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"Affordable, high-quality, 'Made in India' laser for Indian market": Dr. Chandrashekar Yavagal

Dr. Yavagal ventured into laser manufacturing and entrepreneurship to make laser technology affordable to dentists and make it reach our needy masses, with a conviction that we could make high-quality affordable laser units. (Photo: LaserVEDA)

Tue. 21 March 2023

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In the recently concluded International Dental Show (IDS), Dental Tribune South Asia interviewed Dr. Chnadrashekar Yavagal, a pediatric dentist turned entrepreneur (LASERpreneur) from Hubballi, Karnataka who has founded LaserVEDA and designed an affordable, high-quality laser – Novolase – for the Indian market.

Dr. Chandrashekar, tell us something about yourself.
I am Dr.Chandrashekar Yavagal, from Hubli city in South India. I graduated from SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad. I did my pediatric dentistry MDS from the College of Dental Sciences, Davanagere. I have been in active practice and academics in pediatric and laser dentistry for over 17 years. My last academic designation was with Maratha Mandal Institute of Dental Sciences, Belagavi, as a professor and head of pediatric dentistry. I am heading India’s first-ever department of laser dentistry and photomedicine in the same institution as its director. 

I also feel incredibly fortunate to be associated with the College for Light Medicine and Laser Therapy (COLLL) Germany as its first ‘non-German’ vice president as well as with the World Association of Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy (2021-2024) as director (SM). Besides being the head of education and training at Novolase Technologies, India, I also have my chain of super specialty clinics across south India under the banner ‘LaserVEDA’ aiming to deliver top-notch non-Invasive & pain-free medical and dental care. 

Being a pediatric dentist, what made you take up laser dentistry as a clinician?
The story dates back to 2006 when I had just finished Post graduation in Pediatric dentistry and was a fresh practitioner in my hometown. During one of those days, I saw a 40-day-old baby with a growing lesion in the anterior mandible associated with natal teeth. Unfortunately, the complexities of the case, like the unfavorable bleeding and clotting times for conventional surgery, the problem of pain control, and the choice of anesthesia for such a young kid, the post-op suture placement (and its subsequent removal) made it even more challenging. But, the pediatric dentist within me wanted to extend some help to that innocent infant, and that’s when I took the plunge into laser technology because I knew that it would solve all the problems mentioned above for the child. That’s when I took my first step towards laser surgery by renting a laser for 350/- Indian rupees from an ENT surgeon! I was clueless about the wavelength, power output, and the fiber’s diameter. After that, for a good few years, I kept taking laser units for rent due to my financial constraints due to a lower middle-class background, making it impossible to afford even a simple diode for myself! 

What were the challenges and barriers you had to overcome as a clinician?
The cost of the technology was the most significant barrier! Laser dentistry has always been considered expensive. My first-ever case with laser, although successful, taught me many things. I realized that Indian patients could reap the benefits of this incredible science only when laser technology becomes affordable for an average Indian doctor to use. That’s how the seeds of a wholly indigenous, Atmanirbhar 'Made in India’ Laser unit were sowed in my head. The challenge was even more significant for me as I come from a small place where the acceptance of this technology was poor. The patients were unwilling to go to a dentist due to the fear of pain and bleeding, but their inability to afford treatments with niche technology like lasers prevented them from coming to me! I guessed that this would continue to be the norm in all small towns and cities across India until we came up with our own equivalent of all those expensive lasers which India was importing! Only then could this technology become mainstream in the Indian dental landscape! 

And that's how you ventured into laser manufacturing and entrepreneurship?
I had not planned to venture into Laser manufacturing and entrepreneurship initially. But, to make laser technology affordable to dentists and make it reach our needy masses, I became an entrepreneur. In the last 17 years, I have tried various laser brands manufactured in different countries, reinforcing my belief that we could make better ones in India! And at half the cost! 

The changing face of the laser industry and the latest knowledge made us understand that laser is much more than just a cutting tool. In fact, in these challenging post-pandemic times, we can make our dentists realize that by using this technology, they can treat and heal pathologies that were hitherto considered impossible to treat on a dental chair! 

Who would have imagined that a day would come when we could use non-invasive, therapeutic lasers to treat Trigeminal neuralgia? Or even Short lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform headache with Conjunctival Tearing (SUNCT)! 

Unfortunately, all these incredible possibilities were inaccessible to Indian dentists due to the lack of availability of the proper units with the right accessories and timely guidance and education. Any research serves no purpose unless we can make its results applicable clinically. This is where I realized if this science has to become predictable and usable, we need to develop indigenous laser units that are entirely manufactured and serviceable in India. Also, the users must be given proper education and fully accredited certifications to venture into this new stream!

What has changed in the field of Lasers over the years? 

Lasers have been considered a cutting tool for far too long. For decades, we have only considered it a substitute for the DRILL or SCALPEL. Over the years, our understanding of lasers has changed in more ways than one. We are now aware of so many facets of this pure form of energy (made up of specific wavelength photons), like its interactions with different body tissues at different power levels and intensities. 

Today we discuss lasers as the best healing option, thanks to an emerging field called photobiomodulation (PBM), where we use specific wavelength photons at very low power levels so that they do not induce any irreversible change in the tissues but just keep energizing them! Through this technique, we can achieve enhanced ATP generation, the release of nitric oxide, and trigger several cascade systems to bring about better healing, excellent hemostasis, and pain relief, and are even capable of reversing premalignant oral lesions based on this principle of healing at the cellular level.’

Any new thing that you are trying to introduce currently?
Yes! We are working on our trademark concept - COMBO-COHERENCE, where two wavelengths fire together. 

How are you ensuring quality control in your devices?
We are certified by ISO 9001 and 13485 (specific for medical devices), CE, and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). All our devices come with training and certification so that our clinicians can serve patients in a well-qualified and scientific manner. We have created a group of fully trained laser clinicians actively promoting this science of laser healing. Of course, along with it, all our units are being produced to deliver excellent surgical outcomes!  

How user-friendly is your laser unit?
By designing all our laser units on the premise of ‘Laser dentistry being as easy as 1-2-3,’ we have managed to bust the myth that laser science is challenging to learn! By default, all our units have a simple 1-2-3-4 button-based interface to help even a novice user to master photodynamic therapy (PDT), where we use an intermediary exogenous chromophore in the form of a specific dye, usually the blue one with the red wavelength and the green dye with Infrared 810 nm wavelength.

The user achieves all the desired clinical outcomes by just tapping four buttons! 1-2-3-4… voila! 

Can you tell us more about the simplified buttons?
The buttons are backed by AI-based presets that automatically guide you to photomedicine if you select 1. Selecting 2 will take you to PDT mode, where the machine will even help you choose the dye! Button 3 allows the user to perform laser hygiene (bacterial count reduction) to achieve 3D disinfection of root canals or sulcus debridement/ disinfection of periodontal pockets. And all the cliched’ cutting school laser options are grouped under button number 4. 

Does that make your laser unit expensive?
No, not at all. We have even successfully busted the myth of Laser units being expensive by offering basic therapeutic devices for INR 99,000!

Dr. Chandrashekar Yavagal

How is the response to your laser devices?
Very, very encouraging. What started as a small story in a small Indian city now has more than 300 installations in India alone! We are pleased to note that we have installations in five countries around the globe, and we have achieved all this in the last three years. 

What are your future plans?
Well, we are in 2023, and I have been reading reports wherein it’s been mentioned that by 2025 India will be the oral cancer capital of the world - something we can’t be proud of. 

Now we are looking at laser as a healing tool and means to reverse premalignant lesions. We are even trying trials where a diabetic foot ulcer, which is planned to be amputated, could be reversed using advanced photodynamic therapy strategies, such as a PDT. 

PDT is a big boon since it is a physical process with no risk of resistance development, like what we see with antimicrobials. We are working on PDT on various oral diseases and non-head and neck conditions where antimicrobial therapy is likely to play a significant role. In fact, during the COVID pandemic and mucormycosis crisis, we published a paper on how we could achieve an anti-fungal effect using PDT with our laser systems! In fact, at one point in time, it was ranked amongst the top literature by WHO for coronavirus-related pieces of evidence worldwide! 

Regarding oral cancer, we want to develop low-cost devices that can be installed on every dental chair, at every nook and corner of India, where a dentist can just use fluorescence outcomes of oral mucosa to screen oral cancer and then use our therapeutic PBM protocols to reverse premalignant lesions! We are even trying to work on peripheral units to treat cancer-induced oral mucositis in patients undergoing cancer-related radio/chemotherapy.  

How was your experience at IDS 2023 in Cologne?
IDS was always on my bucket list. I always wanted to visit IDS but couldn’t afford it! But 2023 has been exceptionally kind, and I am here! Meeting people across the globe and telling them about our technology has been a pleasurable experience. 

All those who see no opportunity in dentistry should visit IDS once, and I am sure they will be taken by a big surprise! The kind of technology we have on display at the IDS prompts me to say ‘This is the most exciting time to be a dentist.” 

My message to all the young dentists is that this is the best time to be in dentistry! If you know how to harness the various technological capabilities available at your fingertips. IDS provides a fantastic platform to interact with global icons, manufacturers, and inventors. IDS is a conglomeration of the best in the field - a boiling pot of opportunities!

It’s been a very fruitful journey for me to be at IDS 2023, and the future looks great! 

We will return with many new ideas, technologies, and innovations to incorporate into our manufacturing hubs and workplaces. As I always believe in “think global but act local,” as a clinician/ researcher/ academic/ entrepreneur, IDS presents a great platform to do that! 

About

Dr. Chandrashekar Yavagal is an internationally acclaimed clinician, speaker, and post-Ph.D. Doctorate in Laser Biophotonics and Laser Photodynamic Therapy. A University topper at BDS and Gold medalist MDS in Paediatric dentistry from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India, he completed his Diploma in Orthodontics from Orthodontic World Institute (OWI), Barcelona, Spain. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, a Fellow of the Asia Pacific Laser Institute (APLI, Taiwan), a Life Member of the European Medical Laser Association (EMLA), and a Diplomate of the International College of Neuromuscular Orthodontics & Gnathology. Italy. He is the Director and Head of India’s first exclusive Department of Laser Dentistry and Photomedicine at MMNGH Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, Karnataka. With close to 100 publications in National and International peer-reviewed journals, he is presently the Chairman (Scientific) at Novolase Education and Training (NEAT), Vice-President of the College for Light Medicine and Laser Therapy (COLLL) Germany, and the Director (S.M) of WALT - World Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy (2021-24). 

Dr. Yavagal is the founder of LaserVEDA - Healing and Wellness Solutions and Director of Kids & Teens Exclusive Paediatric Dentistry and Paediatric Orthodontic Practice, Hubli.

 

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