"Tremendous potential for future growth"

What was the goal of the GDP convention, and will it be a regular event?
This exclusive event is intended to give our Invisalign providers ongoing education about our product features and insights into best practices from our top providers and help them stay informed of evolving trends, such as a multidisciplinary approach among dental practices. The convention is applicable to current Invisalign providers regardless of whether they are fairly new to Invisalign or have been a provider for some time and are looking to continue their education.

We plan to continue to provide a wide variety of educational events or sessions to enable our Invisalign providers to gain experience and develop the Invisalign provider community, for peer-to-peer discussion and exchanges of best practices.

Your new global brand identity was introduced to global markets several months ago. How has the campaign been received by your customers and clinicians in general in Europe?
The Invisalign brand is one of our most important assets. We have invested over US$0.5 billion in sales and marketing over the past 20 years and built the most recognised brand in dentistry and orthodontics.

The brand equity plays a vital part in our continuing success—but we are not resting on our laurels and we invest massively in perpetuating every facet of it to maintain this. Invisalign is a clear leader in the specialty, and people know it and ask for it by name. There are a large number of factors that contribute to this recognition and direct patient request, but it is primarily because the Invisalign brand is synonymous with cutting-edge technology, efficacy, pace of innovation, discretion, quality and comfort. Our data shows that the percentage of patients who ask for Invisalign by name is a key driver for new clinicians to seek training so that they can respond to patient requests and grow their practices as a result.

We have invested and continue to invest in the Invisalign brand and raising awareness of consumers, both adults and parents of teens, regarding our treatment options to enhance access to orthodontic treatment and ensure patients ask for Invisalign when looking for a clear option.

Over the past year, we have seen more than 413,000 UK visitors to the Invisalign UK website. Of these, over 22,000 interested consumers have taken an Invisalign smile assessment online and more than 132,000 have searched for an Invisalign provider. These results attest to the success of the campaign and that both potential patients and, as a result, clinicians have accepted the investment in the new identity.

With the Invisalign Go system, you recently introduced a clear aligner solution for GDPs in several European markets. How has the scope of treatment changed with this new solution?
The Invisalign Go system is a new, simplified approach to tooth straightening that takes GDPs through identifying, planning and monitoring aesthetic cases, enabling them to use the Invisalign system to treat patients confidently right from the word go. The Invisalign Go system is suitable for treating patients with mild spacing issues or orthodontic relapse or even for pre-restorative treatment. With the Invisalign Go Case Assessment Tool, Invisalign providers can assess a patient’s suitability for treatment based on chief concerns and receive a clear indication of whether the patient is suitable for treatment.

Align’s focus is to enable GDPs to treat a portion of the population that would benefit from mild or simple tooth straightening, those potential patients that would not have sought treatment with traditional orthodontic appliances.

With ClinCheck and the iTero Element scanner, Invisalign is now part of the ever-growing field of digital dentistry. What have these technologies added to Invisalign treatment?
Digital technology is changing every industry and almost every type of product and service. Digital technology allows providers and consumers to visualise an end goal—such as a better smile. We want to help our customers leverage digital technology to help them provide the best and most predictable treatment options for their patients, and the digital process of the Invisalign system combined with the iTero Element scanner can offer that.

It all starts with a digital scan. The iTero intra-oral scanner replaces physical impressions with a precise 3-D digital scan. This digital scan is the basis of the Invisalign treatment. Using Align’s proprietary software, our dental technicians use the scan to create a virtual treatment plan, customised for each patient. In June this year, we launched a software upgrade for the iTero Element intra-oral scanner that includes the ability to compare patient scans over time with the new TimeLapse technology, providing GDPs and orthodontists with enhanced visualisation, assessment and communication tools. In addition, with the 1.5 software upgrade, patient scans can be completed in as little as 1 minute with the same accuracy and reliability practitioners have come to expect from iTero scanners.

We also announced ClinCheck Pro 5.0, the next-generation Invisalign treatment software, which offers the ability to view side-by-side treatment plans, a more realistic 3-D visual model, and a new configurable toolbar for even greater flexibility. Designed to deliver an exceptional user experience and increased control, ClinCheck Pro 5.0 also helps Invisalign providers achieve their treatment goals by enabling them to view previously prescribed interproximal reduction values and anterior–posterior correction, with various options to stage the treatment plan exactly as desired.

Constant innovation is absolutely crucial to our current and future success and drive to address unmet needs. Perpetual developments in our software, our materials and the different types of malocclusions we can treat are pivotal to our success.

The four-millionth patient was treated with Invisalign clear aligners last year right here in London. How important is the European market compared with other Invisalign markets?
The demand for the Invisalign system is growing globally and the UK is one of our success stories. We have helped treat over 4.7 million cases worldwide and the four-millionth patient, which we announced last year, was from the UK. The market here is relatively smaller compared with our largest market—the US—yet remains one of our largest markets in Europe. Having said that, clear aligner therapy is still very under-penetrated in the markets we serve, including the UK, and we see tremendous potential for future growth here.

There are ten million orthodontic case starts of traditional wire appliances each year globally, three million in Europe alone. The Invisalign system is applicable to approximately 60 per cent of those cases, of which about a quarter are adults and the rest are teenagers. Add to that the 100 million consumers in Europe that would benefit from simple straightening of their teeth to gain a better smile and you can see the enormous potential for Invisalign clear aligners.

What will the next generation of Invisalign offer?
Invisalign offers a solution applicable to roughly 60 per cent of patients suitable for fixed orthodontic appliances (ten million case starts per year). With continued feature advancements and ongoing innovation, we believe Invisalign can be applicable to 75 per cent of the traditional orthodontic market, which excludes severely complex cases in which surgical procedures may be needed and young children with many primary teeth.

Whether it is clear aligners, digital scanning, virtual treatment plans or software programs that help patients visualise their new smile, our technology and processes deliver a tremendous patient experience and effective treatment outcomes, and we will continue to advance the technology in all those areas. Align Technology is the only company in the world to date that has an orthodontic database of about five million dental cases, and we use machine learning to mine that data to really learn and understand how we can do orthodontics better, how it can be faster and more convenient for both dentists and patients.

Where can readers find out more?
GDPs interested in learning more about the Invisalign system and our training programmes can go to the Invisalign website and select “I’m a Doctor” from the top drop-down menu.

Thank you very much for the interview.