When Dr Zanab Malik completed her undergraduate training in dentistry in 2011, she had no idea her career would take the trajectory it has. Fast forward 13 years – during which she has attained a Doctor in Clinical Dentistry (Special Needs Dentistry) – and Dr Malik can proudly say she's a driven entrepreneur who's determined to create a social impact in her field.
As the the only special needs dentist in Sydney's South West, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants has identified ways to address the barriers for people living with special needs when it comes to accessing dental care.
That's where her AI-powered app, called 'My Special Needs Dental Home', comes in. Dr Malik recently pitched the app at the UNSW Founders Liverpool Innovation Precinct (LIP) Entrepreneurship Pitch Night, a fitting opportunity given Liverpool's multicultural population, and Dr Malik's focus on diverse, underserved communities.
According to Multicultural NSW, 43.2% of Liverpool's residents are born overseas, with close to 52% of the population speaking a language other than English at home. What's more, there's great demand for special needs dental services in this area, given the population of people living with a disability.
"There is a significantly higher percentage of people [in South West Sydney] living with a disability compared with the NSW average, resulting in increased demand for health services including dental services," Dr Malik tells Draw Your Box.
"In South West Sydney, 1 in 15 people live with a profound or severe disability (>70,000 people!) and 1 in 8 people are carers for someone with a disability. But we have only 1 special needs dentist (me!) working to service the entire South West Sydney."
With a clear pitch and vision behind her meaningful cause, Dr Malik placed first at the UNSW Founders South West pitch night, landing a prize of $1,500. Here, our Founder Alicia Vrajlal hears from Dr Malik about special needs dentistry, entrepreneurship, and how culture plays a role in shaping careers and creating impact.
A huge congratulations on coming first place at the UNSW Founders South West pitch night. How does it feel?
Thank you so much! It feels surreal but I’m very grateful and humbled to have my idea appreciated and recognised at the inaugural event.
Can you tell us more about what special needs dentistry entails and the community it serves?
Special Needs Dentistry is a dental speciality which supports the oral healthcare of people living with intellectual disabilities and medical, physical or psychiatric conditions that often require special techniques or modifications to their dental treatment plans.
That’s not to say every person with an eligible health condition needs to see a Special Needs Dentist, however, we support general dental professionals for severe or complex cases or where the needs of the individual are beyond their scope of practice.
Dental professionals can refer patients in the same way they’d refer people to a medical specialist for a specific area of need with your general health. Special Needs Dentists have done rigorous clinical and theoretical training through a postgraduate degree to obtain this additional qualification and skill set.
In terms of the app that you’ve pitched, what is the vision behind it and how did you come up with the idea? What is the problem that it’s trying to solve?
I wanted to overcome the myriad of barriers that people living with special needs face when it comes to accessing oral dental care.
Currently, there are multiple barriers to access so people with special needs tend to receive less oral health care, or of lower quality, than the general population. Poor oral health has significant negative consequences, especially for people with special needs where sequelae of dental disease may be severe, causing life-threatening facial swellings, hospitalisation or aspiration pneumonia resulting in death.
However, carers often aren’t taught how to provide oral care and they change frequently so assisted oral care is a real challenge. Oral care plans developed through specialist dental advice are needed; oral care plans that work and include a practical training component as well.
I started to think about possible solutions - I had already developed electronic oral care plans for my patients living in South West Sydney to reduce their risk of dental disease. I provide practical training for the carers and patients and their feedback has been extremely positive, and I was seeing improvement in oral hygiene clinically. I thought developing an app would take this approach to the next level and reach more people, quicker.
Are any of the issues that the app is trying to address actually more prominent in South West Sydney?
Yes! This was one of my motivations to pitch this idea.
There is a significantly higher percentage of people living with a disability compared with the NSW average, resulting in increased demand for health services including dental services. In South West Sydney, 1 in 15 people live with a profound or severe disability (>70,000 people!) and 1 in 8 people are carers for someone with a disability. But we have only 1 special needs dentist (me!) working to service the entire South West Sydney.
This community also faces significant financial and physical barriers to accessing health services as well as discrimination. The app will help overcome the barriers to accessing specialist Special Needs Dentistry services for preventive oral care for the community in South West Sydney, with scope for roll out more broadly across NSW.
South West Sydney has a very diverse population. What’s your personal connection to the area?
I’ve been working in South West Sydney for the last 1.5 years and growing up, I would visit regularly as my parents were also working in South West Sydney for the last 40 years. As such, I’ve always been connected to the region and have enjoyed seeing the diversity increase and facilities improve in recent years.
As the daughter of South Asians myself, it’s not lost on me that culturally diverse communities face their own unique challenges in many areas. From your experience working in this field, would access to adequate healthcare resources be one of those areas? What have you noticed?
I think there is often a lack of education about the specialist dental services available among culturally diverse communities, and perhaps a lack of understanding around why referral to a Special Needs Dentist may be in the best interest of the patient. I believe some of this stems from a poor understanding of oral health and its importance as part of our overall general health and wellbeing.
You can’t have a healthy body without a healthy mouth! This becomes even more important when the consequences of poor oral health carry additional challenges and risks if you are living with special needs. Part of my role is advocating for improved dental services for those living with special needs, to make access more equitable.
So many of us as children of South Asian immigrants are often encouraged to follow a ‘traditional’ career path, and that often doesn’t involve being the founder of a startup. What has your experience been like in this respect? What have been the challenges and the highlights?
I can definitely relate to this! Being at the start of my startup journey, and having chosen an area that will hopefully bring a positive impact on the wider community, I’ve been very grateful to have had family support and understanding! I’m very fortunate that I can pursue my career interests and ambition for new ideas and it helps that this app will improve my existing workflow and efficiency.
I think the challenge was getting out of my comfort zone, however, pitching my idea to a large audience last week at the UNSW Founders South West Pitch Night has definitely been the highlight!
What advice would you have for other young people who have an idea and aren’t sure whether to pitch it or not?
I would strongly encourage you to give it a go. UNSW Founders through the Liverpool Innovation Precinct (LIP) Entrepreneurship Program run several programs helping young people who have an idea, regardless of how small it may be. Pitching also has many transferable skills like public speaking, improving communication skills and networking so I highly recommend anyone thinking about it, to give it a try!
What would be the next steps required to get the app off the ground?
I’ll be looking at app development next and then stakeholder input to finalise the exact costing and refine the app. I plan to test the app prototype within South West Sydney first and then roll out nationally in the near future.
Where would you like to see the app in 5 and 10 years’ time?
To see the app become part of the preventive approach taken for all patients in Australia living with a disability or with special dental care needs.
I aspire for the app to be used nationally and become a vital educational resource and part of the daily workflow across group homes and residential aged care facilities in the future.