DRIVERS:  RAPID GROWTH IN THE GERIATRIC POPULATION

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Due to the rising oral health issues and concerns it becomes difficult to maintain or keep a record of the problem especially in old age people. There are various gradual changes in the dental tissues that an individual undergoes after the teeth are fully formed and are considered as age changes. The tissues undergoes physiological turnover in their components. There is a major impact in the dentin region both in quality and quantity which results in the loss of transparency gradually. In many industrialized societies it is noted that 50% of the population are edentulous i.e. lacking teeth. The elderlies present the dental professionals with many challenges which is important for commencing a specific protocol in order to meet the unique needs of the geriatric population.

RISING INCIDENCE OF DENTAL CARIES

Dental caries also referred as tooth decay and cavities is defined as the breakdown of teeth due to the emergence of acid that prevails due to bacterial action. The epidemiological data from various countries indicates a substantial increase in the prevalence of dental caries. This increase affects the people of all age groups from infants to adults covering both primary and permanent teeth. There are various reasons which are responsible for the increase in dental caries which may include poor maintenance of dental hygiene to various life style related habits (smoking, eating tobacco, alcohol consumption and others). Dental caries is the most common chronic disease amongst youth aged 6–19 years. The untreated caries leads to pain, discomfort and infections amongst the people in which this condition persists. Monitoring of the extensiveness of untreated and total caries acts a major role in preventing and controlling the oral diseases. According to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) there was a notable increase in dental caries from 2012-2016 periods. The untreated caries and increase in the dental caries further increases the scope of the market as this increase in the population increases the number of people undergoing the treatments and hence contributing to the gain in the market share.

M&A ACTIVITY INCREASE IN DENTAL INDUSTRIES

he pricing pressure has resulted in changes in the core dynamics of the dental implant industry. The innovations have created a substantial increase in the number of local and regional players involved in the creation of similar products and offering them at a lower cost. The brand loyalty is not what it used to be in the past resulting in companies that do not adjust to the changing trends in the market, having greater reliability on complimentary partner companies. This is resulting in companies undergoing mergers and acquisitions for offering higher levels of service.

• In 2018, Young Innovations (U.S.) announced the acquisition of Johnson-Promidet (U.S.). The company focuses on high-quality dental hand piece solutions. This acquisition will result in delivering innovative, high-quality products and solutions to clinicians and their patients and also enhances their portfolio of brands and products through organic growth and acquisitions.
• In 2018, Danaher (U.S.) announced about its agreement with General Electric Company (U.S.) for the acquisition of Biopharma business of GE Life Sciences for the cash price of USD 21.4 Billion. The business will be established as a stand-alone operating company within Danaher.
• In 2012 Biolase (U.S.) announced the completion of purchase of 159 Waterlase MD Turbo laser system from Henry Schein, Inc. (New York, U.S.). These lasers are primarily used for sourcing the parts for servicing the installed base of MD Turbo laser systems and also for dental schools so that the company could promote Waterlase technology.

This increase in the M&A activities have made the companies more active towards extending their services in the market targeting more customers in the market leading to the growth in the market.

DENTAL ISSUES ARISING DUE TO LIFESTYLE RELATED HABITS

People take various precautions in maintaining their oral health and follow various disciplines to maintain a good oral health. The lifestyle related habits plays a vital role in deciding the fate of dental health of a person. Even if a person follows all the discipline regarding the oral hygiene yet their lifestyle choices could still have an impact on a person’s oral health.

• According to the Canadian Community Health Survey which was conducted on oral health of people from the age group 18 and above (33,777 respondents). It was concluded that 24% of the population were smokers, 43% were former smokers and there were 33% which did not smoke. The population of people which smoked declined with the increase in age. There was a strong prevalence of edentulism or toothlessness amongst 15% of the current smokers and 7% amongst the people who never smoked. In the dentate population smokers reported more issues associated with sensitivity of teeth, tooth ache and pain in face and mouth.

Increasing stress levels leads to increase in the lifestyle of the people where they indulge themselves into activities like smoking. This activity has a great impact on the oral health of the person. Along with time, the number of individuals undergoing stress due to any physical, emotional, work related or psychological factors are increasing and resulting in people opting for various habits that increase the risk of dental issues from acute to chronic levels. These stress factors may include anxiety that occurs in students due to exam pressure and other reasons. This has quite an impact on the market as the stress levels in day to day scenario is on an increase, driving the growth of the dental lab market.

RESTRAINT HIGH COST OF DENTAL EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

ental equipment varies a lot in terms of costs in the market but considering good technologies and quality equipment, the costs are fairly high leading them to be less accessible to dental professionals due to budget issues. The advancement in the technologies and innovations in the product results in higher costs of dental equipments. Moreover there is a wide price range of materials used by dentists. Many dental equipments used by the dental professionals are long lasting but yet expensive to purchase such as X-Ray Machines, the new innovation X-Ray Machine may cost up to USD 65,000. The basic necessity of a dental lab is a dental chair, A-dec is a company that is specialized in manufacturing dental chairs and top model of dental chair costing USD 20,72,00 leading to people opting for cheaper solutions. Some companies offering dental chairs also sell refurbished equipments that are not very cheap. This increases in the pricing due to new innovations and technologies makes its availability a bit niche to the more common clinic which do not have the expense of buying such high prices equipment. This factor hinders the growth of market.

LACK OF PROPER REIMBURSEMENT

A rapid change is occurring in the dentistry treatments, dental insurance, reimbursement rates, and rules and regulations as well. The dental billing services have been aiming at submitting accurate claims to insurance payers and have been receiving maximum reimbursement; these claims are being declined due to many factors which may include invalid documentation amongst others. In accordance with the survey conducted by Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG) revealed that the decline in the reimbursement rates is a very major concern amongst the dental professionals. Changes associated with insurance plans:

• Separate deductibles applied to preventive services in addition to basic and major services.
• Plans that do not account for additional benefits.
• The plans that do not pay on the prep dates.
• Decrease in the coverage on various procedures like X-rays.

This insurance issue hinders the market and creates various challenges for the industry making it an accountable restrain to the market.

LACK OF DENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN EMERGING COUNTRIES

The people in emerging countries suffer from a lot of oral diseases more specifically periodontal disease. These are further exasperated by poverty, ignorance concerning health education, poor living conditions, lack of government funding and policy for providing a good and sufficient oral health care. The WHO and FDI are trying to identify these problems and come up with strategies for the improvement of such conditions.  Promoting Oral Health in Africa was one of the initiative taken by WHO to spread awareness amongst the population in Africa regarding the importance of dental health and oral hygiene. The barriers for the oral health have to be diluted through cooperation at different levels  by the means of appreciation of cultural sensitivity.

OPPORTUNITIES NEW PRODUCT RELEASES

The companies which are involved in the dental lab market have been coming up with various new products based on new technologies. The most noticeable launches amongst these in the field of dental labs are in the field of dental imaging and digital dentistry.

• In 2018 Ultradent (U.S.) announced all-new Omni-Matrix which is a superior circumferential matrix band solution. Designed to perfectly customize to any preparation, the band’s circumference can be easily be adjusted by twisting the handle, and the pivoting head which allows it to access any quadrant of the mouth. Its design is ideal for both simultaneous and single restorations.
• In 2019, Zimmer Biomet (Indiana, U.S.) announced the launch of its new line of non-resorbable membranes and suturescalled GenTek, which are specifically designed to eliminate bacterial infiltration into the surgical site. These products offer CAD/CAM restorative components for dental implant connections.
• In 2019 KaVo Dental (U.S.) announced the launch of its new productline KaVo OP 3D which is incorporated with cephalometric imaging with advanced sensor technology. This product aims at satisfying all imaging needs. This device also is incorporated with intuitive graphical user interface with automated sensor movement.

The emerging markets in the field of dental labs have created a lot of opportunities for innovation in the dental lab market in turn creating an opportunity for the market to show more substantial growth in the future.

GROWING DENTAL TOURISM

There is a certain rise in the healthcare costs rising all over the world; this increases the need of the affordable medical dentistry. Travelling abroad for these treatments looked as a good option. Nearly 5 million people cross the border every year seeks for a cheaper dental care option. Some of the countries that are the ideal places for dental tourism include:

• Mexico
• Thailand
• Indonesia (Bali)
• Spain
• Turkey
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Poland
• Costa Rica
• Hungary

People opt for going to countries that are closer to their native countries, most people save around 80% by visiting dental clinics abroad. This increase in the medical tourism globally has created the opportunity for the market to grow rapidly in region and creates a competitive scenario in other countries as well to increase medical tourism.

CHALLENGES LACK OF SKILLED TECHNICIANS

The emerging and developing countries is facing a shortage of skilled labour in the field of healthcare due to migrations and several other factors. Africa had the most inadequate health system specially dealing with the regions in sub-Saharan Africa, which have been severely damaged due to the migration of the health professionals. On an average 57 countries were noted to have critical shortage of healthcare workers with a deficit of around 2.4 million doctors and nurses. Africa has 2.3 healthcare centers per 1000 population. This has been the consequence for many countries resulting from the loss of healthcare workers due to better opportunities in different countries. This problem has been recognized and is now being widely aired in the public media. Even though official denials that health posts in provinces have been frozen, there was a loss of almost 5,500 public sector positions according to a health review survey conducted in South Africa. There is an official denial to the fact that the health post in provinces have been frozen. There was a notable loss of 5,500 public sectors positions in accordance to a health review survey which was conducted in South Africa. South Africa is compared unfavorably with middle-income countries on the ratios of medical and dental professionals and most of the districts have a very limited access to surgeons.

DELAYED ADOPTION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

Global dental lab market is being transformed by the emergence of new technologies and innovation with time all companies are trying to come up with better technologies to improve patient comfort as well as experience and reduce chair time for the patients to make the dental procedures more efficient. 3D printing of dental and orthodontic implants are present in the market since a long time now and the field is seeing rapid innovations in the aspects of quality and speed yet these technologies are still not in existence in many emerging economies and marks its presence in technologically advanced countries. Apart from these the emerging countries lack in the amount skilled labour which can operate these new technologies effectively. This might create a challenge in the market for new technologies to emerge as these countries are delaying the onset of technological driven advancements.

Market Trends:

On the basis of products, the market is segmented into general & diagnostic devices, treatment-based devices and others. In 2019 general & diagnostic devices segment is growing at the highest CAGR in the forecast period of 2019 to 2026.

Major Players: Global Dental Lab Market

Some of the major players operating in this market are Zimmer Biomet, 3M, Ultradent Products Inc, Young Innovations, Inc, GC Corporation, Henry Schein, Inc, A-Dec, Inc, Biohorizons Implants System, Inc, Biolase Technology, Inc, 3 Shapes, Carestream Health, Inc, Dentatus Ab, Dentsply International, Inc, Gendex Ltd, Instrumentarium Dental, Inc, Roland, Formlabs, Danaher Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc, Planmeca Oy, Septodont Holding, Voco Gmbh, KaVo GmBh Dentium Co., Ltd.,sh, Scheu Dental GmbH and others.