The Brazilian, Russian, India, and Chinese (BRIC) market for dental implants
continued to grow strongly in 2011 with double-digit growth over 2010.
Although the developed markets have suffered recently due to varying degrees
of economic instability resulting from events such as the global economic
recession in 2009, the Japanese tsunami, and the European debt crisis, the
BRIC markets have been growing substantially due to increasingly wealthy
social classes, enabling patients to demand and pay for dental implant
treatments. The penetration of procedures in these large populations remains
low, however, due to a lack of affordability for much of the population.
Additionally, many general practitioners (GPs) have not yet or have only
recently adopted these procedures into their practices and therefore, the
accessibility of dental implant therapy will be limited to some extent due to
a lack of training and experience. Additionally, manufacturers are recognizing
that there is substantial revenue potential in the BRIC markets, resulting in
a large number of new entrants. This will result in aggressive pricing tactics
that will negatively affect the market by driving down average selling prices
(ASPs). Nevertheless, the BRIC dental implant market will more than double by
2016.
METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This report uses a number of methodologies to gather and present data and
analysis. At the outset, a large survey of secondary sources is conducted.
These sources act as the basis for the primary research stage, which builds
and enhances the quantitative and qualitative attributes of the early research.
Secondary sources include:
Government and international organization sources:
Securities and Exchange Commission filings
US Census Bureau
International Monetary Fund
Dental companies:
Annual reports, product brochures, corporate profiles, etc.
Internal databases and reports:
Previous reports on similar/related sources
General Internet searches, medical literature, and newspaper/magazine
searches:
Identifying various centers of specialization and articles that might
provide leads for primary research
The secondary research stage builds the foundation for the primary research.
The primary research methodology has four steps:
Step 1: The first step involves an impartial scan of all the
information gathered during the secondary research stage to determine its
utility based on the specific requirements of this report. Each piece of
information is either discarded or marked as high- or low-priority and then
organized appropriately as determined by the structure and sectioning of the
report.
Step 2: At this stage, early assumptions are formed as to the
implications of the information for the various dental implant market
segments. These assumptions are then used to determine hypotheses using both
inductive and deductive approaches. On the quantitative front, these
hypotheses result in full historical and projected market data sets (market
sizes - unit sales, average selling prices [ASPs], and revenues - as well as
market shares).
Step 3: At this stage, the research is in position for its most
important primary phase - expert interviews. Throughout the secondary research
phase, industry and medical experts are identified.
These experts are then contacted by telephone and asked to participate in
interviews on recent trends and developments in the industry. Interviews are
either conducted at the time of the initial call or scheduled at the
convenience of the expert. Interview questions are tailored to the expertise
of each particular interviewee, although in most cases, the most important
questions are asked of all experts.
The questions are largely based on the assumptions and hypotheses developed in
Step 2, which are then augmented, discarded, or adjusted based on the views
and positions put forth. Attempts are made, whenever possible, to cross-check
the views of various experts against each other and to reach positions of
consensus on issues and market numbers.
Step 4: The final stage of primary research involves individual and
group analysis by Millennium Research Group. All research results are assessed
and cross-checked thoroughly to determine their validity, relevance, and
weight. From this process, qualitative conclusions are reached and data points
finalized.
MARKETRACK METHODOLOGY
Millennium Research Group's Marketrack methodology involves recruiting health
care personnel responsible for the management of medical equipment and
procedures to participate by providing procedure volumes, device usage data,
and brand-level pricing information on an ongoing basis. Respondents include
physicians, dental practitioners, facility managers, nurses, and
administrators. For Millennium Research Group's Global Dental Implant
Marketrack project, information is collected from over 2,000 physicians in 13
countries in 3 regions, namely North America (US and Canada), Europe (France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the Netherlands), and
Asia Pacific (Japan, South Korea, and China) on an annual basis, including,
but not limited to, numbers and types of procedures performed and devices used.
FORECAST METHODOLOGY
In addition to the research methodology outlined above, the following
“bottom-up” methodology is used to develop forecast assumptions
for the report.
A comprehensive breakdown of various dental implant procedures and unit sales
is prepared using data from several sources, including professional
associations, government statistics, and private research/media sources.
Industry experts and practitioners are consulted to ensure accuracy and verify
observed trends. As a cross-check, total industry revenues available through
annual reports and other sources are compared against modeled industry
revenues.
Using the best estimates of industry experts, practitioners, private
research/media sources, and inhouse experts, year-by-year growth rates and
ASPs are applied individually to each subcategory to derive forecasts. These
estimates are cross-checked by industry experts (marketing managers, product
managers, CEOs, etc.) and further refined.
Overall findings are compared against market and procedure forecasts published
by other sources to ensure reasonable estimates.
