Oral Healthcare Top 50 Opportunities Series II: Sunny Dental Sets the Gold Standard in Orthodontics and Launches 'Smile for Ten Thousand Cities' Initiative

In this article, we present the latest interview from the “Oral Care 50 Opportunities” series in a Q&A format. In this interview, Zhou Shuo, Audit Partner at KPMG China, speaks with Professor Zhou Yanheng, Chief Consultant Expert at Sunny Dental, who is also a Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and Chief Physician in the Department of Orthodontics at Peking University School of Stomatology.

Zhou Shuo:Sunny Dental was established in 2007. It currently operates 36 specialized dental hospitals across multiple cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, with nearly 400 dental chairs and a total branch area exceeding 28,000 square meters. The institution has cumulatively treated over 260,000 specialized dental cases, such as malocclusion. Please share the key success factors that have contributed to Sunny Dental’s development to date.

Professor Yanheng Zhou:Sunny Dental was founded with the original intention of introducing advanced technologies and business models from the overseas dental healthcare industry, aiming to establish an “academically oriented” dental chain. In recent years, as China has entered the ranks of upper-middle-income countries, consumer demand for oral health services has been growing rapidly, leading to an increasingly large customer base for dental clinics. While comprehensively acquiring new customers, Sunny Dental has consistently maintained high professional standards, thereby building a tripartite value system centered on “supply-side team development, disruptive technological innovation, and customer experience empowerment.”

First, establish a high-caliber dental physician group. Sunny Dental has attracted a large pool of dental professionals, including over 50 master’s and doctoral graduates from Peking University School of Stomatology. Together with master’s and doctoral teams from other leading dental institutions in China, they form an elite “crack force” of dentists.

Second, focus on technological reform for physicians. As the saying goes, “to forge iron, one must be strong oneself,” and “good wine needs no bush.” Sailde Sunshine regards medical quality as its foundation, benchmarks itself against top-tier international dental clinics, champions self-revolution, and strives to set the industry benchmark in the field of orthodontics.

Third, focus on the quality of medical services. Adhering to the profound academic heritage of Peking University Health Science Center, Sunny Dental actively assumes social responsibility and firmly safeguards patient interests. Our dentists never give up easily when confronted with complex and refractory cases, striving to resolve every patient’s dental issues and committing themselves to being a solid backbone for the oral healthcare industry. It can be said that, to date, Sunny Dental has rarely encountered any patients with malocclusion deemed “untreatable.”

Zhou Shuo:We have noted that on February 28 of this year, Sunny Dental officially launched the “Smile Plan for Ten Thousand Cities,” targeting China’s vast county-level markets and establishing the Sunny Dental Alliance (SDA). What was the original intention behind Sunny Dental’s launch of the “Smile Plan for Ten Thousand Cities”? What are its specific strategic layouts?

Professor Zhou Yanheng:While maintaining steady growth, Sunny Dental has developed new perspectives on the “dental physician group” business model. During its scaled expansion, Sunny Dental has maintained a relatively slower pace of opening new clinics due to its unwavering commitment to “high standards and strict requirements” for all facility configurations. Taking the Changsha clinic as an example, it took two years from the initial preparation stage—when Dr. Yao Yao, the first eight-year doctoral graduate from Peking University School of Stomatology, was invited to provide expertise—to its final establishment. Meanwhile, there is significant regional disparity in the distribution of highly qualified dental professionals; talent is scarce in third- and fourth-tier cities, making it difficult for patients to find suitable orthodontists locally for corrective treatment.

In light of this, Sunny Dental has actively responded to the government’s guidance on “channeling high-quality medical resources to grassroots levels and establishing a scientific and rational order for medical care.” By formulating a corporate development plan aligned with national strategic priorities, Sunny Dental has established the Sunny Dental Alliance. Serving as a robust bridge, the Alliance connects Sunny Dental’s advanced technologies with local dental clinics, addressing the technological and talent gaps in third- and fourth-tier cities. This approach embodies the principle of “teaching one to fish,” thereby providing high-quality oral healthcare services to a broader population in China.

Zhou Shuo:You previously put forward the view that “digitalization and dentists complement each other, jointly empowering the oral healthcare industry.” As a labor-intensive sector similar to accounting firms, do you believe digitalization will replace dentists?

Professor Zhou Yanheng:In the global orthodontic market, digitalization is sparking intense discussion. How should cases be collected to build databases? How can digital tools be leveraged for diagnosis and treatment monitoring? How can digital technologies empower orthodontic treatment and dental implantology? These discussions aim to enhance efficiency, advance medical technology, and ensure healthcare quality through digitalization.

In fact, digitalization serves merely as an adjunct to diagnosis and treatment; the role of physicians remains irreplaceable. Medicine is an empirical science, and clinical experience is paramount for healthcare professionals. Seasoned dentists can rapidly diagnose complex cases within an extremely short timeframe. Taking “clear aligners” as an example, it is the orthodontist who ultimately establishes the malocclusion diagnosis, performs the initial treatment design, and personalizes and adjusts the correction steps to ensure clinical rationality. Only physicians can serve as the ultimate solvers of intricate orthodontic problems.

Amidst the global era of digital orthodontics, Chinese orthodontists have kept pace with the times, achieving a remarkable transformation in clear aligner technology from following peers to leading the world. Chinese orthodontists are not only outstanding but also unique.

Zhou Shuo:In recent years, there has been growing attention to oral health and the impact of teeth on personal appearance, leading to an increasing demand for pediatric orthodontics. Many parents are now prioritizing their children’s dental health and gradually embracing the concept that orthodontic intervention should begin at an early age. In your view, is there a trend toward over-treatment in pediatric orthodontics within the oral healthcare industry? What type of orthodontic treatment do children actually need, and when is the optimal time to initiate it?

Professor Zhou Yanheng:Early orthodontic intervention in children is a crucial component of the field of orthodontics. In China, there is indeed an issue of excessive orthodontic treatment for children, primarily manifested in three ways: “trend toward younger ages,” “indiscriminate application,” and “prolonged treatment duration.”

First, orthodontic treatment requires proper timing; earlier is not necessarily better. Age 7 is a critical milestone for pediatric orthodontics, as this is when the mixed dentition phase begins. Insufficient dental spacing at this stage may lead to jaw abnormalities, and initiating orthodontic treatment at this age is not too late for 95% of cases.

Secondly, temporary malocclusions that occur during the mixed dentition stage do not require orthodontic correction; however, some commercial institutions provide such treatments solely for economic gain.

Finally, the “alignment” that parents value is a trivial matter for orthodontists, achievable in as little as three months. However, this process has been unnecessarily prolonged by some unprofessional dental institutions, with cases reported of children wearing braces for seven to eight years.

A deep dive into the causes of overtreatment in pediatric orthodontics reveals that certain institutions are peddling “orthodontic anxiety,” urging parents to spend heavily on their children’s orthodontic care as a means of rapid profit-making. Early childhood orthodontic intervention should focus on early prevention and habit interception for young children. Sunny Dental Care remains committed to maintaining oral health throughout the entire lifecycle of children’s teeth, with particular emphasis on protecting dentition during the mixed dentition stage. Meanwhile, it actively advocates for dental public welfare across various media channels, “resolutely putting an end to the exploitation of parental anxiety,” and promoting a natural and healthy model of early pediatric orthodontics.

Medical chain institutions should commit to brand building, return to the essence of healthcare, orient themselves toward long-term development goals, discard the unhealthy practice of prioritizing profits above all else, and adhere to a path of development characterized by medical ethics and high professional standards, thereby contributing to the Healthy China 2030 initiative.

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