Q&A with Dr. Waël Bizri
Toothpick gives industry stakeholders something to smile about
A ground-breaking mobile application which uses the latest technology to provide dental practitioners, dental product suppliers and other industry stakeholders with an easy-to-navigate, streamlined ecosystem was launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar.
The app’s creators first had the idea for Toothpick back in 2018. The brainchild of four young Lebanese entrepreneurs, Toothpick is set to revolutionize the marketplace by bringing together various facets of the dental industry under one digital user-friendly umbrella. Three of its creators are dentists, while the fourth is an IT expert. All of them have expertise in their field, gained either across the region or in Silicon Valley.
By accessing the tech platform, industry players will be able to browse, compare prices and purchase their supplies and equipment conveniently and efficiently via a one-stop e-shop. This must-have industry tool also offers practitioners access to a wide range of industry information, such as events and courses, news updates and partnership opportunities.
Dental News met Dr. Waël Bizri, the CEO of Toothpick, to understand more from him about his project.
Dental News: Your platform is a mobile application. Why did you choose to do it exclusively for mobiles and not as a website that can be opened on different devices?
Dr. Waël Bizri: We chose to start with the apps as an entry point to make it user friendly for the dentist and we are currently developing a state-of-the-art ordering website that will an addition to the user experience, making toothpick accessible by the dentist on all platforms and desktops.
DN: “Toothpick is your dental ecosystem”: which advantages does it have on the environment?
Toothpick is adding the components of the dental industry together via its online platform, hence the dental ecosystem. Beginning with the marketplace that will digitize the Dental Suppliers with their customized systems. Integrating the full supply chain that will allow dentists to order from all their local suppliers and have their products delivered in one bag.
DN: Can you please tell us about the different kinds of equipment that you are selling on your platform?
Using the backend systems catered to dental suppliers, you can find all local supplier products on Toothpick. From Perishable, Disposable, and fast-moving items, to small equipment and tools the dentist and laboratories use. Aside from that we also have a special inquiry section that displays all machines and dental units with all sterilization equipment. Basically, everything the dental market has to offer from the products to the descriptions and related information with the price can be found on Toothpick.
DN: When we say that your platform is the largest online dental hub in the MEA region, what do we really mean? Which advantages does it include compared with other online hubs in the same category in the region?
Toothpick is the first Dental marketplace, present in Uae, Lebanon, Egypt, and Qatar. We have over 120 dental suppliers from these 4 countries integrating all their supplies and catalogs on Toothpick app. We offer a true one-stop-shop in all these countries allowing the dentist to actually buy from all their local suppliers and have them received in one bag at enhanced service and maximum efficiency at a discounted cost. Allowing the industry to go online around the clock, connecting the dental suppliers to the dentist on a higher technology approach. Since we are a technology company our enhanced systems have integrated logistics, tracking, and other procurement systems that give us a unique and soul stand out as the leading dental tech movement in the region.
DN: Is your application targeting only dentists?
The target segments are Dentists, Dental Students, and Dental Laboratories that can find all their products on the app. We also cater to Universities and Top clinics with our Systems, toothpick Gold, and Toothpick Uni.
DN: Since the application is user friendly, are you planning to expand your service in the future, from B to B to B to C?
We are currently focusing on the Industry as a B2B solution. Following the marketplace, we are developing in-house clinic management systems that can digitize the workflow of the clinics and match it with the marketplace solution. We believe that our end goal is to add the Patient and in this case the end consumer to the platform to allow better connection and service across the industry.
DN: Which advantages will this change give you?
When this occurs, it will revolutionize Dental Healthcare. By connecting all the dots across the industry together, we can optimize and correct all problems and shortcomings that occur daily.
DN: Which infrastructure does it require and do you see that it can work in all MEA countries? Do you think that consumers will be interested in buying dental equipment that is used for daily routine, in case they will be available on your platform?
We believe that across all countries and ages there will be similarities and differences. We choose to build on the similarities which we find are vast and abundant. The technological era has already begun. The dentist has encountered vast solutions to his daily life using the smartphone in his pocket. That same smartphone can allow him to access his industry via Toothpick. Why Not? If we can have all our local suppliers, courses, systems in one place and still connect to the businesses we work with daily but with uplifted solutions, wouldn’t that be a win-win situation for all! It can take some time for the shift to happen, but it has to start someplace and it has to start now.
DN: Which other future plans do you have?
Toothpick wants to change the dental industry and make a difference. Our goal is to create technology that can be simply used yet have a big impact. We look at the problems every dentist, supplier, the institution can face and we study these problems to come up with tested solutions that can solve them. Today we are operational and growing in 4 countries. We aspire to expand across 10 countries by 2022. Developing our technologies, systems, and relations we want to build the biggest dental tech solution of the twenty-first century.
