YOU NEED TO KNOW…
 |
| photo by Dan Sellers |
COMPANY: Lingualcare Inc.
TITLE: CEO
STATS: Founded in 2003, 100 percent growth from 2004 to 2005 and 2005 to 2006, based in Dallas
WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW HER: According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, 74 percent of Americans believe a person’s smile can affect his or her career success, yet 50 percent of people in the U.S. are unhappy with their own. Six years ago, Lea Nesbit fell into both categories. So at age 35, she decided to get braces for a second time. The experience inspired her to find a better way for people to achieve straight teeth. Enter Dr. Dirk Wiechmann, inventor of iBraces: orthodontic braces worn on the interior, or lingual, side of the teeth. First engineered by a doctor in California in the early 1980s, the original lingual braces concept was revolutionary but flawed—the equipment was too difficult for doctors to work with and the price point too high for the average patient. Using several new technologies, Wiechmann, Nesbit, and partner Ruedger Rubbert developed lingual braces that were effective, affordable, low-maintenance, faster than traditional braces, and best of all, completely undetectable from the outside. When Lingualcare patented and first began offering the groundbreaking technology in 2003, doctors and patients were hesitant. “It was like pulling teeth to get people to try it,” she says. Today, Nesbit can claim more than 10,000 iBraces patients worldwide, from business executives to Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, giving her plenty of reasons to smile.
