It’s weird how ideas come to light. In the case of Les Kalman, all it took was several bruises, multiple casts and full orthodontic braces.
A 2009 motorbike racing accident left the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professor, at the time a local dentist, “buggered up” and unable to work for a bit.
“So there’s me, a dentist, I’d be 39 at the time, in full orthodontic braces,” Kalman smirked. “So I went out to buy whatever was out there (for flossing). I thought there’d be something out there and I’d just buy it, I really did.”
He “tried everything out there,” but the products simply oscillated and weren’t doing the job.
“I’ve always tinkered with product development, so I kind of went to work,” Kalman said. “I wanted to harness ultrasonics, but I didn’t want to invent a motor.”
So he bought a motor, then created a series of attachments to fit overtop allowing him to reach behind the braces with an authority one could only find, ironically, in a dentist office.
Voila, the Ultrasonic Flosser.
But along with Kalman’s ingenuity comes the knowledge that getting an idea from his head to the production line is a whole other story.
“Every idea you have you think is the next big thing, but the reality is in this economy, to bring in new ideas it’s really business driven,” he said. “It’s all about how much is it going to cost? When can I make money?”
But there were some folks who thought Kalman had a great idea.
Through inventbay.com, a site where inventors can toss around ideas, the W television network’s Backyard Inventors approached Kalman to showcase his invention on their new show.
“It was a little weird at first, ’cause it was sort of low production. You were invited to someone’s home and it’s like I was going to get rolled for my wallet, but no, we just chatted,” laughed Kalman, who did his undergraduate schooling at Western. “They called me again, asked me to return to Toronto to do some filming.”
With the show’s idea more focused on the creative process – as opposed to wanting the solid business plan such as a Dragon’s Den-type format – Backyard Inventors helped Kalman file a provisional patent, covering all the legal and administrative fees.
“The way we left it was let’s see how it goes from there,” he said. “As the show grew, they decided they were only going to get involved to the provisional patent level and would not be extending anything.
“After that you’re on your own. That’s sort of where this started and ended.”
But it may not have stalled.
Johnson & Johnson has shown some interest in Kalman’s work. He admits, at this point, he’d be all for selling the idea. With his side company, Research Driven, which showcases research and development with the aim to further validate intellectual property into industrial and marketing possibilities, he loves the idea of taking a product to the next level. But he understands it can’t be his entire focus.
Beginning his second year at Western, Kalman’s time as a clinical instructor, as well as the ability to collaborate with others on his research, drives him today.
“It’s fun to go through the (invention) process, but at the same time, it’s nice to be here. I have a much better collaborative effect at Western, whereas in private practice, you tell no one,” he said.
He may approach someone in rehabilitative medicine regarding his ultrasonic flosser for a possible collaboration.
“Dentistry is still a bit behind in Canada, technologically, than other professions, like medicine. There are lots of ways to find improvements for the dentist and the patient. I try to bring stuff that I’ve learned elsewhere and it helps to now have the university behind me. Change is always good and when one door closes, another one opens. I’ve always wanted to be affiliated here because we have a lot of great work going on. It’s been unbelievably receptive.”
Kalman has also found a way back into the motorsport world. While his accident now keeps him off the bike, he’s since found the next best thing to competition – sports photography.
“I guess because I don’t ride anymore it’s a great excuse to go to the track,” he said. “Plus, being a fan of it, there’s no better way to get close to the action than being a photographer and getting behind the scenes.”
While just a hobby, Kalman’s natural skills behind the lens has seen his work appear in a number of publications such as Inside Motorcycles magazine and the website motorgp.com. His talents have taken him to such places at California and Spain to shoot races.
Kalman said with his new position at Western, his love of tinkering and inventing, and his need for speed in the motoring world, life is good.
“It’s about finding your strengths and where you fit in.”