BWI: After effects of Rural-Urban Divide on the Indian Dental Market Strong, says Frost & Sullivan

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Frost & Sullivan
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 10:51 AM IST (05:21 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Business services, Healthcare, biotechnology & pharmaceutical; Healthcare
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After effects of Rural-Urban Divide on the Indian Dental Market Strong, says Frost & Sullivan
With Dentist-Population Ratio in India at 1: 10,000 in urban areas and 1: 250,000 in rural areas - This market holds tremendous potential!

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Tuesday, January 10, 2012 -- (Business Wire India) -- The healthcare industry is experiencing a quick transformation owing to the increasing demand for quality healthcare. In India, Oral healthcare is an important aspect of the overall health of an individual. Indian dental care services market, constituted by dentists and dental ancillary services, was estimated to be US $ 739 million in 2010 and is expected to reach US $ 1302.5 by 2015 at a CAGR of 12 percent.

An estimated of 40-50 percent of Indian population has never visited a dentist. Moreover, nearly 70 percent of population is suffering from dental diseases. The dentist/population ratio in India, clearly indicates that there is a major rural and urban divide in the availability of dentists in India; It is 1: 10,000 in urban areas and 1: 250,000 in rural areas - a clear indication of the potential this industry holds.

Another area where Frost & Sullivan identifies opportunity is in the corporate dental chain segment. There is dearth of corporate dental care players in India that leverage their brand at a national level especially, in metros, tier I (Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad) and tier II (Surat, Chandigarh, Vizag) cities. Accessibility plays a major differentiating factor between the single doctor driven dental clinics and the corporate chain; as patients do not travel beyond a point for dental treatment. Nearly 95 percent of the market in India is owned and managed by single-doctor dentists. Hence, it is important for corporate dental chain players to make their presence felt and work on an expansion plan. Some of the healthcare groups have identified this opportunity and are moving in this direction.

With increased awareness, and rise in disposable incomes, the dental care market in India is gaining importance at a much faster rate. Frost & Sullivan observes a shift, where one does not just visit the dentist, when one has serious dental problems. Instead, we are seeing increasing demand for cosmetic dentistry like whitening, tooth reshaping, chipped teeth, etc.

This clearly indicates that the awareness level is increasing and individuals are becoming more particular about the way they look and project themselves in the society. Major dental groups like Dentistree, Axiss Dental, Swiss Smile India and healthcare groups like Apollo, Narayana Hrudayalaya are chalking out massive expansion plans for dental services in metro, tier I and II cities.

The Indian dental care services market has its sets of restraints. Despite increased awareness in certain pockets/ regions in India, still over 50 percent of the population is unaware of prevention techniques or of cures available for various dental problems. On the other hand, only 30 percent of dentists have specialist's degrees. Low affordability of people in India, especially, in semi urban and rural areas; skewed geographical distribution of dental colleges (nearly 42 in Karnataka and less than 5 in Orissa) and lack of specific insurance products for dental problems, just adds onto the challenges/restraints that haunts this industry.

Currently, high dental service charges at corporate set-ups hinder patients willing to avail their services. Thus, the important of the need of a comprehensive dental insurance plan that would allow/encourage more people to avail treatment at conveniently located corporate dental set-ups.

The dental insurance sector in India is at a nascent stage as only a handful of dental insurance plans are available. However, the Indian Dental Association (IDA) has plans to bring out a comprehensive Indian dental insurance scheme in the near future.

Another important area where business potential lies, in the Dental Tourism. According to Frost & Sullivan, Dental Tourism forms 10 percent of the total medical tourism industry in India; this is projected to grow at 30 percent per annum, into an INR 9,500 Crore (US $ 179.500) industry by 2015. There has been a paradigm shift in the quality of technology and infrastructure in Indian Dental Services. Providers are now focused on the latest treatment methods to provide quality dental care in India to International patients. We are seeing practitioners investing into latest technologies, just to cater to international patients, who due to pure currency difference and price they pay for the same service in their countries, are ready to look at India, if provided with high-quality dental care services.

According to Anurag Dubey, Industry Manager, Healthcare Practice "Indian dental market is still largely catered by various stand-alone clinics. Customers either select clinics based on referrals of friends and relatives or those which are located in close proximity. Even the population of metro cities do not have the mindset of having a regular dental check-up.

Majority of the clinic visits are need-based for curative needs but not preventive check-ups. Dental tourism is also one of the key areas as tourists from western countries look for cheaper options of cosmetic dental packages. So there is an enormous potential for dental services both for curative and cosmetic requirements and these could be well met by quality focused facilities which the corporate dental chains are now focusing upon.

If you are interested in more information on this subject, please send an email with your contact details to Anish Charles/Nimisha Iyer, Corporate Communications, Frost & Sullivan, at anishc@frost.com/niyer@frost.com

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEOs Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.


CONTACT DETAILS
Nimisha Iyer, Corporate Communications - South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Frost & Sullivan, +91 9820050519, niyer@frost.com
Anish Charles, Corporate Communications - South Asia, Frost & Sullivan, +91 (22) 6160 6666, anishc@frost.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, BUSINESS SERVICES, HEALTHCARE, HEALTHCARE

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