Jim Boyd woke every day, for 12 years in a row, with a headache that lasted all day that often developed into a migraine. While in college, he was fitted with a nightguard that was intended to “relax his face and jaw muscles,” but ended up increasing his headache pain. Years later, as a practicing dentist, Dr. Boyd realized that the device he had been prescribed had simply provided a surface that allowed nocturnal clenching to intensify, thereby making his headaches worse. He set out to invent an aid that would exploit naturally occurring protective muscle physiology to minimize muscle intensity rather than enhance it.

Working with a team of neurologists, his research ultimately resulted in a patented design of a device worn during sleep, which provides for the same governed front tooth biting that one does when biting on a cracker, thereby preventing the back molar crushing/clenching that one does during intense chewing. Worn while asleep, the device minimizes the habitual nocturnal pathologic muscle hyperactivity that is known to cause chronic headache upon waking, aggravating migraine attacks.

Clinical medical studies of the device versus placebo on migraine sufferers who had failed all previous preventive treatments proved an efficacy of migraine prevention and reduced disability better than any other FDA cleared medication, device, or procedure.

The device, known as the NTI MigraineGuard, was FDA cleared “for the prevention of medically diagnosed migraine pain” in 2001, was featured on “Good Morning America,” and has since been prescribed worldwide more than one million times.

In 2023, the NTI MigraineGuard was FDA cleared for over-the-counter use, without a prescription.