The African Dentist: Redefining dentistry with passion and innovation
What started as an oral health education initiative for Abraham Akinbami has gradually evolved into a one-stop destination for anyone seeking dental attention.
Akinbami, popularly known as the African Dentist, is the Founder and Managing Director of Toothmine Dental Clinic.
He began his journey by spreading the gospel of oral health education, which eventually led to the establishment of a modern dental clinic offering a wide range of dental services.
Speaking during the launch of Toothmine Dental Clinic in Lagos, Akinbami shared his story of how he became the African Dentist. “I said to myself, what’s the next thing to do? I then said, maybe I should call myself the Nigerian dentist. Well, I thought to myself, that was really small thinking. Let’s think about something huge, something more dramatic. And that was where the name, the African dentist, came about.”
Akinbami’s vision was bigger than himself, and he knew he had to take a bold step to achieve it.
“I took out my phone, hit Instagram, and I typed out the African dentist. Voila, it wasn’t taken. Then I signed up on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, all platforms available, just to secure the name. And I moved ahead to start recording videos.”
Through his social media platforms, Akinbami educated people on basic oral health practices, such as how many times to brush in a day, the type of toothbrush to use, and the type of toothpaste to use. “Things as basic as how many times to brush in a day, the type of toothbrush to use, the type of toothpaste to use. Those things sound very basic. But interestingly, it cuts across all socioeconomic status.”
Akinbami’s passion for dentistry led him to establish Toothmine Dental Clinic, with the goal of providing quality dental care to patients. “I wanted to start a private dental clinic. Then it was time to choose a name again. You know how these names come about. Then Toothmine came. Now, how did I come about ToothMine? It’s restoring your tooth. So that’s how the name ToothMine came about.”
When asked about the future of dentistry practice in Nigeria, Akinbami said, “We’re transforming into digital dentistry where we utilize technology a lot. We scan digital scanners. With digital scanners, we can communicate with labs across the world and provide optimal care and provide accurate treatment for patients.”
Akinbami focuses on partnerships and building relationships with schools and clinics, “I am all about partnership. Now, what do I mean by partnership? Partnership with schools, building relationships with schools and clinics so that it’s not just about coming into the clinic. We’re also able to build relationships outside the clinic.”
Akinbami’s team, including Babajide Williams, the administrative officer, works together to ensure that the clinic provides quality care to patients. “Being an administrative officer at a branch is quite a lot. I mean, there’s the nurses, there’s the doctor, there’s the janitors. There’s the clinic as well in general. So we all have to come together as a team.”
The clinic’s ambience and patient comfort are top priorities for Akinbami. “We were intentional about a patient having to come in and feel a bit of warmth, you know, feel comfortable. And that wasn’t just it for us. You know, it wasn’t about just the beauty of the ambience of the space. We also wanted to be intentional about it being comfortable as well.”
Akinbami’s outreach programs aim to educate people on the importance of oral health and provide preventive care. “From time to time, like the business developer explained and mentioned, we have outreaches. So these outreaches are designed to ensure that we are able to capture the masses, like you said. And in those outreaches, we do preventive care, we do basic treatments, and we also go the further step to restore teeth.”
Akinbami doesn’t regret studying dentistry and is passionate about his work. “I don’t regret studying dentistry. One bit. Why? In school, we close by five. And then the medical students have calls, have ward rounds, and I was like, oh, thank God, I’m still in medicine.”
