Indian dental Implant market is on the upswing. The growth is driven by increasing demand from dentists who want to get trained in the area of implants, expanding need from dental tourism, awareness on functionally of an implant and increasing affluence that fuel the need for such a procedure.

Further, the implants are not merely advanced aesthetic solutions, but are indispensable options during facial accidents and trauma as specialists resort to give patients with reconstructive surgery and full mouth rehabilitation.

A dental implant is titanium fixture that resembles the root of our tooth. It is used in combination with a ‘ceramic crown’ to replace a missing tooth. There is a growing understating on the utility of a dental implant as a functional and quality of life enhancement procedure rather than cosmetic which is finding favour amongst people, Sameer Bhat, CEO, Trivitron Dental Technologies told Pharmabiz in an email interaction.

Presently, the Indian dental implant market is estimated to be around Rs.80 crore with a 30-35% CAGR. The implant market typically has two segments. One is the premium globally leading implant systems which are backed by clinical studies and recommended by companies armed with sound training and education platform to impart the know-how. The other is the generic low cost implant systems which are typically ‘clones’ of the tested implants and have no studies backing them.

“In fact generic implants are instrumental in growing the market at the lower-end by reducing the start-up barriers associated with more expensive implant systems. Therefore there is a huge market opportunity”, he added.

Leading global dental implant companies like Biomet3i have an advanced surface ‘Osseotite’ which has been around since 1995 and now have the world’s only nanotechnology surface implant ‘Nanotite’ where the surface has discreet nano crystalline deposits of particles that enhance osseo-integration.

Trivitron Healthcare, the largest medical technology company too recently stormed into the dental space and partnered with global players like Biomet3i, Meisinger, DenMet and Ossetell Mentor to capitalize the business prospects.

India is known to attract considerable international patients who undergo dental procedures here to maximize benefits of expertise, quality and affordability. “Long term prospects seem bright with treatment options being standardized and regulations getting stringent. Further, dental implant education is further fuelling the sector’s growth, stated the CEO, Trivitron Dental Technologies.

Going hand-in-hand with the opportunities are also challenges like the lack of insurance for dental implant procedures. Paucity of implantologists is another issue. Currently about 1,500 dentists out of a total dentist’s population of 10,0000 undertake implant procedures.