Rs 100-cr online dental treatment facility to come up at Kochi Infopark

Kochi: A state-of-the-art online dental treatment facility is coming up at Infopark at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The centre is being set up by Ortho FX, an American startup whose co-founder and CEO Ren Menon is a Malayalee.

The company plans to provide Americans online treatment to straighten and align teeth.

Since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, there has been a worldwide decline in the number of such dental procedures performed directly.

The San Francisco-based OrthoFX received $1.3 crore (Rs100 crore) from four investors, including AppDynamics cofounder Jyoti Bansal's Annual Ventures and SignalFire, after it developed an online platform for teeth alignment treatment without the need to visit a dentist directly.

The first phase of the procedure will involve interacting with a dentist online to determine if any treatment is needed.

A picture of the dental column has to be uploaded using a digital platform known as FXOnTrack. Based on the picture, a teeth aligner will be manufactured using 3D printing and sent to the patient.

The picture of the dental column then has to be uploaded at regular intervals for the dentist to monitor the progress of the treatment. The dentists are also based in the US.

The centre at the Infopark will provide technical capabilities and support for the treatment procedure.

About 100 people, including engineers, will be recruited for the centre by 2021, CEO Renjith Menon, alias Ren Menon, a native of Parappuram in Aluva, said.