Imagine if you could undergo the ignominy of getting your cavities cleaned in the comfort of your couch. That's exactly what Bengaluru-based dentist Dr Devaiah Mapangada and serial entrepreneur Vivek Madappa had in mind for your gums when they came up with an app called Caddy Clinic, that brings dental care to your doorstep. Their start-up, MobiDent, has come a long way since its initiation in 2014, with the doorstep dental care app, Caddy Clinic, being their latest launch in June 2018.
In the first phase, MobiDent plans to concentrate on dental students to build their workforce — providing them with soft skill training in grooming, communication, patient-centricity and technology. They also have plans to help dentists who already have their own clinics 'by empowering them with digital dentistry' so that they are able to deliver dental care 'anytime, anywhere'.
The start-up invested Rs 2.25 crores on Caddy Clinic, but if you're a dentist who wants to start one of their mobile dental clinics, here's the magic number — Rs 88,888, which they claim is substantially less than what setting up a dental clinic costs. "As a new dentist, it is extremely difficult to invest in a standard clinic. It requires an office space, necessary equipment installations, support staff and other items. All this will cost roughly about Rs 10 lakh. On the other hand, a Caddy Clinic costs just about one-tenth of that sum," said Dr Arun Muralidharan, a 33-year-old dentist, who works with the start-up.
Caddy Clinic allows you to book a dentist call just as easily as you would call an Uber or Swiggy your dinner, "The Caddy Clinic connects with their dentists using the MobiDent app. The entire digital dentistry experience of booking a dentist, a home visit by dentists, dental treatment, diagnostic reports and subsequent follow up is managed digitally," explained Vivek Madappa, CEO of MobiDent. "A digital platform also manages the back-end logistics and provides real-time analysis, patient history and logistics for the sake of billing, inventory and finance."
Let's face it, India is a country that is desperately in need of dental care, though a large number of dentists are apparently levitating towards more lucrative professions, "According to the WHO (World Health Organization), the dentist-to-population ratio in India in metro cities is 1:20,000 and in rural areas, it is 1:3,00,000," said Madappa. "A Caddy Clinic can address the imbalance in this ratio in cities and villages. A portable unit can be taken to locations that are typically not accessible for a standard clinic."
"The cost of each visit is also considerably low," claims Madappa, "The dental visit costs about Rs 350 for preventive dental care, which is 80 per cent cheaper than any clinic."
The company has been experimenting with concierge dental care for a while now, which is how the app was born, "From a patient's perspective, I have noticed that more patients come forward when you offer treatment at home. Most of them are busy and have tight schedules to make time for a dental appointment," said Dr Vishakha Choudhary, another dentist. "Recently, when I visited a family for a single appointment, it so happened that the rest of the family members were also keen on getting a routine check-up done. This happens very often because it is convenient for an entire family to get a check-up done at home without having to travel all the way to a clinic."
You can check it out here: http://www.mobident.in/
