Teeth talk: This Hyderabad start-up is using AI and WhatsApp to bring oral hygiene to the fore

Logy.AI is a start-up that is using the power of WhatsApp and Artificial Intelligence to step up oral hygiene efforts. We get a demo to understand how exactly it works and we are thrilled indeed
Care for your teeth | (Pic: Pixabay)
Care for your teeth | (Pic: Pixabay)

How do we love Logy.AI? Let us count the ways. First, it currently focuses on oral hygiene, a much-neglected area. Second, you don't even need a separate app taking up more space on your phone, WhatsApp will suffice. Third, it is backed by the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We can go on and on, but it's better you hear from the co-founder of the start-up Priyanjit Ghosh himself. "AI can majorly help with two areas of screening and diagnosis. Since India needs more preventive care, we decided to get into the former," says Priyanjit.
 

He has worked with various state governments as an AI Consultant   


So once you ping this Hyderabad-based start-up on their WhatsApp number and receive a message from their bot, they take you through a simple set of questions — gender, age, how many times you brush your teeth, the usual. After you send pictures of your teeth taken from angles as directed by the bot, within two minutes, you will receive your results. Apart from an overall one-word remark, you will be rated on criteria like stains and dental calculus (also known as tartar, a yellow/brown-coloured deposit that forms after plaque hardens). 

Anand, Nivedita and Priyanjit | (Pic: Logy.AI)

But not just this, it also carries out a risk assessment for the next six months and predicts how likely the chances are of bleeding gums, tooth sensitivity, decay and so on. "The point of it all is to spread awareness regarding oral hygiene awareness," says the 28-year-old adding, "Most of us don't frequent the dentist's and this is a bigger problem in the rural areas. Hence, our solution can provide some respite." It has already done so for 10,000 people who have gone through the screening process and now, Logy.AI, incubated at IIIT Hyderabad, is gearing up to screen many more.
 

Their objective is to build a local product. Trials are on in Africa already


"In order to implement AI into the domain of imaging, we need digital data. We struggled with digital data initially. Since we started Logy.AI as students and were initially bootstrapped, we had to get a good understanding. Since hardware is even tougher, we decided to focus on smartphones and use it as a tool that can serve our purpose," says the Kolkata-born. They still remain a young team of ten innovators, with the average age not more than 24 years. And they are already on to their next exciting project.

Screenshot from the bot's conversation | (Pic: Logy.AI)

You know how if you have hair fall and visit the doctor they might not be able to exactly quantify how serious your hair fall situation is in numbers. But with their upcoming tech, they wish to quantify hair fall. They are also hoping to work on a solution that helps screen for cervical cancer. Times ahead are exciting for this young team and they are hoping to deliver a lot more.

Talking AI
Priyanjit says that when one is starting out with AI in healthcare, these three collaborators should be on the same page:
- Doctors/clinicians: Those who have the knowledge
- Tech team: With data scientists or AI experts to build this
- Data provider: From either hospitals or clinics

For more on them, check out logy.ai

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