The first-ever online dental marketplace — and the only alternative to traditional dental insurance — launched its website out of Arizona a year ago, in March 2018. It was founded with the aim of helping consumers save on dental services and procedures, as well as assist dental practices in growing their client base.
“Insurance options have simply become unaffordable for many people, leaving empty chairs in dental offices and suffering dental hygiene for many Americans,” says Dental Genie’s newly appointed CEO, Chris L. Anderson. “This is where Dental Genie will bridge the gap, by offering affordable options for consumers and new patients for dental practices.”
Stepping into a market impacted by rising insurance rates — with many dental practices struggling and a whopping 59 percent of adults opting to forego dental care due to cost — Dental Genie recently finished its seed round raise and is expecting initial revenues to be $1 million. There are currently more than 110 dentists using the platform (in Arizona, California and Utah), with more signing up daily; Dental Genie expects to be nationwide with 10,000 dentists in network by 2021.
“The growth potential is there given the amount of private practices there are versus corporate dental practices, as well as the overall need in affordable dentistry for consumers,” says Anderson. “At minimum, there is potentially 200 dentists per region that could join the network, and, as expansion picks up alongside investor funding, I can see us easily meeting our goals even earlier than expected.”
Similar to Airbnb for travel or Uber for transportation, Dental Genie hopes to put the power in the hands of the consumer when it comes to finding affordable dental care — an alternative to the traditional means using transparency of reviews, ratings and pricing.
