Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Andrew Sarowitz.
Hi Dr. Andrew, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey into sports dentistry really began in professional basketball. After dental school and residency, I built my career as a general dentist before joining the medical staff of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty as Team Dentist. This was from 2016 through 2022. Working with elite athletes gave me a firsthand look at the unique demands high-level competition especially the importance of protecting an athlete’s teeth, jaw and long-term oral health.
The turning point came through a chance meeting with UFC veteran Michael Johnson. We met at a UFC event in New York. He was looking for a better solution than the bulky, uncomfortable mouthguards that most fighters were wearing. After making him a custom guard, word quickly spread throughout the MMA community. One fighter became two, then ten, then entire teams and gyms. I realized there was a huge gap in the market for professionally designed, truly custom mouthguards built specifically for combat sports.
That experience led me to found Impact Dental Designs. (impactdentaldesigns.com) My goal was simple: combine the science of dentistry with the real-world demands of professional fighting to create mouthguards that offer superior protection, comfort, breathing, and performance. Today, I’m fortunate to work with a large portion of the UFC roster as well as athletes competing in PFL, Bellator, ONE Championship, and other major organizations including the NBA and NFL. I’ve had the privilege of helping world champions, title contenders, and rising prospects protect their smiles while performing at the highest level.
Looking back, what started as one conversation with a single fighter has grown into a career dedicated to advancing sports dentistry. I still approach every mouthguard the same way I did that first one—with the mindset that every athlete deserves protection that’s engineered specifically for them, not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a straight road. Like any entrepreneur, there have been challenges growing a business, earning trust, and building relationships within professional sports. But one of the biggest challenges has actually been emotional.
When you work closely with professional fighters, you become invested in them as people, not just as patients. You’re there throughout training camp, you watch the sacrifices they make, and you genuinely want them to succeed. That means their victories are incredibly rewarding, but their losses and injuries can be difficult to watch. It’s given me a completely different perspective on mixed martial arts. As a fan, you see a fight. As someone who’s part of an athlete’s support team, you see months of preparation, the physical and mental toll, and everything that goes into those 15 or 25 minutes inside the cage.
That experience has reinforced why I care so much about what I do. My goal is to give every athlete the confidence that one aspect of their performance—the protection of their smile and oral health—is something they never have to worry about.
As you know, we’re big fans of Impact Dental Designs. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Impact Dental Designs was founded with one mission: to create the highest quality custom sports mouthguards available for athletes at every level. As a practicing dentist, I realized there was a significant difference between the protection athletes needed and the products that were commonly available. Most over-the-counter mouthguards are bulky, uncomfortable, and often compromise breathing and communication. I wanted to create a truly custom solution that combined dental science with real-world performance.
Every mouthguard we produce is custom fabricated from an impression or digital scan of the athlete’s teeth, resulting in a secure fit that stays in place during competition while providing exceptional comfort, protection, and breathability. Our mouthguards are trusted by professional athletes competing in the UFC, PFL, Bellator, ONE Championship, and many other organizations, but we bring that same level of craftsmanship to every customer—from youth athletes to weekend warriors.
What really sets Impact Dental Designs apart is that we’re dentist-designed and dentist-made. Every mouthguard is created with an understanding of oral anatomy, occlusion, jaw function, and impact protection—not simply manufactured as a generic sports product. We believe a mouthguard should be treated as a piece of protective medical equipment rather than just another accessory.
Beyond protection, we’ve also become known for creating completely custom artwork that reflects each athlete’s personality, heritage, and fighting style. Whether it’s a national flag, team logo, nickname, or one-of-a-kind graphic design, every mouthguard is individually designed and handcrafted to be as unique as the athlete wearing it.
Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is the trust we’ve built within the combat sports community. Many of the world’s top professional fighters continue to wear our mouthguards because they know we’re committed to quality, innovation, and protecting their smiles. At the end of the day, our goal isn’t just to make the best custom mouthguard—it’s to help athletes compete with confidence, knowing they’re wearing protection that’s been engineered specifically for them.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
No one builds something meaningful alone, and I’m incredibly grateful for the people who believed in this vision from the beginning. Two people who deserve a tremendous amount of credit are UFC fighters Michael Johnson and Aljamain Sterling, who were instrumental in helping me launch Impact Dental Designs.
Michael was the first fighter to truly trust me with creating a custom mouthguard tailored specifically to the demands of mixed martial arts. His confidence in my work opened the door to relationships with other fighters and showed me there was a real need for a better solution in combat sports. That single opportunity ultimately changed the direction of my career, and he’s been a great friend ever since.
Aljamain has also been an incredible partner and supporter of the brand. Beyond being a UFC Champion, he’s always believed in our mission and has helped introduce Impact Dental Designs to countless athletes. Having respected professionals wear our mouthguards and genuinely stand behind the product gave us credibility that money simply can’t buy. His shout-out on The Joe Rogan Experience also gave us incredible exposure and was a huge boost for the company.
I’m also incredibly thankful to every athlete who has trusted me with their smile over the years. Every referral, recommendation, and word-of-mouth introduction has helped our company grow. While Impact Dental Designs started as my vision, it’s really been built through the trust and support of an amazing community of fighters, coaches, training partners, and patients who continue to believe in what we do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ImpactDentalDesigns.com
- Instagram: @Impact_Dental_Designs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImpactDentalDesigns/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31V2ejNPOFU0fonS1WJ5-Q?app=desktop
