Simon Beard, vice president and managing director of Align Technology for EMEA, considers UAE and Saudi Arabia as high-potential markets.
Simon Beard, vice president and managing director of Align Technology for EMEA, considers UAE and Saudi Arabia as high-potential markets.

Makers of Invisalign see crooked smiles and plan to double growth in the region by 2021



California orthodontics company Align Technology, makers of 3D digital scanners and Invisalign, plans to double growth in the Middle East and Africa in the next three years by capitalising on clinics going digital and its small presence in the region.

"Our aim is to double our growth in expansion markets, including Middle East and Africa, by 2021," Simon Beard, Align Technology's vice president and managing director for Europe Middle East and Africa (Emea), told The National, who said the company has less than 10 per cent market penetration.

In its 2017 fiscal year, Middle East sales grew 44 per cent year-on-year, slightly ahead of a wider region that includes Europe which grew 38 per cent, a sign that Align's strategy of tapping newer markets is working, according to the managing director.

The Mea orthodontic supply industry was valued at $340 million this year and is set to grow to $460m by 2023, according to Market Data Forecast, a global research and consulting firm. The Middle East has a total of 440,000 new orthodontics patients per year.

Align Technology, which opened its first regional office in Dubai in February this year, is aiming for robust organic growth in the region.

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Invisalign treatment is a technique that straightens patient’s teeth without braces - using a series of clear, removable aligners that are custom-designed to fit one’s teeth.

According to Align Technology, as many as 100 million patients in the Emea region could benefit from some type of teeth straightening. The company is printing clear aligners using 3D printers. Using the technology, doctors can scan and collect a 3D model of the teeth that is sent to treatment centres and developed into implants for the patient.

“The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key focus markets," said Mr Beard. "Our digital 3D scanner enables doctors to digitalise their practice and products while it helps the patient to  visualise how their smile will look.”

This visualisation also works as a powerful sales tool - giving patients a peek into what their future smile will look like after going through the Invisalign treatment.

“In this region, we see a kind of excitement about the potential among people to improve their smiles, particularly in the adult population. Historically, their only option was brackets. But now the treatment is very discreet and easy.”

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections" 

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom" 

What is a calorie?

A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.

One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.

A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.

Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.

Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram. 

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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
The story in numbers

18

This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens

450,000

More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps

1.5 million

There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m

73

The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association

18,000

The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme

77,400

The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study

4,926

This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee

In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.

 

There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.

 

More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.

 

The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.

THE%20FLASH
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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima


Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650

Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder

Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm

Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)