Intedent Healthcare: Providing complete solution for chronic oral problems

Intedent Healthcare is a Bangalore based startup founded by Dr Vaibhavi Joshipura and her husband Neerav.

 

The value proposition by Intedent is; it’s a win-win for all – the dentist, Ayurveda specialist doctors and patients. It helps Dentist in differentiating practice by providing one stop solution for chronic dental problems. From patient’s perspective, it is easy to access through internet/mobile app.

 

We got an opportunity to talk with Dr Vaibhavi, the co-founders of the Intedent Healthcare.  Read her inspiring story to know about the mission and vision of the organisation.

 

 

Give a brief info about your startup?

InteDent Healthcare Pvt Ltd provides complete solution for chronic oral problems to the patient through Dentists and Ayurveda specialists by integrating right combination of Allopathy and Ayurveda treatment protocols to bring best of both health care systems together.

We focus on

1. a) Oral conditions where Allopathy does not have effective standard treatment protocols
2. b) Ayurveda as complementary therapy for dental procedures
3. c) Preventive oral health where Ayurveda has well developed protocols.

 

The value proposition by Intedent is; it’s a win-win for all – the dentist, Ayurveda specialist doctors and patients. It helps Dentist in differentiating practice by providing one stop solution for chronic dental problems. From patient’s perspective, it is easy to access through internet/mobile app.

 

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

During the 22+ years of my clinical experience as periodontist, I came across certain oral conditions like burning mouth and stress induced ulcers, recurrent bleeding gums, gum infections, dry mouth, tobacco related oral conditions, autoimmune conditions, oral side effects of cancer therapies etc where regular & traditional Allopathy treatments had certain limitations. In many cases lack of alternatives led to frustration among patients and doctors. Latest scientific research and technologies did not help much either.  While expanding my research activities, I stumbled upon certain Ayurveda treatment protocols.

Couple of patients refused to take Allopathy medicines prescribed to them and insisted on taking Ayurveda medications during the treatment. It was astonishing to see the effect of Ayurveda medicines even before starting of typical Allopathy treatment. I dived deeper to find out how Ayurveda medicines worked, and the efforts led me to an institution which was trying to offer integration of multiple health sciences as an alternative to patients.

I set up a dental unit there with prime focus on bringing best of Allopathy and Ayurveda under one roof. Soon, I started offering Allopathy dental procedures complemented by Ayurveda treatment protocols prescribed by Shalakya doctors. This way of clinical practice proved to be more rewarding as dentist as it provided alternatives and choices to the patients. The results were very encouraging and promising. Thus the concept of Integrative Oral Health Care was born.

However, the delivery of oral healthcare practices was limited to those patients who could visit a dental clinic.  In order to take this concept deeper and wider globally, some innovative method had to be developed. At the same time, there was a need to generate scientific evidence on integrative dentistry to convince all the stakeholders. That is where technology became core of the solution.

 

Ayurveda doctors do not need to conduct any procedures on patients and hence physical location became irrelevant. So Intedent Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. was conceptualized as an online platform to provide video consultation services by specialist Ayurveda physicians (Shalakya doctors) for oral conditions. This potentially facilitates global outreach to patients and enables inclusion of Shalakya doctors in the expert dental specialists’ panel.

 

The platform offers lots of saving to the patients and doctors in terms of time, fuel and stress to get Ayurveda consultations since services are availed online.

 

 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I completed my masters in dentistry as a Periodontist (gum specialist who treats bleeding gums, pus discharge; lose teeth etc.) from Govt. Dental College, Ahmedabad in 1995.

22+ years of my experience as Periodontist includes;

Clinical – Consulting Periodontist in various private clinics & hospitals in Bangalore (1996-2016)

Academic – Various positions in UG courses (1996-2016), PG guide (2008 to 2016)

Research – PhD (Evaluation of possible association between periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes) thesis submitted to Gujarat University in May 2017

Management-

Dean, Rajiv Gandhi Dental college, Bangalore (NAAC Accredited) 2013-2016,

Chief Operating Officer, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (NABH Accredited),  Bangalore Sep 2016 –  Jan 2018

 

 

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

Intedent Healthcare is based in Bangalore. I have been living in Bangalore for the past 22 years. This is the best place for startups in India. Young people flocking to Bangalore are open to try out new ideas leveraging technology.

 

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

Insecurities and inability to cope with adverse situations usually make people paranoid. I occasionally get concerned about acceptance of my concept by people and dentists. I generally do not get paranoid that easily. Years of Yoga practice has helped me to be at peace with myself and my surroundings. I know that it takes some time for any new concept like this to succeed.

 

 

Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?

Integrative care is new concept for holistic oral health. It is an uncharted territory. There are some Ayurveda chains but they are for general health. Also, there are internet based healthcare providers but they do not offer best of multiple health sciences.

 

 

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

Most dentists by training are entrepreneurs and they are generally focused on their clinical practice. My previous positions for the past 5 years (as Dean of a dental college and COO of a hospital) were high stress jobs with lots of responsibilities. These assignments have prepared me well to balance work and life. I have learnt to switch between from work, family and personal space as needed.

 

 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

I have not raised funding yet.  This is a bootstrapped endeavor. However I am open to good funding offers.

 

 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

Talking about the venture – Intedent – It is difficult for anyone to believe that dental consultations can be taken online, where the dentist is not seating you on a dental chair and examining with instruments. People are turning to Ayurveda for chronic conditions like Diabetes, but Ayurveda treatment for oral conditions is not prevalent. The dentists are also skeptical as there are not much published scientific evidences to support new concept.

 

 

What gets you excited about this company?

It opens a lot of new avenues in the field of integrative healthcare. The services can be offered to large number of patients including rural population. Ayurveda and other health sciences have a lot more to offer. It is also amazing that the technology can bring healthcare services at your doorstep or even closer.  This has aided the new concept and attracts lot of attention.

 

 

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

A cup of tea in my balcony at 6 am is how my day starts, followed by yoga for 15 minutes. I have been practicing Yoga for more than 3 decades. It keeps me calm, helps me focus and fills me with energy. Next couple of hours are for the domestic chore and morning walk. I start working latest by 9 am.

A typical day would be 9+ hours of work with occasional meetings outside. Around 6.30-7 pm, I am ready to switch off my office laptop with a quick recap of what is achieved and plan for next day!  Being a startup, I often end up working on weekends too.

Both my grown up children study outside Bangalore. I spend time with my husband and talk to my children every evening. Light classical music de-stresses me most after a tiring day.  I do not party, but I like to celebrate all festivals with friends and family.

Now-a-days, awareness building and promotional activities for the new venture keep me busy. I have to travel outside Bangalore also, to talk at various dental colleges, Universities, dental conferences etc.

 

 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

My husband Neerav has a tech and management background. He is a co-founder for my company and a huge pillar of support. He guides me on many areas of business.

Dr Sukumar, my ex-colleague, is a director in the company and an experienced Shalakya doctor. He helps me with all technical aspects of Ayurveda integration with Allopathy for dental conditions and video consultations by Ayurveda doctors from my platform. There are 6 shalakya doctors consulting patients from my platform. They are my strong support system.

 

Through the contacts we have reached out to small boutique firms in the city to help building & maintaining technology platform, marketing & branding and regulatory compliance work for the company.

 

 

 

 

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