How Dentinal Tubules Built a Premier E-Learning Resource
Video Drives Rapid Business Growth and Builds an International Community
Dentinal Tubules is the e-learning destination for over 30,000 dental professionals around the world. Founded in 2009, the online portal leverages video content to meet the needs and requirements of a range of dental professionals. Dentinal Tubules provides video lectures, professional articles, discussion and study groups, and livestreams dental procedures. The website also includes online tests, which enable dental professionals to meet Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or Continuing Education (CE) requirements necessary to maintain their professional licenses. Dentinal Tubules has become the premium online educational resource in the dental field, offering a wide variety of solutions to its large user community.
“We’ve leveraged video to build a business,” explains Dhru Shah, BDS, MClinDent, M Perio RCSEd, Dentinal Tubules founder, who also maintains a thriving dental practice. “We are successfully breaking barriers by introducing video technology to bring innovation to the dental industry.”
“We use video to expand dentists’ access to continuing education,” continues Dr. Shah. “Dental professionals need to meet continuing educational requirements to maintain their practicing license, but it is very difficult and expensive to take time out from the office to attend lectures. I created Dentinal Tubules as a learning portal for all things dentistry.”
Unique Breadth of Video Content Builds a Large, Vibrant Membership
Dentinal Tubules boasts the largest library of dental video production content in the world, offering over 1,000 videos with approximately 30,000 to 40,000 minutes of video content. “We have a wide and unusual library of content, covering lectures, dental procedures and surgeries,” states Dr. Shah. "In fact, we were the first online dental portal to livestream lectures and surgical procedures though our brand, TubulesLive. If anyone wants online dental content, Dentinal Tubules is recognized as the place to go.”
Building an Online Dental Community
Dentinal Tubules monetizes its video content through annual subscriptions. Currently, 2,000 dental professionals subscribe to gain unlimited access to the video library, live streams of dental procedures and lectures though the TubulesLive portal, and earn their CPD or CE certification. “We have study groups located throughout the world who meet online, watch the videos, and discuss the content.”
In addition, an expansive network of more than 30,000 members, known as "Tubulites" utilize Dentinal Tubules' free membership to access forums on the website. Once they are engaged, "Tubulites" typically upgrade to paid subscription to access the full range of video content. “As soon as they join us, they realize they are part of a wider community with access to all this excellent online content, which the website delivers in convenient and flexible ways,” states Dr. Shah.
Live Streaming Dental Surgeries and Lectures
Dentinal Tubules is constantly innovating, providing a broader range of engaging content to meet the unique needs of its subscribers. Three years ago, the company began streaming two to three live events each month, including lectures and surgeries that ranged from one to three hours in length. “Livestreaming dental surgeries is of enormous interest to dentists, but it is also fairly complex to produce,” explains Dr. Shah. “We do our own video production using multiple cameras to capture the surgery from a variety of angles, because we need to see around the dentists’ hands while they’re working in the mouth.”
The company recently added TubulesLive to stream interactive clinical discussions connecting lecturers with international study groups. Participants can type in questions and get answers in real time. “We have as many as 400 people participate in each discussion,” notes Dr. Shah. “In dentistry, that is a phenomenal number of people to bring together. It is particularly exciting for us, as these dental professionals are located around the world.”
In addition to its live streams, the company continues to produce 10 to 13 videos per month, prioritizing new content based on the information dental professionals need to meet CPD and CE certification. Dentinal Tubules then creates additional content based on user feedback.
Creating a Virtual Classroom to Maintain Critical Certifications
This year, Dentinal Tubules has taken the virtual classroom a step further with its GroupWatch application, designed specifically for professionals who are using the service to complete their required hours of continuing education. “It’s a group learning application, which enables participants to watch a video, participate in discussions, share ideas, and complete tests online, as a group. The application takes attendance; and, when they complete the coursework, participants receive their CPD certification together,” continues Dr. Shah. Dentinal Tubules maintains the attendance and test data on its website.
A Strong Technical Partnership Drives Business Growth
“We chose Brightcove Video Cloud to power our e-learning portal because we wanted to provide a brilliant online experience for the dental community,” states Dr. Shah. “We convert all content into high-quality HD files and upload to Brightcove. With Brightcove’s technology, we can click and create VOD from our live streams very quickly.”
“More video content leads to more subscribers,” concludes Dr. Shah. “Within the next two to three years, we expect to have 10,000 subscribers and 100,000 members. This is very big for the dental market.”
As a small but rapidly growing company, it is important to Dentinal Tubules that Brightcove is cost effective. “Brightcove offers the maximum number of renditions and provides the greatest number of streaming hours for the money,” notes Dr. Shah. “They also provide us with a great deal of expertise and support. Online video is a very dynamic field, and the support we get from Brightcove is very important as our video cloud grows.”
As for next steps, Dentinal Tubules is planning on increasing interactivity, expanding to more devices, and pursuing new revenue opportunities with dynamic ad insertion. “Our analytics show that more and more people are accessing our website via mobile apps on phones and tablets,” notes Dr. Shah. “We also want to integrate more advertising into our live streams in the same way as a live TV show.”
