maryland dentist, tells us that he started thinking about the issue after Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair died of heatstroke during a football workout that raised his body temperature to 106° in 2018. As a father and coach, he wanted to create something that could provide protection against something like this happening again.
The ThermoPact MouthShield, which is currently available for pre-order for July delivery, absorbs up to 50% more impact than leading boil and bite mouthguards and its patent-pending material changes color when oral temperature reaches dangerous levels, serving as a critical alert for potential heat-related injuries.
Per a press release, ThermoPact will be providing MouthShields to all of the m athletes taking part in the Big 33 All-Star game, scheduled for Monday May 30 at 2 p.m. at Bishop McDevitt’s Rocco Ortenzio Stadium.
During the event weekend – which kicks off’ Friday. May 27 – MouthShield co-inventor Dr. George Garbis will provide custom MouthShield fittings in the ThermoPact kiosk. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the new MouthShield at a pre-sale discount of 15% off (for July
2022 product delivery).
“The Big 33 is an amazing event,” said Dr. Garbis, a Maryland-based dentist who will be available for interviews at the event. “And it’s the perfect venue for spotlighting the benefits of the ThermoPact MouthShield, which protects athletes from impacts and dental injuries as well as provides a visual alert of overheating. Nearly one-third of all athletes experience some level of heat-related injury and the ThermoPact MouthShield is designed to be an indicator of a rise in oral temperature.
“In my career as a high school coach and certified speed and movement specialist, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating injuries that can occur on the field, including those that were heat-related.” said co-inventor Viron Wildy. “We’re excited to show all the benefits the ThermoPact MouthShield has to offer.’ The PSFCA Big 33 Football Classic is called “the Super Bowl of high school football” and, since
its launch in 1957, has come to be considered one of the finest scholastic football All-Star games in the U.S. Famous Big 33 alumni include several Hall of Fame National Football League
lavers.
For more intormation about this event, visit Big33.org
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1 comment
Thanks for this interesting piece. Allow me to raise two items:
1. A key trigger for why Mr. McNair lost his life to EHS (exertional heat stroke) is that the field was synthetic turf. These plastic fields can get 60 degrees hotter than grass fields, shown by decades of evidence. Look at #FlipTheTurf re NFL.
Last Saturday May 21 at 2:30 it was 165 degrees on the BCC HS field, on a 90-degree day. Climate change will make these fields more dangerous, for more hours/day and more days/year. Perhaps there are better places to put athletes than toxic, lethally-hot plastic that generates dramatically more injuries (#FlipTheTurf is less than 2 minutes long).
2. It would be helpful to know what temperature readings are shown by the mouthguard: At what temperature does it change color/light up? 100 degrees? 102? Related questions should include how long the units last before the heat-sensing element has reduced effectiveness, how many hours/uses/impacts before the mouthguard has to be replaced etc.
I look forward to reading more on this product, Diana