Specialist Dental Group has launched an on-going series of blog posts by our individual dental specialists. All views provided are the dentist’s own opinions and are posted on this blog as part of our on-going efforts to educate the public about dental issues and other matters of interest relating to dentistry and healthcare.
It was mid 1982. A conference was organized in Canada at the University of Toronto (U of T) by Professor George Zarb. All the dental schools in North America were invited and each was requested to send one prosthodontist and one oral surgeon to attend the conference. George was going to show them something ‘interesting’.
I know this because I used to work at the U of T where George was my boss. I had also read about it and I had met a few senior colleagues who were originally invited to participate in that conference. I casually interviewed some of them and they all gave me similar stories. That was the Toronto conference on Osseointegration – the biotechnology of placing successful new dental implant teeth to replace missing dentition.
By 1982, some of the older U of T students were in shock when they heard that George had researched extensively on dental implants, as George had a mixed experience with dental implant research around the early 1970s. One of George’s older students, who became an oral surgeon once casually told me: “He said he would shoot me if I mess with those implant thingy.” I guess the earlier experience was bad enough for George. However, at the Toronto conference, together with Prof PI Branemark from Sweden, they demonstrated that they had achieved close to a 100% implant success rate at their U of T research studies.
The disclosure of this fact together with the driving force of American capitalism resulted in the creation of a large implant industry boom within the dental world. Currently, there are more than 1200 dental implant manufacturers and so far millions of people globally have been treated with dental implants.
Among all the manufacturers, the oldest company and the one with the longest history of scientific research backing is Nobel Biocare. This company has a significant market share of dental implants and has been the leader in innovating the science. Nobel Biocare was recently bought over by U.S. healthcare group Danaher Corp (DHR.N) for an agreed $2.2 billion and became the world’s biggest player in dental implants market.
At Specialist Dental Group®, we are happy to work with an excellent listed company in the leading position of its industry. We believe only better things will happen to the company and we shall see more meaningful innovations in dental technology. We firmly believe that our patients would benefit further from this transaction.
p.s.: As far as I know, none of our colleagues own any shares in Nobel Biocare 🙂
A/Professor Ansgar C. Cheng is a Dental Specialist in Prosthodontics (Teeth Replacement) with Specialist Dental Group®. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore. He has a special interest in dental implants, cosmetic dentistry and treatment of medically compromised patients, including cancer patients.
