Dental care company quip unveiled its plans to buy dental telehealth company Toothpic for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition will allow quip users to access both preventative digital checkups and on-demand virtual emergency dental care. The services will be wrapped into quip’s digital platform, which lets users track oral hygiene habits and monitor health over time.
According to quip, once Toothpic is integrated into its app the service will be able to reward positive health habits and guide patients in taking care of their oral health.
Currently quip offers a subscription toothbrush service that provides users a replacement toothbrush head every three months. The company also offers an app, which can track and coach users on their brushing and offer rewards. The company also lets members book dental care appointments within the app.
”By embedding Toothpic’s teledentistry platform and nationwide network of online dental professionals into our app, we will centralize access to a full suite of connected oral care products and dental services that will drastically alter the way people experience and manage their oral health,” Simon Enever, cofounder and CEO of quip, said in a statement.
“We are excited to welcome the extremely talented Toothpic team to the quip community to help us continue building this much needed platform for patients and providers.”
RELATED: VideaHealth raises $20M for AI-enabled dental care
WHY IT MATTERS
According to the CDC, more than one in four adults have untreated tooth decay in the U.S. The agency reports that having a chronic disease may increase a person’s risk for having missing teeth or poor oral health.
“We have made incredible strides in making oral health care accessible to individuals and businesses around the country through our web and mobile applications,” said Shane Owens, CTO and cofounder of Toothpic.
“We share a vision for shifting dentistry from a fee-for-service model to a preventative-focused, value-based care one. We can’t imagine a better partner than quip as we seek to further our mission to provide innovative oral care solutions that not only improve the lives of patients, but also improve and modernize the delivery of care to our provider networks and lower the cost of care to our partners.”
WHY IT MATTERS
This news comes less than a year after quip announced a $100 million Series B funding round aimed at building its product line, expanding globally and creating more professional services for its network of providers.
But quip isn’t the only company working in the dental care space. AI-backed dental care startup VideaHealth scored $20 million in Series A funding. Additionally, dental care and practice management is Overjet raked in $42.5 million in Series B funding.
