Q&M is ready to reap its investments in AI, tech

AFTER spending four years in development, dental group Q&M’s new artificial intelligence (AI) platform is ready to be put to the test.

In 2018, the mainboard-listed company set up subsidiary EM2AI to work on AI projects that can help improve service quality and standards for patients. This AI-powered orthopantomogram (OPG) scanner is one of such projects which have received the green light.

The model scans X-rays generated by an OPG scanner to detect dental conditions. It can also generate a comprehensive set of dental records for patients, which can be used to formulate treatment plans.

In 2022, the AI platform was approved by the Health Sciences Authority as a Class B medical device. With regulatory approval secured, the dental group has spent the past year trialling the technology, and has since rolled it out to its more than 100 clinics in Singapore and over 40 clinics in Malaysia.

Dentist-led services

The platform is part of Q&M’s overall push to improve service quality and standards, said chief executive officer Dr Ng Chin Siau and chief operating officer Dr Raymond Ang in an interview with The Business Times.

Currently, the business is patient-led, meaning they come in and decide which treatments they need, rather than the dentists. Therefore, most opt primarily for scaling and polishing services, because that is what they are familiar with.

“But actually, it should not be (this way). This is a clinical service,” said Dr Ang.

The AI platform is thus meant to address this, as it has simplified the process for taking OPG scans. With the press of a button, the assessment can be done within 15 to 20 seconds, compared to 15 to 20 minutes if done manually.

With this, dentists can also create proper treatment plans, with preventative care in mind, which will see patients come in more regularly for reviews.

“We do 14,000 scaling procedures every month. If we are able to get the patient to see the doctor, and the doctor can advise the patient to come back, we can multiply the scaling procedures by two to three times,” said Dr Ng, who estimates that this can grow the group’s revenue by 10 per cent.

“So this is a major pillar of growth, not just for my bottom line, but also for patients to be prevented from future dental diseases,” he added.

Doubling down on tech

Q&M achieved robust earnings during the Covid-19 pandemic, on the back of its medical laboratory segment.

But growth has since stalled as demand for Covid-19 PCR tests have fallen. The group is thus banking on AI to resume momentum by growing its core business.

For the half year ended Dec 31, 2023, the group’s net profit more than quadrupled to S$6.2 million, from S$1.5 million the year earlier.

Revenue for the period edged up 6 per cent to S$95.6 million, from S$90.3 million the previous year.

By segment, revenue for its medical laboratory and dental equipment and supplies segment declined 15 per cent to S$6.7 million, from S$7.9 million the year before.

In contrast, its dental and medical clinics segment grew 8 per cent to S$88.9 million, from S$82.4 million in the corresponding year-ago period.

To keep the momentum going, Q&M will double down on harnessing technology to improve service quality – not just with its own technologies, but through partnerships with other big distributors and manufacturers.

Earlier this year, the dental chain announced a tie-up with Align Technology to bring 100 sets of its iTero Lumina intraoral scanners to its Singapore clinics. The US-based medical device company manufactures popular clear aligner brand Invisalign.

This machine provides patients with 3D digital dental records. “Together with our OPG dental charting (which provides 2D records), these will be the most complete dental records that a patient can have,” said Dr Ng.

Dr Ng estimates that these two services can expand the group’s bottom line by at least 10 to 20 per cent. But, anticipating that there will be teething issues, he is “not putting a lot of hope to see immediate numbers”.

“But I hope to see better numbers next year onwards,” he noted.

Also in the pipeline are plans to commercialise the AI platform and sell it to other distributors. The group showcased the technology at the recent International Dental Exhibition, and hope to connect with big distributors.

Achieving sustainable growth

Focusing on service quality is Q&M’s way of achieving sustainable growth, said Dr Ang: “If you’ve got 100 clinics, opening another 50 more is not going to be that big, compared to having 1.4 million patients and everyone does one more round of cleaning – that would be much more significant.”

Yet this does not mean that the group will stop considering other avenues of growth, said Dr Ang. Q&M will continue to expand its clinics, hire and recruit dentists and explore mergers and acquisitions opportunities.

On the M&A front, though, the company is more keen on opportunities aligned with its core business.

This is as it figures out what to do with Acumen now that the Covid-19 pandemic is over and demand for PCR tests have waned.

“We are looking into alternatives since the major numbers from PCR activities are gone,” said Dr Ng. The focus is to find other “higher-end” PCR tests which the lab can do, rather than regular blood tests.

The company may have got lucky with the Acumen acquisition during the pandemic, but right now, it wants to focus on opportunities which are in line with its main business.

“Instead of focusing on non-core aspects – which yes, if the stars all aligned, we can do extremely well because of our operational abilities – what’s going to make us more sustainable money in the long-run is still dental,” said Dr Ang.