It begins with a simple “Hi.” No appointment, no clinic queues, no waiting room music. Just a chat on WhatsApp, three photos and a free dental health report—all in under two minutes.
This is how Aster Clinics is changing the way people think about visiting the dentist. In partnership with Indian healthtech company Logy.AI, the UAE-based healthcare provider has launched Smyl AI, an AI-powered dental screening tool that works entirely through WhatsApp.
The tool isn’t a gimmick or a chatbot with canned replies—it’s a clinically validated system that analyses dental images for signs of cavities, gum disease, plaque and other common issues. And it’s accessible to anyone with a smartphone.
However, behind this seamless experience lies a complex and carefully designed technical system, developed over the course of months of collaboration among engineers, clinicians and user experience specialists.
This case study examines the development of Smyl AI, its application in real-world patient care and why it may be a precursor to the future of frontline healthcare.
Building for the real world, not just the Ideal User
For Anand Panchbhai, CTO of Logy.AI, the biggest challenge wasn’t training the AI. It was designed to work in real-world conditions, where lighting is poor, camera angles are awkward and users often don’t follow instructions precisely.
“We weren’t dealing with perfect dental X-rays. These are mobile phone photos—sometimes blurry, overexposed, or taken at strange angles,” said Panchbhai. “So we had to create intelligent checks that immediately flag if the image isn’t good enough and prompt the user to retake it. That alone reduced errors by a huge margin.”
The AI behind Smyl was trained on thousands of annotated intraoral images, sourced through dentist-led collaborations to ensure clinical accuracy. The dataset was designed to be representative across ethnicities, age groups and various oral hygiene profiles, making the tool more reliable for the UAE’s diverse population.
The engineering team also built in algorithms that can automatically detect landmarks in the mouth to crop and focus on the right areas. In other words, the system knows what to look at—and what to ignore—without needing a human in the loop.
From first message to first appointment
Once the user completes the screening, Smyl AI generates a PDF report with a detailed analysis. But the process doesn’t end there. A concierge team at Aster reaches out via WhatsApp to walk the patient through the next steps.
This includes help with booking an appointment, sending the report directly to the dentist and ensuring the user feels supported from the very first interaction.
“One thing we’ve learned is that digital tools shouldn’t remove the human connection—they should enhance it,” explained Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, CEO of Aster Hospitals and Clinics across the UAE, Oman and Bahrain.
“By the time a patient arrives at the clinic, the doctor already knows what they’re dealing with. That creates a different kind of trust—it shortens the distance between technology and care.”
The Smyl AI flow also helps overcome common barriers that prevent people from seeking dental care. Aster’s internal survey found that 80 per cent of residents experience dental caries, but only half go to the dentist when something hurts. And just 20 per cent get annual checkups.
This lag between early signs and action is something Smyl is directly designed to address.
Making AI work over WhatsApp? Easier said than done
WhatsApp may seem like an obvious platform choice, but it was also one of the most technically demanding parts of the project. “We wanted this to work for everyone—from working parents and students to domestic workers. That meant it had to run on a platform people already use every day,” said Panchbhai.
“But the constraints were significant—small file sizes, limited image quality and the need for the AI to operate within that flow.”
To address this, Logy.AI designed a fully integrated backend capable of processing, analysing and responding within seconds. The system needed to be lightweight enough for a messaging application yet powerful enough to perform advanced AI analysis.
Language accessibility was another significant challenge—Smyl supports both English and Arabic, ensuring it caters to a broader population.
On the privacy side, the team implemented secure, encrypted communication protocols and ensured that the tool adhered to the UAE’s data protection laws. Logy.AI is also ISO 27001 certified, reinforcing its ability to handle sensitive health data responsibly.
Measuring Impact: More than just downloads
Beyond the excitement of launch metrics, the Aster team is focused on longer-term indicators. They’re tracking how many users go on to visit a clinic, how many complete the diagnostic process and how effectively the tool supports earlier diagnosis.
“We’re still collecting enough data to build full clinical outcomes into the dashboard,” says Dr. Bichu. “But early signs are encouraging—people are engaging, they’re asking questions and more importantly, they’re following up with care.”
And that, he says, is the real win. If a simple tool like Smyl can reduce the time between symptoms and treatment—or encourage preventive behaviour altogether—then the technology has already done its job.
What happens from here
Encouraged by the success of Smyl AI in dental health, Aster is now exploring similar tools for other specialities such as dermatology and cosmetic care. The model—AI diagnosis combined with a WhatsApp interface-is proving adaptable, scalable and surprisingly well-suited to the everyday lives of people who might not otherwise visit a clinic until it’s too late.
“We’re not looking to reinvent healthcare,” says Dr. Bichu. “We’re looking to make it more responsive, more human and more timely. Sometimes that means advanced technology. Sometimes it just means meeting people where they are.”
Smyl AI is already doing both.
