SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/19/13 -- Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) today announced awards totaling $220,000 in new funding to five universities in North America and seven international universities for projects seeking to better understand orthodontic treatment with clear aligners and use of orthodontic scanners.

"We are pleased to see continued and growing interest in our research awards program -- the number of applications we received this year was substantially greater than received in previous years," said John Morton, Align Technology director of research and technology. "We are also pleased to see that the scanner research awards drew strong interest. Align recognizes that university research is fundamental and vital to improving dental and orthodontic care, and we are excited about the research to be conducted as part of these grants."

The new clear aligner therapy research award recipients in North America for 2013 are:

• Dr. Athena Papadakis, Dr. Alexander Yadegari, Dr. Sam Daher at Université de Montréal (Montreal, QC), $25,000;
• Dr. Chung How Kau, Dr. Clark Browne, Assistant Professor Nada Souccar at the University of Alabama (Birmingham, AL), $25,000;

The new clear aligner therapy international research award recipients for 2013 are:

• Associate Professor Moschos A. Papadopoulos, Dr. Periklis Panos, Dr. Andreas Karamouzos at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Greece), $25,000;
• Professor Giulio Rasperini, Dr. Gaia Pellegrini, Dr. Giorgio Pagni at the Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan, Italy), $25,000;
• Associate Professor Alejandro Iglesias-Linares, Professor Enrique Solano-Reina, Associate Professor Rosa Maria Yanez-Vico, Dr. Beatriz Solano Mendoza, Dr. Boris Sonnenberg, Dr. Bebora Elizabeth Bueso-Madrid at the University of Seville (Seville, Spain), $25,000;
• Professor Wenli Lai, Ms. Jian Fan, Mr. Zhangrui Liang, Mr. Hu Long, Mr. Junjie Xue, Mr. Niansong Ye, Ms. Xin Yang at Sichuan University (Sichuan, China), $25,000;
• Professor Colman McGrath, Associate Professor Ricky Wong, Associate Professor. Balvinder Khambay at the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR, China), $25,000;
• Professor Luca Levrini, Dott. Gian Marco Abbate, Dott. Novara Francesca at the University of Insubria (Varese, Italy), $25,000

"The growth of Invisalign in the European and other international markets is a direct reflection of the investment Align is making in those markets, a key component of which is the university research program," said Dr. Mitra Derakhshan, Align Technology director of clinical international. "As a result of our focus and investment in university relationships in Europe, Australia and the emerging Asia Pacific markets, especially Hong Kong and mainland China, there is growing interest in collaborative research efforts toward improving orthodontic treatment with Invisalign."

The eight new research study proposals approved for funding in 2013 consist of a comparison of predicted tooth movement of ClinCheck® in the middle and at the end of treatment to the actual outcome; a comparison on clinical outcomes of periodontal regeneration of infrabony defect in combining orthodontic treatment after surgery; a study of pain perception; an evaluation on oral health-related quality of life among patients in orthodontic treatments; an analysis of bacteria concentration using different aligner cleaning methods; an evaluation on the duration of treatment, quality of outcomes and patient satisfaction of combined orthodontic-surgical treatment with Invisalign; a retrospective study analyzing Invisalign treatment outcomes using indices; and a study on the association of aligner therapy with the dramatic reduction in the prevalence of External Apical Root resorption secondary to orthodontic treatment.

This year, Align also introduced a new scanner research award component in recognition of the rapid increase in utilization of intraoral scanning technology. The following are the scanner award recipients for 2013:

• Professor Greg Huang, Dr. Weitao Liu at University of Washington (Seattle, WA), $5,000
• Dr. Mario Greco, Assistant Professor Aldo Giancotti at University of Rome Tor Vegata Fatebenefratelli Hospital Department of Orthodontics (Rome, Italy), $5,000
• Associate Professor Mohamed Masoud, Dr. Amornrut Manosudprasit at Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine (Boston, MA), $5,000
• Professor Jeryl English, Dr. Benjamin Cozad, Dr. Sercan Akyalcin, Dr. Clark Colville at the University of Texas Health Science Center (Houston, TX), $5,000

The four scanner award proposals include an exploration on methods and training techniques for intraoral scanning efficiency; an investigation on iTero's capability of reproducing the 3D dental anatomy accurately as compared to desktop laser scanners; an analysis on the reliability and accuracy of the intraoral scanner; and a validation on the use of 3D extraoral and intraoral imaging as a substitute for cephalometric radiography in orthodontic treatment planning and to determine the case types that require additional radiographic exposure.

All proposals received were reviewed and prioritized by an independent academic committee in a blind evaluation. The 2013 academic committee is comprised of six members: Dr. Sunil Wadhwa (Chair), director of the Division of Orthodontics at the Columbia University; Professor Donald Burden, director of the Centre for Dentistry at the Queen's University at Belfast, Ireland; Dr. Emile Rossouw, chairman of the Department of Orthodontics at University of North Carolina; Dr. Glenn Sameshima, chairman of the Advanced Orthodontic Program at University of Southern California; Dr. Jeanne Nervina, postdoctoral scholar in orthodontics at University of Michigan; and Dr. Timothy Wheeler, professor of orthodontics at University of Florida, previous academic committee chair, and committee advisor.

The 2014 Align Research Award Program submission details will be announced later this year.

About Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology designs, manufactures and markets Invisalign, a proprietary method for treating malocclusion, or the misalignment of teeth. Invisalign corrects malocclusion using a series of clear, nearly invisible, removable appliances that gently move teeth to a desired final position. Because it does not rely on the use of metal or ceramic brackets and wires, Invisalign significantly reduces the aesthetic and other limitations associated with braces. Invisalign is appropriate for treating adults and teens. Align Technology was founded in March 1997 and received FDA clearance to market Invisalign in 1998.The Invisalign product family includes Invisalign, Invisalign Teen, Invisalign Assist, Invisalign Express10, Invisalign Express 5, Invisalign Lite, Vivera Retainers and Invisalign i7 in international.

To learn more about Invisalign or to find an Invisalign trained doctor in your area, please visit www.invisalign.com.

Cadent Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Align Technology and is a leading provider of 3D digital scanning solutions for orthodontics and dentistry. The Cadent family of products includes iTero and OrthoCAD iOC scanning systems, OrthoCADiCast, OrthoCAD iQ and OrthoCAD iRecord. For additional information, please visit www.cadentinc.com.

Source: Align Technology

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