Our Story
By: Zane Stenning
Tags: Health, Africa, 3D Printing, Clear Aligner, Dental

The story of Mia Health Technologies begins in my garage. It’s not because we were looking to try recreate an Apple or Microsoft story (perhaps, just their results); but because that’s where I could work on my motorbike and our business plan simultaneously. It was personal investment research project which dropped this dental additive manufacturing (3D printing) process in my lap and with the help of my best friends we began to align the benefits of additive manufacturing (3D printing) with the health care needs of our country.

Our eyes were opened to the simplicity that this modern technology and what it can bring to health care through our learning about clear aligners. Clear aligners are an orthodontic treatment that can, depending on the individual patient, be an alternative to braces with almost none of the traditional drawbacks. Clear aligners are made from strong, thin and most importantly, clear plastic that fits exactly over your personal dentition. Using intra-oral 3D scans, the aligners are tailor made to each patient’s needs. They come in sets of 10, 15, 20 or however many that particular treatment plan requires; making slight adjustments with each new set worn by the patient. In doing so, they move the teeth to the desired position to perfect your beautiful smile.

This innovation captivated our imagination for the possible adaptations of this technology for the South African market, where traditional orthodontic and dental treatments are not only unaffordable, but also inaccessible to many of our people. With the help of 3D Complete (New Zealand) and Photocentric (United Kingdom); we began to formulate our plan utilising the benefits of 3D printing and the cost savings of a local manufacturing process to bring quality and affordable treatments to the South African people. Cape Town is the tech hub of South Africa, so we thought it fitting that we set up our state of the art 3D printing facility right in the heart of the city. This will serve as our base of operations for the entire country and beyond. Our overseas partners have played an invaluable role in the establishment of our operations but the South African market is very different from the ones they work in.

We had to ensure that while we are offering an affordable treatment solution, we also make our services accessible, appropriate and holistic. To ensure all patients are able to access our servicers our medical practice has moved from a building onto your smart phone. Working closely with the Black Box (South Africa) development team we are in the process of programming a digital interface between our patients and the services we provide. Patients will not only be able to request the services of our mobile clinics directly to the comfort of their homes, offices or schools but also interact with our health care professionals and monitor their treatments. This will not only make our treatment accessible to all South Africans, but will also ensure we are able to offer treatments or solutions to all of our patients’ oral health needs.

While the promise of a beautiful smile is enticing to many, the aligner treatment is actually the last step in the holistic approach to good oral health. Our services needed to ensure that all oral health matters could be assessed and treated before aesthetic work could begin. Our Mobile clinics, responsible for the intra-oral 3D scanning, holistic oral health needs of the patients and follow up of the aligner treatments, will be run by our two dentists Dr Karishma Soni (Co-founder) and Dr Chandni Vala. We know that not every patient will have perfect dental health at the start of the treatment but our team is ready to sort out any problems. The mobile clinics are equipped to handle cleanings and simple resto cases, for example filling cavities. If more extensive work is required, where it is not suitable to have such a procedure done on the move, our dentists with the supervision of Dr Barry Beillinsohn will be able to treat patients from the Dental Studio in Sea Point, a fully equipped surgery just waiting to get the patients ready for their new smiles!

It is also important to note that the case selection and treatment planning is of the utmost importance. To ensure that our treatments are held to the highest standards we have teamed up with a Harvard trained orthodontist who has over 25 years of experience; Dr Andre de Villiers will oversee not only the case selection but also the treatment planning itself. In instances where the patient is not a good candidate for clear aligners we can then refer onto to Dr de Villiers who will be able to provide more specialist orthodontic care.

Our main focus at the moment is on our mobile dental clinics and clear aligner treatments however this is only the beginning; once we have perfected our model we will start establishing a comprehensive additive manufacturing service aimed at all sectors of the healthcare industry. So whether patients need a new smile or a custom metal 3D printed hip replacement we’ll be able to service their needs.

Watch this space!