Interview conducted by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Jul 15 2022
In this interview, we speak to Severin Stalder, CEO of Zaamigo, about their AI dental camera and how it is helping to improve people’s dental hygiene.
Please can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role at Zaamigo?
Hi! I am Severin and the founder and CEO of Zaamigo.
Zaamigo aims to ‘bring healthy teeth and a beautiful smile into everyone’s reach.’ Please can you tell us more about why you decided to found Zaamigo and what some of your aims and missions are?
I was quite shocked when I first examined my teeth. The teeth looked white in the mirror, but the back side was black, and there was plenty of tartar. I decided to improve my dental hygiene and observed my progress with a camera. Now everyone can do the same and much more easily.
We are working towards an “AI-dentist” with the collected expertise of the best dentists. We want to make the vast experience of dentists available to everyone instantly.
Image Credit: bbernard/Shutterstock.com
People miss 40% of tooth surfaces when brushing their teeth. Why is this, and what effects are associated with poor brushing?
We brush our teeth every day, but with hardly any feedback. That’s really difficult. It’s like singing without listening, walking without seeing, or cooking without tasting.
The effects of poor brushing are numerous. Almost everyone suffers from cavities, and almost half of the population has chronically inflamed gums. These diseases cost quite a lot of money and impact our overall health. The bacteria from the mouth find their way into the whole body, even our brains.
But it is not just that. Poor oral health is also visible to everyone. That’s why we aim for healthy teeth and a beautiful smile. It’s always linked together.
At Zaamigo, you have created a dental camera that is able to provide in-depth analytics of your teeth. Please can you tell us more about how this camera works and the information it gives users?
The camera connects to iPhones and iPads wirelessly. The images are then analyzed on the device with our AI algorithms that were trained on hundreds of thousands of images. We analyze each image for stains, plaque, inflamed gums, and brushing technique.
The result is an overview to highlight areas that are often missed during daily dental care. The amount of plaque is compared to our user base to give a sense of urgency. The results are also quantified and can be tracked over time.
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