every patient indication.
Properly functioning teeth are essential for a good quality of life. They enable people to eat a balanced diet, speak properly, prevent the resorption of jaw bone and maintain normal facial appearance. Yet worldwide, millions of people are affected by tooth loss, edentulism or periodontal dis- ease. The main reasons for tooth loss are deficient care, accidents and illness.
In the 1960s, the discovery of osseointegration engendered a quantum leap in the development of modern dental res- torations. Today, dental implants are considered the solution of choice for the replacement of missing teeth, as they also help improve oral esthetics. Advanced implant and tooth- retained dental restorations are suitable for single, multiple- tooth as well as for partly or fully edentulous indications and demonstrate high survival rates and longevity.
Aside from the replacement of teeth with implants, modern prosthetics complement the restorative options for missing or damaged teeth. Prosthetics can be tailor-made in terms of design, material and color to meet the specific clinical and esthetic needs of patients. Also, the development of implant-retained dentures offers new, cost-effective treat- ment options that cater to the needs of partly or fully eden- tulous patients.
The tooth replacement market
The tooth replacement market can be divided in two seg- ments: standardized products such as dental implants and abutments; and individualized (CAD/CAM-based) dental prosthetics, such as crowns, bridges, abutments and over- dentures, which are manufactured according the individual needs of patients. Both segments also encompass compo- nents for the placement of dental implants, e.g. drill kits, or equipment such as milling units, software and scanners for the design and production of individualized solutions.
27 Market and strategy
essential elements in the modern understanding of qual- ity of life. Rising awareness of the possibilities afforded by modern dental solutions represents a societal trend that can be seen in the increasing number of treatments and mini- mally invasive surgeries undergone by patients of all ages, on every continent.
Customer and industry trends
General practitioners and oral surgeons respond to a market downturn by increasing their range of treatments and broad- ening their solutions portfolio. At the same time, dental laboratories look for ways to increase their efficiency and flexibility by reducing their labor time and by expanding their technological capabilities, without incurring large upfront investments. Both trends work in favor of Nobel Biocare, in that we represent a single source for all the available treat- ment options. NobelProcera offers clinicians the largest portfolio of dental products for all indications requiring ef- fective treatment. These products enable dental laboratories to reduce their operating costs through outsourcing options such as central milling, which requires only a fraction of the investment involved in conventional systems.
The need for effective and minimally invasive treatments, as well as the partial outsourcing of production from dental laboratories to industrialized providers, are two factors that are driving new advancements in dentistry. This is evidenced by the growing popularity of digital treatment planning and guided surgery solutions, and the growing digitization of the dental value chain.
Competitive landscape
On one hand, the tooth replacement industry encompasses a small group of premium providers that drive innovation, provide high-quality dental restorations backed by scien- tific research, and offer training for dental professionals. Within this group, Nobel Biocare differentiates itself by pro- viding integrated, comprehensive treatment solutions for all indications, while most of its competitors only market selected products and components. On the other hand, there is a growing number of smaller companies that focus only on specific products and compete mainly on a price basis. They often emulate premium-brand products, yet provide limited support and offer little if any scientific doc- umentation on their products.
Regional differences
National or regional dental markets are extremely diverse and shaped by many socioeconomic factors, such as the number of people with missing teeth, purchasing power, dental education level, dentist penetration and health insur- ance coverage for implant or prosthetic treatments. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, Nobel Biocare is a leading provider and is locally represented in 20 countries. Overall implant penetration is still low in most markets, but it varies greatly when expressed as a percent- age of all tooth replacements made: from 23 percent in a mature market like Italy, to only 2 percent in the United King- dom 2. Moreover, most European markets have only limited
reimbursement schemes for advanced dental treatments. Nobel Biocare is the market leader in North America, the world’s largest dental market. Sizeable segments of the US population have considerable purchasing power and are well informed about the possibilities for restorative and es- thetic treatments. Lately, large insurance companies have started to cover implant treatments in their schemes, a de- velopment that is likely to have a positive influence on future sales. However, the US economy and thus American con- sumers were hardest hit by the mortgage crisis and subse- quent de-leveraging of personal balance sheets, which in turn exerted a disproportionately large negative impact on the dental industry.
Aside from North America and Western Europe, Nobel Biocare is also well positioned in Asia and the emerging economies of Eastern Europe. These dynamic economies are characterized by large urban populations and increasing purchasing power, factors which have fuelled the impressive growth rates of recent years. Despite substantial market fragmentation due to the unequal distribution of wealth, great potential lies especially in the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China) due to the very low penetration of modern dental solutions. Nobel Biocare is a leading provider in the high-end market segments of the BRIC countries. Moreover, in Russia Nobel Biocare holds an approximate 40 percent share of the implant market. But also in highly developed markets such as Japan, where there is great demand for high-end restorative and esthetic solu- tions, Nobel Biocare commands a leading position, holding over one third of the dental implant market.
Market overview implants and abutments. Market positions in 2008.
3 Biomet 3i Dentsply Astra Tech Zimmer Dental Other 2 Straumann 1 Nobel Biocare
Business strategy
Since 2008, we have been taking the fundamental steps necessary to realign our strategy and organization in a way that puts us in the best possible position to benefit from a global economic recovery. As the market leader in restor- ative and esthetic dentistry, we are in the privileged position of being able to actively shape and steer industry trends. Thus, the main thrust of our strategy is to fully leverage the full solution provider concept and foster digitization in the dental value chain.
Nobel Biocare is committed to bringing innovation to den- tal healthcare through the development of solutions that deliver substantial benefits to our customers – i.e. dental professionals – and their patients. We strive to achieve this by providing solutions from tooth to root, for every indica- tion: from single-tooth small cases to fixed and removable dentures for edentulous patients. In doing so, we have focused over the past two years on complementing our product and service portfolio, especially in the area of pros- thetics, and thereby made it the most comprehensive avail- able in today’s market.
Nobel Biocare’s product range encompasses parallel-walled and tapered bone- and tissue-level implants; temporary, healing and final abutments; the entire range of individual- ized, CAD/CAM-based abutments, crowns, bridges and laminates in different materials; as well as guided surgery solutions and, scanners and biomaterials.
Given the breadth of this spectrum, Nobel Biocare has the unique ability to combine, interchange or substitute its prod- ucts and thereby assemble the optimal solution for each individual indication while simultaneously guaranteeing high quality and compatibility. This unparalleled flexibility puts us in a leading position within the industry.
References
1 MRG 2008, broker reports, Nobel Biocare estimates 2 Broker reports, Nobel Biocare estimates 3 MRG 2008, broker reports, Nobel Biocare estimates
CAD/CAM crown and bridges 0.5bn EUR Conventional crown and
bridges 3.5bn EUR CAD/CAM equipment
29 Research and development