In a previous post I mentioned that I wouldn’t recommend the Mr. Thirsty product, but that’s not exactly true.  I wouldn’t recommend it as is, but there are two things you can do to make it work better and turn it into a good overall product.

Links
http://www.practicon.com/item/mr–thirsty-one-step-trial-kit-70297239/70297239
http://www.practicon.com/item/mr–thirsty-comfort-kit-70297237/70297237

1. TRIM THE MOUTHPIECES
The mouthpieces come in two sizes (small and large), but you can essentially create 4 sizes by trimming some of them.  I like to pre-trim a bunch of them so they are ready to go.

Left to right: large untrimmed, large trimmed, small untrimmed, small trimmed.

Large trimmed and untrimmed

Small trimmed and untrimmed

2. GET THE COMFORT KIT
The Comfort Kit provides a much lighter HVE valve and tubing that makes everything feel less heavy on the patient.  The kit comes with 6 feet of tubing, which was excessive for me, so I trimmed it down to about 4 feet (pictured below).

Comfort Kit trimmed from 6 feet to ~4 feet.

RECOMMENDED DESIGN CHANGE FOR THE MANUFACTURER
The inside angle of the mouthpiece part that connects to the HVE valve needs to be reduced.  The current angle is 100 degrees and needs to be about 70 degrees.  The HVE valve needs to be parallel with the bite block part of the mouthpiece.  As you can see in the picture below, it’s not even close.  The design change would eliminate the need for the Comfort Kit and make the Mr. Thirsty System completely disposable and maintenance free, which is a feature no other competitor can claim.

Mark Frias, RDH