Dental Asia March/April 2024

DENTAL UPDATES
Dental Bridge enters Indian market with
the launch of DoctorBridge platform
(Image: Dbridge India)
Dbridge India,
a subsidiary of
South Korea’s
Dental Bridge
Co, has launched
their platform
‘Doctorbridge’ to link medical device
manufacturers with end-users, especially
doctors. Their strategy involves establishing
a robust online ecosystem and prioritising
continuous clinical education, fostering
knowledge exchange among doctors on a
global scale.
India, with a growing market expected to
reach US$2.67bn by 2028, is experiencing
a surge in demand for facial aesthetics
procedures. This is driven by factors like
increased disposable income, impact of
social media, and a growing interest in antiageing
solutions.
Dental Bridge is a company in the Korean
facial aesthetics market, and their subsidiary
Dbridge India is bringing the latest trends
and techniques for those aspiring to achieve
the coveted “korean glass skin” look.
DBridge has started their foray in the market
by launching 'DoctorBridge' – a platform for
dentists and doctors, at the World Dental
Show (WDS) in Mumbai, India, and the
Annual Conference of the Association of Oral
and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India (AOMSI)
at New Delhi, India, in November 2023. It has
already secured numerous Memorandum of
Understandings (MoUs) with doctors in India
for future collaborations.
Recently, Dbridge India was also part of
the K-Startup Center (KSC) India 2023
programme which is run by The Circle FC,
a business accelerator based in Gurugram,
India. The programme supports startups
to soft-land in India by providing valuable
insights through mentoring, resources and
partner network for market access. DBridge
India also secured the '1st Runner Up Prize'
during the KSC India Demoday.
The founder of Dental Bridge, Ms Lina Ahn
is a former dental student in the UK with
extensive experience in healthcare sales
and marketing at global giants like GSK
and P&G, and brings a deep understanding
of the industry. Inspired by doctors’
enthusiasm to learn and grow, Ahn aims to
bridge Korean medical device companies
with Indian doctors, elevating the
experience of facial aesthetic treatments in
India and positioning the country as a hub
for such services in neighbouring countries
as well. DA
‘Mewing’ stars in new Netflix documentary, AAO warns
of its “thin” claims
Netflix released a new documentary titled
‘Open Wide’ on 23 Jan about orthodontists
John Mew and Mike Mew. The documentary
explores the father-and-son duo who are
fighting to upend mainstream orthodontics
through their ‘mewing’ techniques which
purports to transform the shape of one’s
jawline through the placement of one’s
tongue in the mouth.
The technique and buzz it gathered on
social media was seen by different members
of the dental and scientist community
as highly contentious due to its lack of
scientific evidence. Mike Mew’s mewing
techniques reported gathered nearly 2bn
views on TikTok and he faced a misconduct
hearing at the General Dental Council of the
UK in November 2022.
The American Association of Orthodontists
(AAO) has spoken out against the technique
in the past when consumer awareness
of it was growing. The AAO further said
that it has developed a consumer blog,
From left: John Mew and Mike Mew are the
subjects over their controversial ‘mewing’ which
went viral on social media (Image: A24)
organic social media posts, press releases,
and some additional outreach, via the
Consumer Awareness Program and paid
digital media. The AAO is developing these
additional consumer-focused materials
on mewing to inform the public about
the inflated promises and complicated
treatment issues that can arise from this
practice.
Moreover, the AAO wrote in an article
that the scientific evidence supporting
mewing’s jawline-sculpting claims is “as
thin as dental floss” and that there is
no current research that suggests the
technique provides any benefit to one’s
jawline or oral health.
It asserted that facial restructuring is
simply not achievable by changing the
resting position of one’s tongue. It is a
complex process that involves moving
jaw bones, facial bones, and soft tissue,
and maxillofacial deformities are usually
corrected with orthodontic treatment.
Moreover, the AAO added that improperly
forcing one’s tongue into unnatural
positions may lead to undesired effects
and could actually disrupt tooth alignment,
worsen bite problems and speech issues,
and require complicated treatment to
resolve.
While DIY methods for facial restructuring,
like mewing, are appealing options for those
seeking an easy, at-home solution, it does
not fully account for what is happening
below the surface and the AAO does not
recommend any attempts to move teeth or
align jaws without appropriate supervision,
as one likely will not achieve the results
desired. DA
8 DENTAL ASIA MARCH / APRIL 2024