Nobel Biocare is a leader in dental implants with a 34 percent marketshare.

Contrary to some beliefs, dental implants aren't a new fixture in the field of dentistry, according to Kevin Mosher. But they are becoming increasingly popular as the technology evolves and customers and dental professionals gain awareness. Mosher, vice president and general manager of North American operations, says Nobel Biocare's dental implants are well established, with roots that go back more than 40 years.

Because most university dental programs don't teach dentists about using implants unless they are specialists, Mosher says many don't know how long the technology has been around, or how successful implant therapy is. "It's the 40-year anniversary of the placement of our first Branemark System implant," he says. "A lot of people don't realize they are available - even a lot of dentists still think it's radical treatment. They don't realize there are some 8 million implants that have been placed and the success rate is over 95 percent. If you look at the success rate of bridges or root canals, they are far lower."

Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark, a scientist, started the company after studying bone growth and healing in Gothenburg, Sweden. "He developed viewing devices out of titanium to insert into rabbits in order to observe the healing of bone over time," Mosher explains. "When he went to retrieve them, he couldn't get them out. The bone integrated into the titanium. He started a whole field of research, studying the integration of bone to titanium, in the mid-'50s. By 1965, his research culminated with the development of the concept for dental implants.

"The first patient is still alive and doing well with his implant. Now, we've also achieved several additional milestones along the way."

Nobel Biocare invented Computer-aided Design (CAD) and Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM) dentistry, among other techniques. CAD/CAM dentistry enables dental labs to scan dental impression results into a computer system. Nobel's 3-D Procera software enables the dental lab to create the substructure for the patient's final crown. The file is sent electronically to Nobel's automated manufacturing facility where the Procera crown is fabricated and returned to the lab, generally within 24 hours.

Today, Nobel is the market leader in dental implants with 34 percent market share, he asserts. It also leads the CAD/CAM restoration market with about 60 percent marketshare. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, with manufacturing in Karlskoga and Stockholm, Sweden. It has a dental implant manufacturing facility in Yorba Linda, Calif., its North American headquarters, and a ceramics manufacturing facility in Mahwah, N.J.

The company has training facilities worldwide, Mosher notes. Nobel Biocare trained 165,000 dentists in 37 countries in 2004 alone, he states, and provided training in 19 languages. "We have a tremendous focus on education and innovation," he emphasizes.

The company hosts a world conference every two years for dental professionals. Its most recent conference was June 5-9 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas with 6,000 dentists in attendance. The MGM boxing arena was reconfigured to be a stage for presentations and panel discussions, and seven live interactive surgeries were broadcast on the large screen via satellite. The conference featured workshops and other educational tools simultaneously translated into nine different languages.

Mosher describes the company as a technology leader. "We have been an innovator in the industry and people follow our lead," he says. "We are a total solutions company."

The company manufactures both implants and ceramic crowns, which is unique he notes. "Because we deliver the entire solution we can offer a more integrated and better cosmetic result," he asserts

The implant industry has shifted from a focus on the ability to chew to an equal emphasis on aesthetics, he says. "Our solutions are the most natural," Mosher states.

It's also the only company with FDA clearance for immediate function for all products and indications, he asserts.

"With our implants, the dentist can place an implant and tooth in the same day," he says. Other products may take months before a crown can be placed, Mosher notes.

Nobel Biocare's implant products have a unique surface called TiUnite that helps maintain initial stability, he explains.

"We have scanning electron microscope photographs that show bone cells infiltrating the surface," Mosher says. "TiUnite seems to appear to bone as though it is bone, so as a result bone has a real attraction to it and integrates extremely well."

The company has strong plans for revenue and growth, Mosher says.

"Our industry is growing at 20 percent; we grew 22 percent last year," he says. "We would like to accelerate that growth. So far we've done that with our first quarter performance. North America grew at 35 percent. We want to continue to improve our bottom line, and we want to continue our market leadership position."

Mosher says there is no shortage of people who could benefit from Nobel Biocare's products, and the demographics are only increasing as the baby boomers age. "We want to mainstream this solution," he states. "Less than 3 percent of people that could benefit from implants actually get them. Right now 240 million people in the world are missing one or more teeth.

"We want to educate more dental professionals in the benefits," Mosher adds. "With the advanced ceramic materials on the market - aluminum and zirconia - we have come a long way. Procera crowns are now up to 50 percent stronger than any bite forces in the mouth, so fractures should not be a concern. In fact, we often refer to zirconia as 'white steel.'"