Reviewing the iReach Mouthstick Stylus

The iReach Mouthstick Stylus is a good, lightweight tool that makes my homemade wooden-dowel mouthstick feel like a club. In fact, at 1 ounce or 29 grams, the iReach may be the lightest mouthstick on the market. Its lightness presumably makes for less stress on your teeth, jaw and neck — and it sure feels that way when you start using it. It’s just one quality that points to a thoughtfully designed product.  

The iReach is a standard Y-shaped design, with an aluminum stylus rod, a carbon fiber-and-nylon bite plate and a pair of silicon bite plate covers, one for each prong. It is well made, with every piece fitted snuggly — no wobble, no give. The stylus rod has a touchscreen-functional tip, which works well with my smartphone. With my flimsy phone stand, I had to press perpendicularly for my smartphone to respond, but with better support, the iReach worked from various angles to the screen. 

The product was developed by two sisters who are both engineers. Katie and Roisin Kenny wanted to build a better, safer touchscreen-capable aid for a second-grader with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. “We were struck by how few high-quality options there were on the market and knew there had to be a better solution,” Roisin says. What started as Katie’s high school design challenge went through several years of improvements, incorporating guidance from an occupational therapist and feedback from product users, and became the iReach, marketed by the Kennys’ company, Summit Assistive Tech. 

The Y-shaped mouthpiece fits the shape of the palate, which lets you hold the iReach with a level, even bite. Your teeth, from the back ones all the way to the canines, are well supported. I would like a bit of protection for the front teeth too, but overall the mouth feels like it is stable and in a natural position. One thing I appreciate is how this stick allows me to adjust the placement in mouth to reach nearer or farther keys without having to crane my neck. There is a bump in the mouthpiece where it adjoins the aluminum rod, and when the mouthstick is held correctly, with the bump on the bottom, I can move the mouthpiece back in my mouth without obstructions in my way. When it is held incorrectly, however, with the bump on top, the front teeth will strike the bump. This feels like good design. 

The iReach has a total length of 15.25 inches, and the effective reach from the mouth is about 13.5 inches. Shorter custom lengths can be ordered free of charge. To order an extended length requires an upcharge for materials. 

After five weeks of full-time use, I needed to replace one of the silicone sleeves because it was continually sliding off. (I’m right-handed, but apparently left-teethed — who knew?) The Kennys say replacement sleeves by Sammons Preston will be available soon on the Summit Assistive Tech website — and are already available elsewhere online — for $20 per two pair, which comes to $5 per sleeve. My wife came up with a frugal hack of draping strips of rubber-grip shelf liner over the mouthpiece prongs before fitting on the silicone sleeves, which extends the lives of the sleeves significantly. 

The iReach costs $85, which is on the higher end for mouthsticks, plus the regular cost of replacement sleeves. For this, though, you get a finely made tool that feels built for the long haul. 

For hygiene reasons, returns are not accepted once the plastic packaging has been opened. There is no warranty, but the Kennys say they will personally work with all product concerns communicated through the website. 

This product is made in the USA. Order at summitassistivetech.com or Amazon.