Toothlens tackles dental diagnostics and insurance with AI
In 2019, Dr Manoj Rajan—a seasoned prosthodontist—attended to a young software engineer who had delayed his dental checkup. Now, he was looking at a root canal and a crown, which he could have avoided with just a filling—if he had only come six months earlier.
“I knew something was wrong, doctor. But I just couldn’t afford it,” he told Dr Ranjan—a conversation that has stayed with him since.
“I’ve always known dental care was becoming a luxury, but that moment made it real. Here was a young professional with a stable job, and even he couldn’t justify spending Rs 500 on a checkup. That’s when it hit me—we needed to rethink how dental care is accessed and delivered,” he tells YourStory.
In 2022, Dr Ranjan teamed up with Aditya Andra and Deep Mehta to launch Toothlens—a Chennai-based dental healthtech startup that leverages AI to lower dental treatment costs and make dental insurance mainstream.
The platform uses smartphone and intra-oral camera imaging, combined with AI analysis, to identify issues like cavities, gum disease, and plaque, empowering dentists with tools for early detection, virtual consultations, and continuous remote care.
Meeting like-minded individuals
Having previously built and scaled the Dr. Smilez Group of Dental Centres across South India, Dr Ranjan understood operational challenges and clinical limitations of dental care providers.
“What Aditya and Deep brought was a way to look at the problem as a data and infrastructure challenge. We realised that if we could digitise diagnostics and structure patient records, we could not only enable early detection but also make dental care insurable,” explains CEO and Co-founder Dr Ranjan.
Andra, Co-founder and CTO, is a former quant developer with deep expertise in machine learning and risk modelling. Mehta, the third co-founder, is an AI engineer specialising in computer vision and medical imaging.
In 2023, the trio began developing an AI-powered algorithm to identify dental issues using smartphone images. Over six months, they trained the algorithm on over 5 lakh images, sourced largely from Dr Rajan’s network of over 40 digitally enabled dental clinics.
By early 2024, Toothlens launched its first product with an accuracy rate of 97%, capable of identifying dental conditions with agreement levels comparable to licensed dentists.
The startup also has tools like SMART Check for hygiene assessments and Symmetry, a smile simulation feature that previews cosmetic procedures such as whitening and aligners, which are available on subscription. “We’re not here to upsell aesthetics. Our focus is prevention and early intervention,” Dr Ranjan clarifies.
Revolutionising dental insurance in India
Toothlens identified a critical gap in the Indian healthcare system—the near-total absence of outpatient dental insurance. “In medical practice, insurance coverage is a given. But in dentistry? We’ve somehow normalised that caring for your teeth is optional,” Dr Rajan says.
According to Insigh10’s India Dental Care Market Analysis report, with less than 1% of India’s population covered, dental care remains largely unaffordable and often neglected until emergency intervention is needed.
He adds, “We spoke to hundreds of people and found a consistent pattern—patients were avoiding a Rs 500 checkup, only to face a Rs 15,000 emergency later.”
To address this gap, the startup launched a cashless dental OPD insurance in collaboration with Star Health Insurance and Vizza Broking. The annual plans, which cover preventive, basic, and advanced dental treatments, including root canals and crowns, start at Rs 1,300 and go up to Rs 7,000, and provide treatment coverage ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 70,000. These plans don’t include cosmetic treatments.
“Traditional dental insurance in India is practically non-existent. Even globally, claim processing is tedious and paper-heavy. We wanted zero friction. If your condition is verified via our (Toothlens) AI and the clinic is in-network, you’re approved instantly,” the CEO adds.
Business model and growth trajectory
Toothlens operates a business-to-consumer (B2C) model, where patients can access AI-powered assessments, preventive tools, and insurance-backed treatments via its app. In business-to-business (B2B) operations, the startup provides dental clinics with subscription-based services, such as unlimited AI scans and other tools, for $150/month.
With a 15-member team, Toothlens has helped dentists complete over 2 lakh checkups, including 15,000 AI-based assessments in the past six months.
The platform has partnered with 300+ clinics across five cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Indore, and Kozhikode. It has also expanded its reach to 500 US-based clinics, collaborating with platforms like Dentulu and The TeleDentists, enabling teledentistry and improving clinic engagement and patient planning.
It claims to have reduced clinic patient onboarding time by 40% and boosted insurer acquisition by 15%.
According to Priya Sharma, a patient, “After enrolling through my employer, I used the app to take dental selfies. It detected early gum disease and booked me with a partner clinic. By the time I reached the clinic, my insurance was verified and treatment was approved… I didn’t pay a rupee.”
.thumbnailWrapper{
width:6.62rem !important;
}
.alsoReadTitleImage{
min-width: 81px !important;
min-height: 81px !important;
}
.alsoReadMainTitleText{
font-size: 14px !important;
line-height: 20px !important;
}
.alsoReadHeadText{
font-size: 24px !important;
line-height: 20px !important;
}
}
Scaling vision and global ambitions
In 2023, Toothlens raised $225,000 in a pre-seed funding round from a Singapore-based angel investor. It is now working to secure $5 million to scale operations.
The funding will help expand its clinic network to 3,000 locations, onboard three new insurance partners, and issue 1 lakh policies in 2025, with a target of 3 lakh policies by 2026.
The startup aims to reach $8 million in annual revenue by 2026.
With insurance policy costs averaging $20, Dr Rajan claims Toothlens is positioned for widespread adoption. “Our goal is to make dental care mainstream and accessible. By 2030, we envision 25% of India’s insured population to be covered under dental insurance.”
Globally, the startup is piloting its programmes in Indonesia and Vietnam, while it further explores the US market. Domestically, it has gained traction from the corporate wellness segment, with 4–5 companies already offering dental insurance to their employees through Toothlens.
Looking ahead
Though competitors like DentalDiagnostics and SmileAI exist in the same space, Toothlens differentiates through its full-stack ecosystem integration of diagnostics, clinics, and insurance—all connected in real time.
The startup initially faced challenges with its AI models adapting to India’s diverse dental profiles. “But progress is evident. We are in talks with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) to introduce more dental-specific insurance products and raise awareness,” he concludes.
Edited by Suman Singh
