Invisible orthodontic procedures seduce the country's businessmen
The smile is, for many, a cover letter. For this reason, aligning the teeth has been a well-received and even demanded service in the Colombian market. Given the opportunity to conquer this niche, the Chilean startup Wizz arrived in the country with a low-cost orthodontic model.
Diego Morales, manager of the startup, highlighted that the goal is to serve up to 1,000 patients per month and start its expansion plan to open new service points in main and intermediate cities.
What does Wiz do?
We are a Chilean startup born in late 2018 and early 2019. What we do is offer an invisible orthodontic system with supplies and manufacturing using 3D printers and artificial intelligence monitored by orthodontists. This system comes to replace traditional brackets.
Why do you decide to enter Colombia?
We were doing studies and we saw that many Colombians have crooked teeth, which can cause diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and even self-esteem problems. Furthermore, as the health system does not cover orthodontics, we have a very important business opportunity for our goal of democratizing the smile and making it not a luxury good.
How do they differ from 'traditional' orthodontics?
They are transparent plates that are changed every two weeks, they are less invasive. Our direct competitor is traditional orthodontics and another difference is the subject of face-to-face controls, they charge for control, we monitor the progress through photographs, technology, the application and in case of any doubt we attend to patients, but it is not required to go in person.
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In addition to being cheaper, it is removable, so the patient can remove the aligner before eating, something that does not happen with traditional orthodontics.
What is the expansion plan for Colombia?
We started with Bogotá and we have had a very good reception, which is why we have decided to expand to other cities and we could even open a second branch in Bogotá. For November we are going to open in Medellín and later we will enter Cali and Barranquilla. After this, we hope to continue with market studies and evaluate the entrance, for example, to the Coffee Region. Each market has different patients.
THE CONTRASTS
How many jobs do you hope to generate in the country?
So far we are entering the market, in the branch we have between 15 and 20 employees, but our goal is to generate employment in Colombia, offer work at a technical, university and professional level, have between 60 and 70 employees.
What is the goal in terms of patients?
The figure goes hand in hand with the expansion, we have a significant number of patients in Bogotá and we expect to serve between 1,000 and 1,200 patients per month.
How have they fared in the other countries in the region?
We are not only present in Chile with 10 branches, in Mexico we have four and in Colombia one. We want to cover the largest number of people and that this orthodontic system, which is effective, has the widest possible reach.
