GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Sept. 13, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The new Nobel Biocare was presented today by company CEO Heliane Canepa at the EAO Scientific Meeting (European Academy of Osseointegration) in Brussels for an audience of 500 leading dental implant specialist.
During the past year, significant changes have taken place in every area of Nobel Biocare in order to prepare the company for a new level of growth. This growth will be achieved by entering a new rapidly expanding market segment comprising general practitioners. These dentists currently showing an interest in dental implants largely as a result of growing awareness and demand from patients.
"It is not a question of whether the patient should be treated by a specialist or a general practitioner, it is a question whether the patient should be offered dental implants or conventional treatment," Canepa said in her speech today.
In order to meet this demand, the product assortment has been totally re- engineered. The assortment has been reduced from 3,500 to 800 articles in order to simplify the handling of the components for the dentist. At the same time, more than 50 significant improvements have been made within the existing assortment and more than 380 brand-new articles have been developed. This means that all the previous functions are still available, but they have now been improved and made more efficient, so that doctors have access to all the treatment options they require.
The highlight of theses changes is a completely new implant system, which combines the best of two world leading brands. The long-term experience from the world's most documented implant, Branemark System(R), has been combined with the simplicity and ease of use of the fastest growing brand on the market, Replace(R) Select. The new Replace(R) Select Straight features the Branemark System(R) implant body and the state-of- the-art Select internal connection.
A new environmentally-friendly packaging system is being introduced for all products and the company just passed the audit for ISO 14001 approval.
The prosthetic offer from Nobel Biocare has always been the most complete offer on the market and has now been further improved by the introduction of a common prosthetic offer for both Branemark System(R) and Replace(R) Select. A number of new highly esthetic ceramic components are now being launched as part of this offer and the unique Procera(R) components are an integrated part of the offer to dentists and dental laboratories.
This means that Nobel Biocare is the only company to offer a complete set of restorative components for lost teeth comprising everything from the missing root to the incisal edge of the ceramic crown. This enables the general practitioner to use Nobel Biocare as one-stop shop for reconstructive dentistry.
Nobel Biocare now has a complete offer for every market segment with Branemark System(R) as the most versatile system for demanding high end users, Replace(R) Select Tapered and Straight as the most easy to use system for new users and Procera(R) as the most esthetic crown and bridge alternative for dentists and laboratories.
Images of Replace(R) Select and other new products can be downloaded from Nobel Biocare's website at: www.nobelbiocare.com, Corporate Information, Media & investor Relations, Image bank
For further information: Nobel Biocare AB Gunilla Ekholtz, Investor Relations Officer tel. +46 31 81 88 36, +46 708 81 88 36. investor.relations@nobelbiocare.com Nobel Biocare AB Box 5190, S-402 26 Gothenburg, Sweden tel +46 31-81 88 00, fax +46 31-16 31 52. www.nobelbiocare.com
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