Starting
from nothingness, a young boy from a remote village in Kerala was lifted up to
a supreme position in dental technology, simply because of his faith and
commitment to God - “who lifteth up the meek and raiseth up the poor”. John
Kuriakose, Founder and Managing Director of Dentcare Dental Lab Pvt. Ltd;
started the lab in 1988 in a small room attached to a dental clinic in
Muvattupuzha. It is now a 50,000 sq. ft. world class Dental laboratory; with 1700
skilled technicians, 10 million satisfied patients and more than 10,000
benefited dentists.
John
Kuriakose comes from a very poor family, his father and mother being ‘daily
wages’ workers in nearby houses. It was very difficult for them to make both ends
meet, so that from childhood itself John had faced the bitterness of poverty.
Many a day John and his two brothers, Baby and Saju would wait eagerly for
their mother to return in the evening, to feed on the “given away collected
food” she would bring for them in an earthen bowl.
Adding
to their miseries, John’s father and grandfather were mentally abnormal,
frequently becoming violent. This mental disease appeared to be hereditary,
that his mother was worried about it haunting her children too. Life became so
miserable that she attempted suicide thrice. John and his brothers were victims
of an inferiority complex in their school days, and they were an object of
ridicule in the school and society. They were called “sons of mad Kuriakon” (Bhranthan
Kuriakon). John’s desperation and disappointment darkened his life - and his
future seemed blank without any hope. In 1983, John completed his SSLC and was
forced to work as a rubber tapper to support his family.
One
day, John’s mother got a chance to attend a prayer meeting of Christian Revival
Fellowship led by Prof. M.Y. Yohannan. The man, who had invited her, gave her
the bus fare to attend the meeting and she went with a cloth borrowed from
neighborhood. Fortunately, Jesus Christ touched her life in that prayer meeting
and she came back with a peaceful heart. The drastic change in the life of John’s
mother inspired the whole family to attend these prayer meetings regularly in spite
of serious objections from the church.
Slowly
happiness and peace crept into the family. This was a turning point in John’s
life – the beginning of a journey from famine to feast, from nothingness to
fullness, from bitterness to blessedness and from tears to triumph.
At
that time, John was working as a rubber tapper. Determination and enthusiasm
filled his mind and he wished to have a decent job, with a salary of at least
Rs. 250 per month. But John himself was aware that, a person with only pass
mark in SSLC cannot even dream a job. But one word from Prof. Yohannan’s
message remained deep rooted in his mind- “If one leads a sinless holy life
before Jesus Christ, God will fulfill the ambitions in his life.” ‘‘Humility and
fear for the Lord, lead a man to riches, honour and long life”. John took this
as the gospel of his life, and he assumed the job of an attender in a nearby dental
clinic, with a monthly salary of Rs.250. He was earnest and faithful in his job.
During the six years spent at the clinic, he was exposed to the complexity of
artificial dental prosthesis and learned the tricks of the trade.
Almost
every other day John used to watch his doctor struggling and sweating to seat
ill- fitting crowns and bridges. Standing at the chair side as an assistant, John
silently began to think of fabricating crowns and bridges with precision and
perfection. Therein began a sparkling new chapter in his life.
Excellence
is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere
effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. John worked hard day and
night with determination and perseverance, and within a short span of time, a
small dental lab with staff strength of ten has grown up to a 50,000 sq. ft.
State of the art Dental lab having staff strength of 1700.
At
every given opportunity John is glad to proclaim his testimony. He shares his past with anybody without any
reservation to inspire and motivate them. He says it was divine intervention
that bought about a change for the better in his life. He knows very well that,
what he is now today is only because of the grace of God.
He
continues by saying; “I started my
career as an attender in a dental clinic. Considering my sincerity in the job,
Dr. Reji Mathew, owner of the clinic, promoted me as his assistant, which was
an opportunity for me to learn more about dentistry. I noticed dentists
struggling with ill-fitting crowns and bridges. Gradually, I thought of setting
up a lab, which could provide quality products to dentists. I worked hard day
and night doing part time jobs to save money and could set up a lab in a small
room at Muvattupuzha, a town in Kerala, South India in 1988.” John completed
the dental technician course from Balaji Dental College, Chennai and devoted
his time to the growth of the lab, and the results motivated him to grow even
further. His brothers Baby and Saju came forward to support him. He was very
keen on providing quality services to the clients. A few dentists encouraged
this venture.
To go hand in hand with progress, John
started to attend seminars and sessions around the world to learn more about
the dental scenario and trends. He says: “I started travelling around the world
to keep pace with changing trends in technology. I was totally consumed by the passion
to set up a lab in India with global standards. I have received training from countries
such as US, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Denmark etc.
This exposure has given me a deep understanding of technology of major dental
companies like VITA, Ivoclar Vivadent, Shofu, Bego, Degudent, Nobel Biocare, 3M
ESPE, Dentaurum, EOS, Renfert etc.
During the last 25 years, John has
attended over 200 training sessions and participated in a number of National
and International dental conferences including International Dental Show in
Cologne, Germany. He has been honoured with many national and state level
awards. John’s family, include his wife, Mrs. Jessy John, who is the Executive
director and Chief quality controller of Dentcare, and the young buds, Joshua,
Joel, Job and Jonathan, who have added strength to all his initiatives.
Dentcare
Group
Synonymous with superior quality,
executive product range, best-in-class technology and state-of-the-art manufacturing
process, Dentcare Group of dental laboratories is the largest of its kind in
India and could be one among the largest few in the region. The company is ISO
9001:2008 certified and 13485:2003 certified and has CE marking: 1293. The
company will soon be getting FDA and ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental). The
50,000-square-feet laboratory carries out all manufacturing processes related
to the dental prosthesis. An exclusive export unit of 75,000 sq. ft. will be
added this year.
The company has over 10,000 customers, which
include those in dental colleges, dental hospitals and clinics. He says: “We
have an efficient workforce consisting of skilled dental technicians. All
services are supervised by highly qualified chief technicians who have been
trained under master technicians from countries such as Germany, Switzerland,
Japan, US, Italy and Sweden. We have employed renowned master technicians from
Europe to bring a global perspective. We have also involved specialists among
dentists to oversee and ensure quality.”
Products
and Services
The products include crowns, bridges, dentures, implants,
veneers, inlays, onlays etc. The lab offers the best choice in CAD/CAM
metal-free prosthesis in India like Lava 3M ESPE(Germany), Cercon
Degudant(Germany), Procera Nobel Biocare (Sweden), and IPS e-max Ivoclar
Vivadent (Switzerland). In 2011 the company introduced DMLS(Direct Metal Laser
Sintered)PFM, EOS (Germany).
The lab has separate divisions for titanium-cast partial,
telescopic crowns, Implant supported dentures (Cement Retained Custom Implant
Abutment, Screw Retained Crown/Bridge, Hybrid Wrap Around Bridge,
Overdenture Bar and Clip, Custom Bar and
Clip) and Precision attachments. Complete Dentures, chrome cobalt cast dentures
and Removable Partial Dentures are from renowned brands like BPS (Switzerland),
valplast, Bredent (Germany) etc.
The lab uses raw materials from Germany, which supplies the
bestquality materials in the world. “As far as Dentcare is concerned, we would
never use any material which is harmful to the patient. We would never
compromise on quality to beat competition. This makes Dentcare different from
others”, insists John.
Dentcare uses modern equipments that are mainly imported
from Europe, US and Japan. The registration department uses computer generated
job cards and bar-coding system to ensure complete traceability. All
departments are computerized and scanning of each work is done at every stage.
“Technology is changing at digital pace and we are very particular
about upgrading technology on a continuous basis. We are one among the best to
introduce the latest technology like model scanners, model printers etc. Now a
long cherished dream of John; “A Research and Development Division” is being
set up.
Global Opportunity
“Within 10 years, China and India are expected to be the top
economies globally. There will be stiff competition between the two countries in
almost all fields. China has large-scale production facilities, but a skilled
and educated workforce gives an edge to India.” says John.
John says that a major chunk of Indian population is
affected with various dental diseases. The accessibility of rural patients to
the clinic is very low, but things will soon change within the next 10 to 15
years.
Customer satisfaction
The guiding light of Dentcare is the management policy which
is being followed. According to John. “We never compromise on quality. Our aim
is to provide best-quality service to our customers. Our strong faith in God
and firm commitment to the safety of our patients who use our products are our
greatest strength. Our employees are
our valuable asset and they consider this lab as their second home and so we
call the Dentcare as ‘Dentcare Family’.
In an interview John exposed his views: “If someone enters
this field with the sole aim of making money at the shortest possible time, I
must say he is misguided. This field requires a lot of patience, commitment and
sacrifice. In the long run, one can survive in this field only by ensuring
quality consistently and continuously.
Every year many labs are getting closed.”
John’s immediate priority is to build an export exclusive
unit to cater to the needs of dentists in any part of the world. The
infrastructure development for this is going on and expected to be completed by
2014. “We want to retain the position of technological superiority. In the long
run we will try to emerge as one of the largest and the best labs in the
international arena. I still have a dream unfulfilled. It is to set up an
international training centre for dentists and technicians and to set up a
research and development division to give innovative dental technology to
dental fraternity. I am working towards that goal and I believe it will be
materialised with the help of my Lord Jesus Christ.” John shares his dream.
