About
A~flexX Assist Arm Story
The A~flexX Assist Arm was invented by Aurelia Byrne, a registered dental hygienist, and Gary Slowinski. People ask me all the time how I came up with the idea. The truth is, it came to me while I was in dental hygiene school. I’d been in dentistry for over 27 years, and it wasn’t until I went back to school to become a hygienist that it finally clicked.
Dental hygiene school was tough. Our instructors were always hammering us on proper instrumentation and ergonomics, and I was challenged daily trying to juggle my LVE and ultrasonic instrumentation. I just wished I had an extra hand, something to hold my LVE in place! That’s where the idea for the A~flexX came from. When I graduated in 2016, I needed that extra hand more than ever. It became my vision to bring dentistry a product that could help every solo clinician.
The A~flexX is your helping hand. It’s an adjunct that helps eliminate some of the repetitive motion disorders so many dental professionals suffer from. It frees up your non-dominant hand, so you can use your mouth mirror for indirect vision and better cheek retraction. Too often, hygienists compromise their bodies just to see into a patient’s mouth. Over time, the body rebels and the pain sets in. Maybe you don’t notice it now, but without proper ergonomics, some form of repetitive muscular disorder will catch up with you.
The A~flexX is the third arm every dental hygienist needs. This arm is your personal assistant. I know how hard it is to keep every patient happy and comfortable, but there comes a point where we have to think about ourselves and take care of our own bodies. If we don’t, we can’t keep taking care of everyone else. Always practice mindful ergonomics — YOU ARE IMPORTANT!!
As time went on, I knew I wanted to develop more ergonomic products, so I started working on a lightweight HVE hose. The Infinity Hose was originally made for dental assistants, who suffer from repetitive motion disorders just as much as hygienists do — if not more. Then COVID-19 hit in 2020, and A~flexX made a major pivot. We had been working on an HVE Assist Arm, and out of that came our A~flexX Aerosol Mitigation systems. We helped a lot of dentists and hygienists get through that time.
Today, A~flexX is proud to be in 24 dental hygiene schools and to have been featured in Gordon Christensen’s CR Review twice. We pride ourselves on excellent customer service, and we often build custom arms for specific needs. I have more products coming that I know can help the future of dental ergonomics. I believe in helping and serving others, and I believe you’ll love what we make.
Gary and Aurelia: Our Journey
The A~flexX had been a vision for quite some time. But, most of the credit goes to Earl. Earl started traveling from Jamaica the 2nd of August in 2016. Earl landed in Belize, Guatemala and traveled North through Mexico. You see guys, Earl was a hurricane.
Earl’s power had shut down air travel in-and-out of Mexico. Here’s where boy-meets-girl again. Prior to being stuck now together in the airport, they had met prior that week, at a pool party then carrying on to a birthday celebration at a beautiful Mountain Home in Cabo San Lucas overlooking the Sea Of Cortez. This day is when boy-meets-girl.
So, they decide to make the most of this hurricane and head back to the East Coast of Mexico to soak up some more Mexican culture. Literally it rained for 3 days straight. During this time, the two had realized they were traveling on the same vibration in life. They both had similar visions of giving back and helping people. They also realized that each other strengths were the other’s weaknesses. This energy created by Mother Nature kept these two together and this organic partnership formed. This is where the A~flexX began its journey helping people.
Two weeks later we started writing the patent and since then we have been building on the A~flexX mission. Plenty of prototypes and learning pains have been endured along the way.