Indian dental suitcase clinic opens a new model of home care

The dental clinic in the suitcase bag developed by Indian dental startup MobiDent allows users to experience dental care without leaving their homes, and greatly reduces the cost of oral hygiene and dental care.

In India, 30,000 dentists who graduate from dental colleges each year face difficulties in finding a job. Most people later had to work on aged care and related practices with monthly incomes as low as 5,000 rupees. In some cases, dentists even leave their own business and join the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) organization because it can earn more money to support their families.

Although the World Health Organization recommends dental examinations for children every six months, adults need to do it once a year, but the report shows that only 5% to 10% of the Indian population goes to the dentist for inspection. There are many reasons for this, such as lack of awareness of preventive care, painful medical experience, high costs, and time costs. In addition, the proportion of urban dentists in India is 1:9,000, while in rural areas it is 1:200,000. Expenditure on the dental equipment and laboratory market is about $90 million per year, making dental treatment a very expensive process in India.

On the one hand, the employment of dentists is difficult. On the one hand, there is a lack of patient education in the Indian market. Obviously, the lack of a good aggregator in the dental field has changed the status quo. Therefore, an urgent need such as MobiDent companies to enter the health care market, the doctor cheaper, while the process more efficient.

Two founders Vivek Madappa (left) and Devaiah Mapangada (right)

In 2011, continuous successful entrepreneur Vivek Madappa and dentist Dr. Devaiah co-founded MobiDent, headquartered in Bangalore. MobiDent launched the "Dental clinic in a suitcase" to provide users with cheap dental home care services, creating a new model of dental care.

"Dental clinic in a business travel suitcase"

The concept of “dental clinic in a business suitcase” was first proposed by Vivek. Speaking of the idea of starting a business, he said: "India is a land of paradox, with the most intensive young talents in the world. They have ideas, attitudes and execution, but infrastructure and services are not in India. It is very perfect, especially the quality of medical care. Although there are many doctors in India, only 10% of dental care in India is conditional. If you want to enjoy dental services, you need destructive innovation."

Another founder, Dr. Devaiah, has been in the private profession for 25 years and has always advocated “moving dental services”. It is not limited to traditional clinics and has to break the border. So from the end of 2011 to 2013, he built a fully equipped mobile van and drove it to the IT campus. After six months of operation, he wanted to expand his business.

Dr. Devaiah opened a clinic on Brigade Road in downtown Bangalore as early as 1991. He once tried a home visit to a simple dental operation in the residential area of Richmond, and found that a large number of older people need care. In 2000, he participated in a two-year specialist aged care course in Switzerland. At the end of the course, professors at the University of Zurich urged him to adapt the knowledge he had learned to India.