Community engagement

Nobel Biocare’s philanthropic initiatives center on contributing to the community, with a focus on programs within the company's area of expertise.

We consider lack of access to treatments and lack of awareness about the consequences of untreated tooth loss as key challenges for the global community. We have an important role to play in addressing these challenges. As a responsible corporate citizen, we also believe we should give back to our communities and to people in need. We are proud to be part of various community engagement activities.

We see it as part of our responsibility to support philanthropic projects, some globally, some locally. Our donation programs aim to give back to communities in areas where we can provide expertise in addition to financial support. Principles and priorities are set at a group level and implemented locally by the business.

We support the P-I Brånemark Institute Bauru in Brazil, a non-profit organization that treats patients with missing teeth and often severe maxillofacial defects, in most cases free of charge. The institute was founded by Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, the Swedish orthopedic surgeon whose pioneering work on osseointegration laid the scientific roots for Nobel Biocare. Through our financial backing, the institute is able to restore quality of life for several hundred people a year – a substantial contribution to the 1’800 procedures the institute currently carries out annually. In November 2010, Nobel Biocare announced a new five-year agreement, worth about 2.5 million euros, that will enable continued clinical treatment, follow-up teaching and training.

When the tsunami hit Japan in early 2011, we, as a company, greatly felt the effects. Japan is our biggest Asian market, and we have both an office and a production plant there. Our employees, customers and their patients on the spot were hugely affected by this tragedy, many of them losing homes and practices.We pledged to help with rebuilding efforts by donating 30% of our sales from the IDS trade show to the victims of the catastrophe. These funds are administered by our Japanese organization to help our customers and their families rebuild their lives.

We made a 5-year, 2.5 million US dollar pledge to the Academy of Osseointegration (AO) foundation. The AO uses these funds to support research and leadership in the field of osseointegration – a topic on which we are strongly focused.

We support leading dental societies in their efforts to promote dental education, enforce professional and business best practices and encourage involvement in science and innovation. We partner with dental universities worldwide by sharing product knowledge and treatment expertise. We also cultivate an active dialog with dental organizations and other dental stakeholders and support them where appropriate.

And in some cases, where patients suffer from an exceptional problem and cannot afford treatment, we support pro bono treatments by providing products free of cost.