Ormco Files IPO Prospectus: Over 20,000 Products and 110 Digital Orthodontic Patents Powering Innovation in Clear Ceramic Brackets and Digital Systems
When it comes to orthodontics, several industry giants are impossible to ignore. If Align Technology’s flagship product, Invisalign, holds an unshakable position in the field of clear aligner therapy, then Ormco is equally a leader in the bracket-based orthodontic market.
The primary approaches in orthodontics can be divided into two major categories: brackets and aligners. Bracket-based systems can be further subdivided into metal brackets, ceramic brackets, and lingual invisible brackets. Different appliances vary in terms of price, aesthetics, hygiene, comfort, and treatment efficacy. In the field of ceramic brackets, Ormco’s main competitor is 3M’s3M Unitek, Henry Schein, Germany’s FORESTADENT, and Japan’s TOMY。
Ormco was founded by Frank Miller in 1960. The company’s name is derived from the acronym for “Orthodontic Research and Manufacturing Company.” Currently headquartered in Orange County, California, Ormco is a subsidiary of the KaVo Kerr Group.
KaVo Kerr Group owns a portfolio of globally renowned brands, including the prestigious German KaVo equipment, American Ormco orthodontics, Swedish Nobel Biocare implants, Sybron Endo endodontics, Kerr restorative solutions, and Metrex infection control.
With a robust portfolio of innovative products and clinical solutions, Ormco has maintained a leading position in the specialty orthodontics field for 50 years—a rarity among orthodontic product manufacturers. Upholding its service philosophy, “Your practice, Our priority,” Ormco is committed to providing orthodontists with diagnostic tools and educational resources that foster practice growth, helping them achieve their clinical treatment and practice management objectives.
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has compiled relevant reports and identified three key secrets behind Ormco’s enduring success: continuous innovation, the promotion of orthodontic education, and a comprehensive and continuously expanding product portfolio. The following section briefly outlines how Ormco empowers dentists and clinics in the digital era.
Since its inception, Ormco’s preformed orthodontic bands and pre-assembled brackets have had a disruptive impact on the orthodontics industry. In recent years, the company has successively launchedDamon™ Clear 2 and the end-to-end digital platform Ormco™ Custom, continuing to lead the trend in the global orthodontic market.
Over the years, Ormco has accumulated a profound foundation for innovation, consistently staying at the forefront of the industry and maintaining multiple world-first records to this day. From direct-bond brackets, diamond-shaped brackets, and computer-aided design (CAD) brackets, to patented products such as Copper Ni-Ti® and TMA™ orthodontic archwires, the Titanium Orthos™ dual-row archwire orthodontic system, and Damon™ Clear—the world’s first 100% invisible passive self-ligating bracket—Ormco has pioneered numerous advancements in the field.
Meanwhile, Ormco is alsoin the field of 3D digital orthodonticsAs pioneers, they launched the Insignia™ Advanced Smile Design™, an advanced integrated system that combines personalized customization, bracket placement, and software systems. To this day, they continue to spare no effort in advancing the development of digital orthodontic technology.
Ormco spares no expense in investing heavily in R&D and innovation, and its advanced solutions are actively driving progress across the entire industry.
Schematic Diagram of Titanium Orthos™ Brackets. Image source: Ormco official website
Under the leadership of Patrik Eriksson, former president of Ormco, the company intensified its collaborative R&D efforts with leading orthodontists, engineers, materials scientists, and universities. This strategic initiative enabled the development of a product portfolio ranging from conventional to cutting-edge solutions, thereby addressing the diverse clinical needs of orthodontists.
To date, Ormco has more than21,000 Different Products Launched, including more than 20 types of aesthetic double-slot self-ligating bracket products, which have provided increasingly innovative treatment concepts to orthodontists worldwide.
Ormco production technicians are welding brackets. Image source: www.orthopracticeus.com
As one of Ormco’s flagship products, the Damon™ system has been on the market for over 20 years. Initially launched as Damon™SL through a collaboration between Dr. Dwight Damon and Ormco, it is a unique passive self-ligating bracket system that integrates passive self-ligating brackets, high-technology archwires, and minimally invasive treatment.
Since its launch, Damon™ has benefited over 4.5 million patients worldwide. Building on years of clinical experience and numerous technical design improvements, Ormco introduced the all-new Damon™ Custom and Damon Clear2 in the summer of 2014, continuing to provide clinical solutions to tens of thousands of orthodontists around the globe.
As a pioneer in the field of self-ligating brackets, Ormco has full confidence in this technology and continues to invest R&D resources to further advance the bracket slot technology of the Damon™ System. Additionally, advancements in customization technology will expand the product portfolio of the Damon™ System.
The newly launched Damon™ Custom allows orthodontists to customize upper or lower Damon™ brackets based on their individual prescriptions, offering maximum customization flexibility for patients.
Furthermore, the launch of Damon Clear2 has improved upon the highly popular Damon™ clear brackets. It is currently the only self-ligating bracket on the market with 100% transparency, featuring a more precise slot design following these enhancements. All of this makes Damon Clear2 an ideal orthodontic solution for aesthetics-conscious individuals of all ages.
Damon Clear2 Clear Brackets Image source: Ormco official website
The Damon™ System currently holds more than 50 patents, with an additional 25 patents pending, underscoring Ormco’s commitment to its self-ligating bracket technology.
Certainly, Ormco’s innovation did not stop at self-ligating brackets. A 2014 survey of orthodontists revealed that 98% of respondents believed the future of the orthodontic industry would increasingly rely on digital workflows.
From 2010 to 2014, Ormco had already invested more than $50 million inResearch and Development of Digital Orthodontic TechnologyWith advancements in digital technology R&D, Ormco’s revenue in North America alone grew by 121% in 2013. In 2014, Ormco announced that it would further increase its R&D investment in this field, with the additional funding accelerating the development of Ormco™ Custom technology.
Ormco™ Custom is the world’s first comprehensive solution that integrates 3D digital imaging records, 3D digital treatment planning, visualization of scan results, customized orthodontic appliances, and laboratory instruments. It enables orthodontists to manage the orthodontic process in the most intuitive manner, achieving desired treatment outcomes with exceptional efficiency and profitability.
In the past, limitations in manufacturing capabilities restricted the possibility of truly customizing brackets and archwires for individual patients. Today, Ormco™ Custom enables customization through advanced personalized digital technologies. Ormco™ Custom’s products and services include Insignia™ Advanced Smile Design™, the Lythos™ Digital Imaging System, and AOA Lab.
The Insignia™ Advanced Smile Design™ platform is an interactive computer-aided treatment planning and custom orthodontic appliance system, clinically proven to effectively reduce orthodontic treatment time by 37% and decrease patient chair time by 7%.
In 2014, the Approver review interface of the Insignia™ Advanced Smile Design™ platform was revamped. The new interface, named Insignia™ Ai, features a more stylish design and a more intuitive user experience. Additionally, it provides clinicians with case support and customization, offering step-by-step guidance through validated workflows.
By leveraging advanced imaging technologies, the Insignia™ software can also generate a simulated video of tooth movement throughout the entire orthodontic process, from the initial malocclusion to the final outcome. This ensures that the actual results match the predicted visualization, not only helping patients understand the full treatment workflow but also building their confidence to adhere to the treatment plan.
Another breakthrough innovation of Insignia™ lies in its ability to provide clinicians with interactive visualization tools, enabling multi-angle assessment of patients’ occlusion and thereby facilitating the design of treatment plans that balance aesthetic appeal with optimal occlusal relationships.
The Lythos™ digital imaging system within Ormco™ Custom can also be seamlessly integrated into the clinic’s existing treatment workflow. Leveraging AFI technology, this flagship scanning device from Ormco captures high-resolution images of detailed tooth surface anatomy from multiple angles in real time.
The uniqueness of Lythos™ lies in its ability to capture up to 2.5 million 3D data points per second, making each scan more efficient and straightforward while minimizing the time required for patient data acquisition. Meanwhile, Lythos™ adopts a unique open-platform architecture, enabling seamless data integration withOrthodontic Laboratories and Manufacturers Achieve Sharing, thereby providing more opportunities for research model data and the production of customized devices. Ormco has also introduced a discount incentive program, making the Lythos™ scanner an absolutely sound investment for clinics.
AOA Lab is also a significant component of the Ormco™ Custom system and has become one of the largest comprehensive orthodontic laboratories worldwide. Its robotic arms can be used to customize products including orthodontic appliances, splints, and retainers. Although AOA Lab can recognize .stl format files exported from scanners of various other brands, its unique integration with the proprietary Lythos™ scanning system makes the data exchange process simpler and faster.
To address the growing market demand for digital laboratory solutions, the AOA team has also invested in stereolithography (SLA), an advancedRapid Prototyping 3D Printing Technology, featuring high accuracy and resolution, capable of producing high-quality digital dental models.
Currently, Ormco has enjoyed110 Global Patents for Digital Orthodontics, but they did not rest on their laurels or cease innovation; instead, they continued to increase investment, prioritizing digital therapeutic solutions as a key area of R&D and pursuing cutting-edge, high-precision solutions.
Physician training has always been a major event in the dental community. In addition to driving technological advancements in the industry, Ormco has also made significant contributions to education, providing robust support for orthodontists and patients alike. Ormco’s courses are available across the Americas, Europe, China, South Africa, and Australia, with over 10,000 orthodontic professionals participating in these training programs annually.
Ormco’s curriculum encompasses regional seminars, interactive in-office courses, online webinars, and the multi-day global Ormco Forum, which brings together world-class orthodontists, setting an industry benchmark for comprehensive orthodontic education.
As a cornerstone of its continuing education initiatives, the Ormco Forum is the longest-running global orthodontic academic conference hosted by a single company. First held in the United States in 2002, the Forum has been running for 16 years and has become a premier academic exchange platform for leading orthodontists, dental technicians, and clinical assistants worldwide.
The Ormco Forum made its successful debut in Shanghai in 2014, and over the following four years, it was successfully held in Beijing, Nanjing, and Wuhan. Last year’s forum in Nanjin focused on advancing the digitalization of orthodontics and introduced Ormco™ Custom digital orthodontic technology to China. KaVo Nobel Biocare will continue to leverage academic platforms such as the Ormco Forum to promote the development of China’s oral health sector, advance precision diagnosis and treatment, and thereby better safeguard the oral health of the Chinese population.
In addition to fostering academic exchange and continuing education among orthodontic professionals, Ormco has made significant investments in supporting orthodontic practices and patient education worldwide. Ormco has established an online resource center at www.marketing.ormco.com, offering comprehensive marketing and staff training tools. This online platform also provides a database of patient images, consultation tools, instructional videos, press release templates, and other resources for the Damon™ System, Insignia™, Lythos™, and Inspire ICE™.
American inspirational icon and soul surfer Bethany Hamilton also underwent treatment with Ormco products and became an Ormco spokesperson in 2011. Leveraging her strong influence among American teenagers, she actively promoted the Damon™ System. With the rapid growth of social media in recent years, Bethany Hamilton has helped drive significant traffic to the Damon Smile consumer website. This has not only had a highly positive impact on clinic marketing but also raised adolescents’ awareness of oral health through endorsements by positive public figures.
Additionally, the Ormco website’sOrthodontists have adopted a membership points system., every dollar they spend on purchasing equipment and instruments from Ormco is converted into lifetime points, which can be redeemed for orthodontic products and services. Research has shown that doctors can achieve a return of up to 30% through these lifetime reward points.
Ormco offers a diverse product portfolio, including various all-metal or fully transparent brackets, digital workflow equipment, orthodontic archwires made from advanced materials, and a range of bracket adhesives, thereby covering the entire treatment process of bracket-based orthodontics.
Data shows that Ormco, starting from its pioneering twin-slot brackets, has developed a variety of bracket systems. Its flagship Damon™ System continues to dominate the passive self-ligating orthodontic market with the dual offerings of Damon™ Q and Damon™ Clear2.
Ormco’s Extensive Product Line | Image Source: www.orthopracticeus.com
Data shows that adults undergoing orthodontic treatment account for 22% of the total population. This demographic possesses stronger purchasing power and represents significant market potential. Furthermore, their higher aesthetic demands for orthodontic products have underscored the importance of clear aligner systems.
However, bracket orthodontics seems to have little to do with invisibility in our conventional impression, after all, there are invisible orthodontic means such as Invisalign, butDamon™ Clear2 Takes Bracket Orthodontics Transparency to a New Level。
According to Ormco data, clear aligner orthodontics is actually less practical in daily life than bracket-based orthodontics. In addition to requiring wear for more than 20 hours per day, aligners must be removed during meals and can only be reinserted after brushing teeth postprandially. Patients also face the risks of forgetting to wear them or losing the aligners, which often prolongs the treatment duration. In contrast, bracket-based orthodontics requires only diligent daily oral hygiene. Once aesthetic concerns are addressed, its competitiveness is not inferior to that of clear aligner therapy.
In March this year, Ormco launched the new generation of clear ceramic brackets, Symetri™ Clear. This product underwent seven years of research and development. While inheriting the features of dual-slot passive self-ligation, it has enhanced its own strength, reducing issues such as bracket fracture, slot cracking, and debonding associated with ceramic brackets. Additionally, patient comfort has been further improved through a rounded edge design. Another similar transparent ceramic bracket product is Inspire ICE™.
In May 2017, Ormco announced the integration of the TruRoot™ data system into Insignia™, enabling more precise combination of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) data and intraoral scanner data. This allows clinicians to better visualize and predict patient root and tooth movement.
On April 24 this year, Ormco further expanded its product portfolio with the launch of Insignia™ Twin, enhancing the Insignia™ system. According to Ormco, Insignia™ Twin leverages conventional orthodontic principles combined with more advanced algorithms. While the previous Insignia™ system offered customization exclusively for passive self-ligating products, it now enables customization for a broader range of traditional orthodontic products.
During the AAO Annual Meeting held in Washington from May 5 to May 8,Ormco to Publicly Showcase Insignia™ Twin. Insignia™ has accumulated a wealth of successful experience over the years, paving the way for the introduction of Insignia™ Twin and further enhancing predictability, accuracy, and efficiency.
Matt Turner. Image source: www.orthodonticproductsonline.com
In February this year, Ormco announced the appointment of Matt Turner as its new president, succeeding Patrik Eriksson, who will assume the role of President at Kerr, a company under the KaVo Nobel Biocare Group. Previously, Turner served as an investment consultant at McKinsey & Company and later joined GE as Vice President of Sales for the Oil & Gas division. He stated, “Ormco boasts extensive experience and technological expertise in the field of orthodontics, along with a large customer base. I hope we can continue to reshape the industry’s history through our spirit of innovation.”
References:
https://www.orthopracticeus.com/corporate-profile/ormco
https://ormco.com/pdf-downloads/press-releases/05-21-14-pr-orthodontic-practice-us.pdf
https://www.nixonpeabody.com/-/media/Files/Alerts/FederalCircuitPatentWatch_08272007_Ormco.ashx
http://www.kavo.cn/NewsInfo_773_t59.html
http://news.163.com/17/0411/06/CHNLQSFB000187VI.html
http://www.orthodonticproductsonline.com/2018/04/ormco-introduces-insignia-twin/
https://newspharmaceuticals.com/113293/global-ceramic-braces-market-outlook-2018-2022-ormco-dentsply-3m-unitek-dental-more-forestadent/