10 February 2012Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Nobel Biocare Holding AG is a publicly-listed multinational company that specializes in the manufacture and distribution of both standardized and customized restorative, reconstructive, and cosmetic dental devices. Its main dental-product lines include implants, abutments, implant bars, and prosthetic crowns and bridges. Nobel’s products are made from three major types of biocompatible materials; namely, metals (titanium or titanium-based alloys, cobalt and chromium alloys), ceramics (alumina and zirconia), and polymers (polymethyl methacrylate).
Nobel Biocare is one of the leading companies in the dental devices sector. Nobel declared a total year 2010 revenue of EUR 576.6 million (about ₤ 498.8 million) and a net profit of EUR 45.7 million (about ₤ 39.5 million ). The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) market region accounted for 43 per cent of Nobel’s total revenue in 2010. North America was the second largest market region (34 per cent); and Asia/Pacific was the third (22 per cent).
Nobel Biocare distributes its products in more than 60 countries and runs 34 marketing units worldwide. More than 2400 employees operate and maintain Nobel’s manufacturing, research, and distribution facilities, which are located in seven countries; namely Belgium, Canada, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.S.
Nobel Biocare was the successor of the Swedish company Nobelpharma AB which was then a subsidiary of Nobel Industries. Nobelpharma was the company that helped develop and popularise Dr. Per-Ingvar Brånemark’s revolutionary titanium dental implants that were similar in form and function to teeth roots. In the early 1950s, Dr. Per-Ingvar Brånemark discovered that titanium has the ability to bind to mammalian bone. Nobel Biocare now maintains exclusive trademark rights to the Brånemark brand of titanium dental implants. Nobel also holds patent and trademark rights to the Procera system of computer-aided design and manufacturing of customized dental prosthetics (e.g., crowns and bridges). The Procera system was invented by Matts Andersson in the early 1980s.
Nobel Biocare dental implants are categorized into four general types: [1] implants with an external hex connection (includes the Brånemark System series and the NobelSpeedy Groovy series); [2] implants with an internal conical connection (NobelActive series); [3] implants with an internal tri-channel connection (includes the NobelReplace, Replace, NobelSpeedy Replace, and Replace Select series); and [4]the NobelDirect series.
Nobel’s standardized prosthetic products include various types of abutments for temporary implant restorations, final implant restorations, and overdenture solutions. Nobel’s customized or personalized prosthetic products fall under the NobelProcera and Procera labels, and include crowns, bridges, implant bars, and customized abutments. Nobel also provides the proprietary software and scanning equipment for the Procera CAD/CAM system.
Nobel provides 10-year warranties on its dental implants and complementary standard prosthetics, and 5-year warranties on its customised prosthetics products.