ALIGN TECHNOLOGY INC — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning. We'll kick this off. Welcome to Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference. I'm Mike Sarcone. I'm an analyst on the U.S. Medical Supplies and Devices team. This is a fireside chat session with Align Technology. From the company, we've got John Morici, CFO. We've also got Madelyn Valente here, who's part of the IR team. John, thank you for joining us today. Of course. I guess just to kick it off, high level, just on the macro side, I'm sure you get a lot of questions there. Can you just give us an update on what you're seeing on the macro front in terms of patient demand? I know you've talked about continued stability in North America. We are seeing rates increase, inflation go up. Just give us an update on how things are trending. Yeah. We've seen, as we've gone the last several quarters, some of that macro that's similar to what it is now. You still have higher inflation on things even prior to some of the things going on in the Middle East. We've been operating in that environment. When we look at our business and we've got double-digit growth outside North America. International growth has been strong for us, whether it's APAC or EMEA or Latin America. North America, even when we look at DSOs, the DSO, dental service organizations, they've been growing double digit. Where you see some of that pressure has been on the U.S. and North America retail side, those doctors. We've been doing and operating in that environment for several quarters. Where you have to go and really try to drive that conversion is be much more active. Work with those doctors to be able to help nurture those patients and get them from being interested in treatment to actually going into treatment. We could talk a lot about the different tools and tactics that we have to be able to help our doctors, but it's been a similar environment that we've been in for a number of quarters now. Got it. I do plan to get into some of those tools for the docs. Can you remind us what kind of assumptions you've got baked into your outlook for this year, like from the macro standpoint? What when we expected from a macro standpoint, we guided to 3%-4% for the overall year and 100 basis point improvement in our operating margin. It's a reflection of things that we're doing, even in a challenging market, to be able to help drive growth, and we see that, and do it in a profitable way. We've taken a lot of cost actions from last year and into this year to drive and improve our productivity, and we're seeing good results of that. We saw 250 basis point at ex-FX, basis point improvement in operating margin in the first quarter, and we're very pleased with that in this environment. We have a lot of other cost actions that we continue to take to drive productivity. As we increase volume, we get the benefit of that operating margin leverage from that. We feel good about how we've positioned this year, especially in light of the first quarter where we feel like we delivered in an uncertain environment, but we have a lot of things that we have in place that are executing. Great. Just last question on the macro front. On the 1Q call, you did mention the conflicts in the Middle East. You're expecting them, they could have some impact on 2Q. Have things played out as you expected there? No, when we look at the framework, when we go from 1Q to 2Q, if you looked at our business, if you go back last year before, in several years, typically we go from 1Q to 2Q, and we increase revenue, say, start with the top line 3%-4%, sometimes more. That's a reflection as North America gets into teen season, as you get Western Europe and others, they really start to increase some of their volume as they go from 1Q to 2Q. You also have the sequential improvement when you go on the systems and services side. First quarter seasonality is a little bit lower. It builds as you go to second quarter. Typically you have that, and when we wanted to talk about prudent guidance or get a lot of questions regarding that, we put it at the midpoint of 1%. Okay. When we go from 1Q to 2Q. It's a reflection of that. We're executing and doing the things that I mentioned in an uncertain environment, and we look forward to getting to the end of the quarter to be able to update people. Okay, great. I did want to shift into the Comp Zero offering. I know you started rolling that out in 2025, and you're continuing to ramp that through 2026. Can you talk about what you've seen in some of the earlier accounts that have adopted that, particularly among the DSO customers and what that's done for utilization? Yeah. The products that we have, when you think about the evolution of some of the products that we have, the earliest product that we had from a comprehensive standpoint, that was really the start of that was over 10 years ago, where we put out the comprehensive with unlimited refinements over five years. Really that was a testament to try to be able to make sure that our doctors would feel comfortable using our products and giving them the confidence that no matter what, they could get to a final outcome. We had five years with unlimited refinements. It was also a reflection of the fact that maybe our products back then, 10 years ago, they couldn't maybe finish all the cases. They were 60%, 70% effective. With a lot of technology and other innovation that we've put in, we have products that with a comprehensive, they can go, and you don't need refinements, or you might need one refinement. Much of the technology has really enabled us to increase our portfolio to have a product like this, the comprehensive with no refinements. What we've been able to do, working with our DSOs, our dental service organizations, they've been able to essentially test this across a wide variety of doctors, and what they're seeing is good results. They're seeing that doctors now start to utilize those types of products more and more. That increase in doctor usage and that utilization is a benefit. We see that playing out more and more because that product specifically with no refinements is designed to go to an orthodontist who looks at a patient and says, "Do I put that patient into wires and brackets, or do I put them into Invisalign?" Typically, there's a big price gap where if that doctor, from a material standpoint, might pay $300 or $400, they say $350 for wires and brackets, it would be a higher price for Invisalign with the comprehensive unlimited. As you bring that price down to reflect what that product is, that cost to serve is much less. Doctors look at that price and say, "Oh, now maybe we'll use Invisalign because that price is a little bit closer." What I call that product and what it's doing in the marketplace is kind of winning those gray areas. When that doctor then says, "I understand that I'm going to get benefits from Invisalign because of the digital technology versus the analog wires and brackets," they sometimes choose that. When they do, that increases our utilization. The added effect that it has as well is it's very competitive from a price standpoint. It's not designed necessarily, from a clear aligner pricing standpoint, to be as competitive with other clear aligner companies, but it's turning out to be because, like I said, it drives the utilization versus wires and brackets, but it's also very price competitive, and we're seeing customers come back to us as well. It really has a great effect, and we want to continue rolling that out. It's gone through the DSOs and now further into more and more doctors, and we're pleased with the results. Yeah, it sounds like you've seen some good price elasticity of demand in those DSO accounts. Do you expect that should or could translate onto the retail independent side? Yeah. We look at what we see in the DSOs, where they're looking for the efficiency. When we think of what DSOs look for from us, it comes down to usually three types of factors that they look at for. They want us to be able to drive the technology, newest technology, like a comprehensive with no refinements. It's very latest technology to give them confidence that they can finish the cases. Second part is the operational scale, to be able to scale the business and be able to provide product to them in days versus weeks. They leverage our marketing. You bring all that together with some of these products that we just talked about. It's a great combination. The gross margin that we have on our DSOs is equal to or better than what we see with even our retail doctors. Certainly from an op margin, it's better because there's a lot of things that go on within those DSOs that we don't have to do. They'll do some of the local marketing. They'll do some of the treatment planning services across their DSO that we don't have to do. There's other aspects of it that they're taking the initiative to do to help drive their business. In the end, we're driving to more and more doctors that we sell to across those DSOs and increasing utilization, and that's a good trend, and we want to see that continue. You are seeing some early signs of utilization increase in the retail accounts that have adopted? We are seeing that it wins the gray area. Okay. That is a positive for us and anything that we can do. Because remember, on a wires and brackets basis, most regions, 80% of the cases are still done with wires and brackets. On the teen side, which this is really what it tries to help, sometimes the wires and brackets in a region might be 90% of the cases. Even in a tougher economy, those wires and bracket cases were going to happen anyway. I mean, teens go into treatment regardless of what's happening from an economy standpoint. If we can help our doctors win those cases so that they were going to go into treatment, and if instead of wires and brackets, they go into Invisalign, that's a win for us, and we start to see that utilization benefit. Great. Are there any key markets where you haven't rolled this out yet? Various versions are out everywhere. Okay. We see it in North America. Now, doctors need to adopt this. It's one of those where you want to make sure doctors understand that if they have a lot of refinements, maybe they need to ease into products that don't have as many refinements because in the future, they'd have to pay for them. We want to make sure that that is right for them. We see this rolling out in North America. There's versions of it in Europe and APAC as well. Look, for our business and in success, we'll continue to roll things out. I don't know if you've kind of given the timeline here, but do you expect by the end of this year you'll have it pretty broadly-? Yeah rolled out? I would expect. Okay. I mean, you look at how we've done a product that was really the precursor to this, we had the Comprehensive Unlimited. The product that's kind of in the middle is what we call the 3-and-3. It's three years of treatment with three refinements. We introduced that three and a half years ago, it quickly became our number one selling product. The takeaway for something like this is many doctors. Just think about it as a consumer. You want to be able to purchase things the way you want to. Sometimes if you buy a product, you want a service plan. Other times, you don't want a service plan. I think giving these doctors the flexibility. to add service at the beginning or maybe as you go gives them that flexibility. What we're seeing is when you give them choices, they respond in the right way. When we look at products like this, don't think of, hey, different pricing is going to affect ASP and so on. The way we defer our revenue. We're really indifferent- Similar for products like this, because you're just going to get the refinements later. Also from a gross margin standpoint, products that have less refinements, like this comprehensive with no refinements, has some of the highest gross margin rate that we have because there's not a lot of back and forth. They follow a template. It's ship the product, and then you're done. If there's refinements, we charge them for that going forward. It's really a good combination of driving utilization and doing the things that are right with the doctor, but then also driving what's right for our business, which is improving our margin. Makes sense. I did want to pivot to some of the other things Align has been doing to help the docs. You recently hosted the Tech Talk, the tech summit. I thought that was really helpful. One of the things you talked about was the HFD partnership and the Smile Advance program, and I think it's something like $99 down payment for the patient, 0% APR for 24 months. I think you even disclose you have over 6,000 offices enrolled here. What types of benefits are you seeing among those adopters and could we start to see this play out in terms of growth acceleration? Well, we already are seeing it play out with HFD and other financing. In this market, where it's been this more challenging market, really since the middle of last year, we've kind of leaned into ideas like this, where if we can help our doctors to be able to try to drive this patient conversion in their offices, that's definitely a benefit. What an HFD or other type of financing is, be able to provide those potential patients with low down payment options. They don't want to pay a lot of interest or any interest. Ideally, maybe a two year. Then also there's FICO scores that people are concerned with. HFD has done a really good job of having a very high acceptance rate without much money down and then getting the payments over the time. It's good from a patient standpoint. It's also good from a doctor standpoint because they're getting a lot of patients through. They're getting much of their cash up front. HFD or others give a certain amount of money up front, and that helps from a working capital standpoint. Then they do all the collections. There's an added benefit for doctors to be able to partner with this. Our role really in this is to be kind of the broker of all this, making sure that, even though it's not on our books, this is not our financing that we're doing, we're arming our sales reps to be able to go into those doctors' offices and give them alternatives and say, "Look, have you thought of this?" If you introduce this program, HFD and others have salespeople or kind of field people that come and help with this as well. This is an environment where you've got to win those gray areas, and I look at this as winning those gray areas. You want to be able to give flexibility to those potential patients to be able to go into treatment. People get concerned with inflation and so on. If you have these strategies to be able to help drive the conversion, it can make a big difference. It's another type of tool that we've learned with our DSO involvement because they're seeing the success. We look at our big DSO partners, they're all doing this. Okay. This is another learning, just like we talked about the comprehensive with no refinements. We learn in the DSO. You start to see how it scales within those practices, and then we take it quickly to the rest of the organization. We're looking for these types of ideas. Really country by country is kind of how you have to go to this. Again, it's not on our books, but we are one that is trying to help facilitate this. Again, when you talk about winning the gray areas, this is one that helps. Do you see a difference in kind of the decision to bring on a program like this between DSOs and retail? Is it just as easy a sell? DSOs can go faster because you have maybe more of a top-down approach. They can put that out. Okay. I mean, Heartland's got 2,000 doctors that they can push that to, and it's maybe faster. The opportunity is there. The opportunity is there with those retail doctors. We'll do everything we can, whether it's product related that we spoke about, or in this case, kind of when we think about winning that last mile. This is a great opportunity. Do you ever get pushback from if you're pitching this to an independent practice? Is there any standard pushback that you might get from a doc or a reason why they wouldn't want to sign on for something like this? Something like this, they look at it. They hear about it. They actually want us- Okay to come there and help. Now, it's also maybe a little bit difference between the type of doctor. A general dentist, this is much more normal. You get a restorative procedure, you get something else, and there's a certain amount of out-of-pocket. They'll finance it, and there'll be payments over a period of time, and you get more of it happening there. Whereas on the ortho side, many times it's pay as you go. They kind of have their own internal financing where you come back, and then you get a certain payment that you make each time. It's maybe more prevalent on the GP side versus the ortho side. If they're looking for the same type of opportunities. If we can help them drive conversion in their practice, if they get people there. Because really when they see the benefit of they scan every patient Invisalign, to talk maybe more general dentists. If they scan every patient, we do a lot of things to help them visualize. People get really excited, "Oh, wow, this is what my teeth would look like straightened and with restorative," and so on. They're very excited in the moment. If you can then close that with, "Here's the pricing and here's the monthly payment. it brings it all together, and that's a way that you can drive. When we talk about being active around conversion, this is a way to do it. Got it. Then you also touched on ways to drive practice and workflow efficiencies for these dentists. One of the things you talked about at the Tech Talk was integrating with practice management platforms. You provided that example with Greyfinch, and you saw some pretty good results. Right. Can you talk about the key learnings from that first implementation? I think you have a pipeline of other practice management softwares. Well, we want to integrate as much as possible because as you have that patient journey where somebody is interested in getting treatment, and they start with coming to our website, or they have interests that they have. It's being able to nurture that interest into actually driving. If you're integrating with some of the practice management systems that they have, where you can then get appointments scheduled, you could get follow-ups scheduled. You can, again, be a part of this and be integrated in. Somebody goes from being interested in this. They look for a doctor in their area that provides Invisalign. Well, if we can help them connect them to getting an appointment, and then they show up to it, you can take them through this journey that I was saying. They get scanned, they get a visualization, ultimately maybe go into financing and get pre-approved, and so on. There's a lot of things that we're trying to do, and it makes it very sticky within our doctor network, so that they know that we are bringing them potential patients, and it's more of an integrated approach. When we can work with other DPMSs and different doctors because they all use different types. Right. Some, like a DSO might use across their DSO, but most of these doctors are kind of that retail side that it's kind of a one-off. We want to be able to integrate as much as possible. Again, to nurture that potential patient so that even in tougher economies, we can still execute and deliver and be able to help drive that conversion. When you complete that integration like you did with Greyfinch, do you see kind of an immediate benefit, or is there kind of like a learning curve? There's immediate benefit. Okay. Now you're integrated in, and that patient flow and the traffic that you see, you just have less handoffs. It's more integrated in, and I think that's key in this environment because sometimes you have a reluctant potential patient, and if you can take them through this journey, through the apps that we have and some of the online characteristics, you can up drive that conversion. I think you had a slide up for the Tech Talk where you had maybe seven or eight other practice management softwares on the list or in the pipeline. Do you expect those to be largely integrated? I think it's Align Link is what you're talking about now. Yeah. By the end of this year? Yeah. It's on our roadmap to be able to integrate in, and we're going to keep going system by system to be able to help that integration. Again, if we can do anything that we can do to help nurture that potential patient to be able to go into treatment, big benefit for that conversion. It's also a benefit for our doctors. They know that we're a partner that's going to give them. With our brand and what people know about Invisalign, we want to be able to leverage that name, leverage that brand. If we can integrate into that practice with those doctors, that's a good thing. We see that impact almost immediately because they start to get more and more patients flowing through. They have a chance to be able to get them into treatment through some of the active conversion methods that we talked about. Given that kind of immediate benefit, you see, assuming you continue to roll through these integrations successfully, is that a case for maybe some growth acceleration, or how do you think about contribution in 2027? All the things that we're doing to be more active about driving, whether it's product related. We want to give choices to our doctors integrated in some of these systems here. We know that the more seamless that it becomes, the higher growth that we can see. We are doing all these aspects to be able to help drive the improvement in our conversion and because those potential patients are there. Some of them are there because they're on the ortho side, and they're going to go into treatment, and they're going to go in treatment either way. If we can get them to use Invisalign, that's a win for us. The other side is on the general dentist side. This is part of the $600 million+ potential patients that are out there who have a malocclusion, and they want to get maybe some treatment. If you can get them to kind of hit them in the moment where they're getting something done already in that dental office, and you can show them what your teeth are looking like now and what they could look like. The other part of it, and we talked about it at the Tech Talk last week, was how do you integrate into the labs and some of the other restorative work that's being done and leverage the labs that are already working with these general dentists to provide restorative outcomes. How can we work with the labs to help with the alignment first? We've talked a lot about this, but when you think about the restorative and the ortho restorative work that you have. If you can align the teeth first and get them in the proper position before you do restorative, you're going to save much more of the tooth mass- Right that is healthy. Align them first. Don't have to remove as much. Some of the traditional ways that are done on the restorative side is they'll grind the teeth and you see some of these pictures where so much of the tooth is ground down. Yes. They'll put a veneer or something over it. It might look good on the surface, underneath you have a tooth that's been shaved down. Our view is move them first and then do the restorative. That's pilots that we have with some of our labs, and that's something that we're rolling out to every region because there's so many And when you think about the general dentists in the world, there's a 2 million general dentists, and we might sell to 5% of them. This helps us access many more doctors that otherwise we wouldn't have seen. I do want to dig into that lab pilot, but we have about five minutes left. I did want to see if there's any questions from the audience. Okay. Yeah, on the lab side, you've rolled out this pilot and you're actually getting labs to help sell into those GPs that wouldn't be doing the aligner cases. Can you talk about kind of the underlying economics to the extent you can, and like what the incentive is? Yeah For both parties on the lab side to participate in this and then to get the- Yep the GP side. The lab, look, they're always looking for revenue opportunities, just like any practice has. They essentially become a distributor for us, think of it that way, where there's a charge for the actual case that we have, but then on top of that, they have a markup that they'll provide for the services that they're providing, because they're doing a lot of the treatment planning and education and so on with their doctor network that they had. Distributors are excited about this because there's a revenue and margin opportunity for them. The doctors are excited about it as well because many of these doctors now working with these labs, they weren't selling Invisalign at all. It's a revenue opportunity that they can have because, again, when you're chair side and you think about how you're nurturing patients, just like all of us, we want to be able to have an active role as to our healthcare. What's happening? How do we visualize it? So on. Right there, chair side, those doctors could show that patient and say, "Look, it's going to take maybe four months longer. I'm going to move your teeth first, but this is what it's going to save. from a healthy tooth standpoint." The time and money that that patient would spend, it's well worth it. They'll see it, and they see the benefit. That doctor gets a little bit more of revenue because they're moving the teeth first and then doing the restorative. Then obviously from a patient standpoint, they're getting better healthcare. It's a win all across. It's good volume for us. Again, this helps leverage what we're already doing. That's great. We're already doing this on a smaller scale with many of these general dentists. If we can use the labs to be able to. Because the commonality across this is every general dentist uses a lab. It's just everywhere in the world. That's how they get their restorative products. If we can leverage those labs who already have those relationships, and why we can get in and get the benefit. Six years ago, we bought exocad, that is really good CAD/CAM type of view that they can provide in the tooth and proper positioning and so on. We leverage those relationships, be able to get to the lab, find the right ones, and be able to see good volume growth. Some of those labs that we've worked with, it's really high conversion. Again, it's volume that we never had before. Right. These are GPs that are. These are GPs. have not done aligners at all. They have not done, or maybe they did one or two. Okay. There's over 30,000 labs across the globe. They all have these relationships, and they trust their labs. If we can work with those labs, it's not every lab that's going to want to do this, but every lab might service dozens of different general dentists. In many cases, like I said, 95% of those general dentists we don't really sell to. If we can expand that out and make this more the standard of care, that you move teeth before you remove, we think that we have a great benefit here, and we feel like we're the only company who can really provide this integrated solution to the dentists and then ultimately their patients. Yeah, it sounds like a great opportunity to pick up incremental revenues. Given that you are kind of using the labs like a distributor, can you talk about what the margin impact is to Align or how it stacks up? To us, it's a moderate case. Really it's when we look at the because it's usually 26 stages or less, so it's kind of just a more moderate movement, sometimes a minimal movement. Margin for us is And it's no refinements, so that's a nice part of it too. Again, going back to our earlier discussion, when you don't have a refinement, of course margin's great for us, so we're happy to do this. We're happy to be able to help educate those labs because there is some work to integrate those labs in and then have them expand out. From a margin standpoint, this is incremental for us, so we're very happy with that. I think the labs that we've worked with are looking at it that way too. It's kind of a found revenue source that they just didn't have before. Even with the fee that the lab's getting from that case, there's no impact? No. Okay. Because we'll charge. We'll have a moderate case that this falls into. The markup really comes from the lab providing the service to those doctors. Got it. They mark that up. Right. I don't have to discount that down to From a starting point, they're marking up for their service. Right. Again, that doctor looks at it as this is a really positive benefit for their patients. Great. Well, I think that's all the time we have. John, thank you so much for joining us today. Of course. Thank you.

Speaker 2: Good morning. We'll kick this off. Welcome to Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference. I'm Mike Sarcone. I'm an analyst on the U.S. Medical Supplies and Devices team. This is a fireside chat session with Align Technology. From the company, we've got John Morici, CFO. We've also got Madelyn Valente here, who's part of the IR team. John, thank you for joining us today. Good morning. good morning We'll kick this off. we'll kick this off Welcome to Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference. welcome to jefferies global healthcare conference I'm Mike Sarcone. i'm mike sarcone I'm an analyst on the U.S. i'm an analyst on the u.s Medical Supplies and Devices team. medical supplies and devices team This is a fireside chat session with Align Technology. this is a fireside chat session with align technology From the company, we've got John Morici, CFO. from the company we've got john morici cfo We've also got Madelyn Valente here, who's part of the IR team. we've also got madelyn valente here who's part of the ir team John, thank you for joining us today. john thank you for joining us today

Speaker 1: Of course. Of course. of course

Speaker 2: I guess just to kick it off, high level, just on the macro side, I'm sure you get a lot of questions there. Can you just give us an update on what you're seeing on the macro front in terms of patient demand? I know you've talked about continued stability in North America. We are seeing rates increase, inflation go up. Just give us an update on how things are trending. I guess just to kick it off, high level, just on the macro side, I'm sure you get a lot of questions there. i guess just to kick it off high level just on the macro side i'm sure you get a lot of questions there Can you just give us an update on what you're seeing on the macro front in terms of patient demand? can you just give us an update on what you're seeing on the macro front in terms of patient demand I know you've talked about continued stability in North America. i know you've talked about continued stability in north america We are seeing rates increase, inflation go up. we are seeing rates increase inflation go up Just give us an update on how things are trending. just give us an update on how things are trending

Speaker 1: Yeah. We've seen, as we've gone the last several quarters, some of that macro that's similar to what it is now. You still have higher inflation on things even prior to some of the things going on in the Middle East. We've been operating in that environment. When we look at our business and we've got double-digit growth outside North America. International growth has been strong for us, whether it's APAC or EMEA or Latin America. North America, even when we look at DSOs, the DSO, dental service organizations, they've been growing double digit. Where you see some of that pressure has been on the U.S. and North America retail side, those doctors. We've been doing and operating in that environment for several quarters. Where you have to go and really try to drive that conversion is be much more active. Yeah. yeah We've seen, as we've gone the last several quarters, some of that macro that's similar to what it is now. we've seen as we've gone the last several quarters some of that macro that's similar to what it is now You still have higher inflation on things even prior to some of the things going on in the Middle East. you still have higher inflation on things even prior to some of the things going on in the middle east We've been operating in that environment. we've been operating in that environment When we look at our business and we've got double-digit growth outside North America. when we look at our business and we've got double-digit growth outside north america International growth has been strong for us, whether it's APAC or EMEA or Latin America. international growth has been strong for us whether it's apac or emea or latin america North America, even when we look at DSOs, the DSO, dental service organizations, they've been growing double digit. north america even when we look at dsos the dso dental service organizations they've been growing double digit Where you see some of that pressure has been on the U.S. and North America retail side, those doctors. where you see some of that pressure has been on the u.s and north america retail side those doctors We've been doing and operating in that environment for several quarters. we've been doing and operating in that environment for several quarters Where you have to go and really try to drive that conversion is be much more active. where you have to go and really try to drive that conversion is be much more active Work with those doctors to be able to help nurture those patients and get them from being interested in treatment to actually going into treatment. We could talk a lot about the different tools and tactics that we have to be able to help our doctors, but it's been a similar environment that we've been in for a number of quarters now. Work with those doctors to be able to help nurture those patients and get them from being interested in treatment to actually going into treatment. work with those doctors to be able to help nurture those patients and get them from being interested in treatment to actually going into treatment We could talk a lot about the different tools and tactics that we have to be able to help our doctors, but it's been a similar environment that we've been in for a number of quarters now. we could talk a lot about the different tools and tactics that we have to be able to help our doctors but it's been a similar environment that we've been in for a number of quarters now

Speaker 2: Got it. I do plan to get into some of those tools for the docs. Can you remind us what kind of assumptions you've got baked into your outlook for this year, like from the macro standpoint? Got it. got it I do plan to get into some of those tools for the docs. i do plan to get into some of those tools for the docs Can you remind us what kind of assumptions you've got baked into your outlook for this year, like from the macro standpoint? can you remind us what kind of assumptions you've got baked into your outlook for this year like from the macro standpoint

Speaker 1: What when we expected from a macro standpoint, we guided to 3%-4% for the overall year and 100 basis point improvement in our operating margin. It's a reflection of things that we're doing, even in a challenging market, to be able to help drive growth, and we see that, and do it in a profitable way. We've taken a lot of cost actions from last year and into this year to drive and improve our productivity, and we're seeing good results of that. We saw 250 basis point at ex-FX, basis point improvement in operating margin in the first quarter, and we're very pleased with that in this environment. We have a lot of other cost actions that we continue to take to drive productivity. As we increase volume, we get the benefit of that operating margin leverage from that. What when we expected from a macro standpoint, we guided to 3%-4% for the overall year and 100 basis point improvement in our operating margin. what when we expected from a macro standpoint we guided to 3%-4% for the overall year and 100 basis point improvement in our operating margin It's a reflection of things that we're doing, even in a challenging market, to be able to help drive growth, and we see that, and do it in a profitable way. it's a reflection of things that we're doing even in a challenging market to be able to help drive growth and we see that and do it in a profitable way We've taken a lot of cost actions from last year and into this year to drive and improve our productivity, and we're seeing good results of that. we've taken a lot of cost actions from last year and into this year to drive and improve our productivity and we're seeing good results of that We saw 250 basis point at ex-FX, basis point improvement in operating margin in the first quarter, and we're very pleased with that in this environment. we saw 250 basis point at ex-fx basis point improvement in operating margin in the first quarter and we're very pleased with that in this environment We have a lot of other cost actions that we continue to take to drive productivity. we have a lot of other cost actions that we continue to take to drive productivity As we increase volume, we get the benefit of that operating margin leverage from that. as we increase volume we get the benefit of that operating margin leverage from that We feel good about how we've positioned this year, especially in light of the first quarter where we feel like we delivered in an uncertain environment, but we have a lot of things that we have in place that are executing. We feel good about how we've positioned this year, especially in light of the first quarter where we feel like we delivered in an uncertain environment, but we have a lot of things that we have in place that are executing. we feel good about how we've positioned this year especially in light of the first quarter where we feel like we delivered in an uncertain environment but we have a lot of things that we have in place that are executing

Speaker 2: Great. Just last question on the macro front. On the 1Q call, you did mention the conflicts in the Middle East. You're expecting them, they could have some impact on 2Q. Have things played out as you expected there? Great. great Just last question on the macro front. just last question on the macro front On the 1Q call, you did mention the conflicts in the Middle East. on the 1q call you did mention the conflicts in the middle east You're expecting them, they could have some impact on 2Q. you're expecting them they could have some impact on 2q Have things played out as you expected there? have things played out as you expected there

Speaker 1: No, when we look at the framework, when we go from 1Q to 2Q, if you looked at our business, if you go back last year before, in several years, typically we go from 1Q to 2Q, and we increase revenue, say, start with the top line 3%-4%, sometimes more. That's a reflection as North America gets into teen season, as you get Western Europe and others, they really start to increase some of their volume as they go from 1Q to 2Q. You also have the sequential improvement when you go on the systems and services side. First quarter seasonality is a little bit lower. It builds as you go to second quarter. Typically you have that, and when we wanted to talk about prudent guidance or get a lot of questions regarding that, we put it at the midpoint of 1%. No, when we look at the framework, when we go from 1Q to 2Q, if you looked at our business, if you go back last year before, in several years, typically we go from 1Q to 2Q, and we increase revenue, say, start with the top line 3%-4%, sometimes more. no when we look at the framework when we go from 1q to 2q if you looked at our business if you go back last year before in several years typically we go from 1q to 2q and we increase revenue say start with the top line 3%-4% sometimes more That's a reflection as North America gets into teen season, as you get Western Europe and others, they really start to increase some of their volume as they go from 1Q to 2Q. that's a reflection as north america gets into teen season as you get western europe and others they really start to increase some of their volume as they go from 1q to 2q You also have the sequential improvement when you go on the systems and services side. you also have the sequential improvement when you go on the systems and services side First quarter seasonality is a little bit lower. first quarter seasonality is a little bit lower It builds as you go to second quarter. it builds as you go to second quarter Typically you have that, and when we wanted to talk about prudent guidance or get a lot of questions regarding that, we put it at the midpoint of 1%. typically you have that and when we wanted to talk about prudent guidance or get a lot of questions regarding that we put it at the midpoint of 1%

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: When we go from 1Q to 2Q. It's a reflection of that. We're executing and doing the things that I mentioned in an uncertain environment, and we look forward to getting to the end of the quarter to be able to update people. When we go from 1Q to 2Q. when we go from 1q to 2q It's a reflection of that. it's a reflection of that We're executing and doing the things that I mentioned in an uncertain environment, and we look forward to getting to the end of the quarter to be able to update people. we're executing and doing the things that i mentioned in an uncertain environment and we look forward to getting to the end of the quarter to be able to update people

Speaker 2: Okay, great. I did want to shift into the Comp Zero offering. I know you started rolling that out in 2025, and you're continuing to ramp that through 2026. Can you talk about what you've seen in some of the earlier accounts that have adopted that, particularly among the DSO customers and what that's done for utilization? Okay, great. okay great I did want to shift into the Comp Zero offering. i did want to shift into the comp zero offering I know you started rolling that out in 2025, and you're continuing to ramp that through 2026. i know you started rolling that out in 2025 and you're continuing to ramp that through 2026 Can you talk about what you've seen in some of the earlier accounts that have adopted that, particularly among the DSO customers and what that's done for utilization? can you talk about what you've seen in some of the earlier accounts that have adopted that particularly among the dso customers and what that's done for utilization

Speaker 1: Yeah. The products that we have, when you think about the evolution of some of the products that we have, the earliest product that we had from a comprehensive standpoint, that was really the start of that was over 10 years ago, where we put out the comprehensive with unlimited refinements over five years. Really that was a testament to try to be able to make sure that our doctors would feel comfortable using our products and giving them the confidence that no matter what, they could get to a final outcome. We had five years with unlimited refinements. It was also a reflection of the fact that maybe our products back then, 10 years ago, they couldn't maybe finish all the cases. They were 60%, 70% effective. Yeah. yeah The products that we have, when you think about the evolution of some of the products that we have, the earliest product that we had from a comprehensive standpoint, that was really the start of that was over 10 years ago, where we put out the comprehensive with unlimited refinements over five years. the products that we have when you think about the evolution of some of the products that we have the earliest product that we had from a comprehensive standpoint that was really the start of that was over 10 years ago where we put out the comprehensive with unlimited refinements over five years Really that was a testament to try to be able to make sure that our doctors would feel comfortable using our products and giving them the confidence that no matter what, they could get to a final outcome. really that was a testament to try to be able to make sure that our doctors would feel comfortable using our products and giving them the confidence that no matter what they could get to a final outcome We had five years with unlimited refinements. we had five years with unlimited refinements It was also a reflection of the fact that maybe our products back then, 10 years ago, they couldn't maybe finish all the cases. it was also a reflection of the fact that maybe our products back then 10 years ago they couldn't maybe finish all the cases They were 60%, 70% effective. they were 60% 70% effective With a lot of technology and other innovation that we've put in, we have products that with a comprehensive, they can go, and you don't need refinements, or you might need one refinement. Much of the technology has really enabled us to increase our portfolio to have a product like this, the comprehensive with no refinements. What we've been able to do, working with our DSOs, our dental service organizations, they've been able to essentially test this across a wide variety of doctors, and what they're seeing is good results. They're seeing that doctors now start to utilize those types of products more and more. That increase in doctor usage and that utilization is a benefit. With a lot of technology and other innovation that we've put in, we have products that with a comprehensive, they can go, and you don't need refinements, or you might need one refinement. with a lot of technology and other innovation that we've put in we have products that with a comprehensive they can go and you don't need refinements or you might need one refinement Much of the technology has really enabled us to increase our portfolio to have a product like this, the comprehensive with no refinements. much of the technology has really enabled us to increase our portfolio to have a product like this the comprehensive with no refinements What we've been able to do, working with our DSOs, our dental service organizations, they've been able to essentially test this across a wide variety of doctors, and what they're seeing is good results. what we've been able to do working with our dsos our dental service organizations, they've been able to essentially test this across a wide variety of doctors and what they're seeing is good results They're seeing that doctors now start to utilize those types of products more and more. they're seeing that doctors now start to utilize those types of products more and more That increase in doctor usage and that utilization is a benefit. that increase in doctor usage and that utilization is a benefit We see that playing out more and more because that product specifically with no refinements is designed to go to an orthodontist who looks at a patient and says, "Do I put that patient into wires and brackets, or do I put them into Invisalign?" Typically, there's a big price gap where if that doctor, from a material standpoint, might pay $300 or $400, they say $350 for wires and brackets, it would be a higher price for Invisalign with the comprehensive unlimited. As you bring that price down to reflect what that product is, that cost to serve is much less. Doctors look at that price and say, "Oh, now maybe we'll use Invisalign because that price is a little bit closer." What I call that product and what it's doing in the marketplace is kind of winning those gray areas. We see that playing out more and more because that product specifically with no refinements is designed to go to an orthodontist who looks at a patient and says, "Do I put that patient into wires and brackets, or do I put them into Invisalign?" Typically, there's a big price gap where if that doctor, from a material standpoint, might pay $300 or $400, they say $350 for wires and brackets, it would be a higher price for Invisalign with the comprehensive unlimited. we see that playing out more and more because that product specifically with no refinements is designed to go to an orthodontist who looks at a patient and says "do i put that patient into wires and brackets or do i put them into invisalign?" typically there's a big price gap where if that doctor from a material standpoint might pay $300 or $400 they say $350 for wires and brackets it would be a higher price for invisalign with the comprehensive unlimited As you bring that price down to reflect what that product is, that cost to serve is much less. as you bring that price down to reflect what that product is that cost to serve is much less Doctors look at that price and say, "Oh, now maybe we'll use Invisalign because that price is a little bit closer." What I call that product and what it's doing in the marketplace is kind of winning those gray areas. doctors look at that price and say "oh now maybe we'll use invisalign because that price is a little bit closer." what i call that product and what it's doing in the marketplace is kind of winning those gray areas When that doctor then says, "I understand that I'm going to get benefits from Invisalign because of the digital technology versus the analog wires and brackets," they sometimes choose that. When they do, that increases our utilization. The added effect that it has as well is it's very competitive from a price standpoint. It's not designed necessarily, from a clear aligner pricing standpoint, to be as competitive with other clear aligner companies, but it's turning out to be because, like I said, it drives the utilization versus wires and brackets, but it's also very price competitive, and we're seeing customers come back to us as well. It really has a great effect, and we want to continue rolling that out. It's gone through the DSOs and now further into more and more doctors, and we're pleased with the results. When that doctor then says, "I understand that I'm going to get benefits from Invisalign because of the digital technology versus the analog wires and brackets," they sometimes choose that. when that doctor then says "i understand that i'm going to get benefits from invisalign because of the digital technology versus the analog wires and brackets," they sometimes choose that When they do, that increases our utilization. when they do that increases our utilization The added effect that it has as well is it's very competitive from a price standpoint. the added effect that it has as well is it's very competitive from a price standpoint It's not designed necessarily, from a clear aligner pricing standpoint, to be as competitive with other clear aligner companies, but it's turning out to be because, like I said, it drives the utilization versus wires and brackets, but it's also very price competitive, and we're seeing customers come back to us as well. it's not designed necessarily from a clear aligner pricing standpoint to be as competitive with other clear aligner companies but it's turning out to be because like i said it drives the utilization versus wires and brackets but it's also very price competitive and we're seeing customers come back to us as well It really has a great effect, and we want to continue rolling that out. it really has a great effect and we want to continue rolling that out It's gone through the DSOs and now further into more and more doctors, and we're pleased with the results. it's gone through the dsos and now further into more and more doctors and we're pleased with the results

Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like you've seen some good price elasticity of demand in those DSO accounts. Do you expect that should or could translate onto the retail independent side? Yeah, it sounds like you've seen some good price elasticity of demand in those DSO accounts. yeah it sounds like you've seen some good price elasticity of demand in those dso accounts Do you expect that should or could translate onto the retail independent side? do you expect that should or could translate onto the retail independent side

Speaker 1: Yeah. We look at what we see in the DSOs, where they're looking for the efficiency. When we think of what DSOs look for from us, it comes down to usually three types of factors that they look at for. They want us to be able to drive the technology, newest technology, like a comprehensive with no refinements. It's very latest technology to give them confidence that they can finish the cases. Second part is the operational scale, to be able to scale the business and be able to provide product to them in days versus weeks. They leverage our marketing. You bring all that together with some of these products that we just talked about. It's a great combination. The gross margin that we have on our DSOs is equal to or better than what we see with even our retail doctors. Yeah. yeah We look at what we see in the DSOs, where they're looking for the efficiency. we look at what we see in the dsos where they're looking for the efficiency When we think of what DSOs look for from us, it comes down to usually three types of factors that they look at for. when we think of what dsos look for from us it comes down to usually three types of factors that they look at for They want us to be able to drive the technology, newest technology, like a comprehensive with no refinements. they want us to be able to drive the technology newest technology like a comprehensive with no refinements It's very latest technology to give them confidence that they can finish the cases. it's very latest technology to give them confidence that they can finish the cases Second part is the operational scale, to be able to scale the business and be able to provide product to them in days versus weeks. second part is the operational scale to be able to scale the business and be able to provide product to them in days versus weeks They leverage our marketing. they leverage our marketing You bring all that together with some of these products that we just talked about. you bring all that together with some of these products that we just talked about It's a great combination. it's a great combination The gross margin that we have on our DSOs is equal to or better than what we see with even our retail doctors. the gross margin that we have on our dsos is equal to or better than what we see with even our retail doctors Certainly from an op margin, it's better because there's a lot of things that go on within those DSOs that we don't have to do. They'll do some of the local marketing. They'll do some of the treatment planning services across their DSO that we don't have to do. There's other aspects of it that they're taking the initiative to do to help drive their business. In the end, we're driving to more and more doctors that we sell to across those DSOs and increasing utilization, and that's a good trend, and we want to see that continue. Certainly from an op margin, it's better because there's a lot of things that go on within those DSOs that we don't have to do. certainly from an op margin it's better because there's a lot of things that go on within those dsos that we don't have to do They'll do some of the local marketing. they'll do some of the local marketing They'll do some of the treatment planning services across their DSO that we don't have to do. they'll do some of the treatment planning services across their dso that we don't have to do There's other aspects of it that they're taking the initiative to do to help drive their business. there's other aspects of it that they're taking the initiative to do to help drive their business In the end, we're driving to more and more doctors that we sell to across those DSOs and increasing utilization, and that's a good trend, and we want to see that continue. in the end we're driving to more and more doctors that we sell to across those dsos and increasing utilization and that's a good trend and we want to see that continue

Speaker 2: You are seeing some early signs of utilization increase in the retail accounts that have adopted? You are seeing some early signs of utilization increase in the retail accounts that have adopted? you are seeing some early signs of utilization increase in the retail accounts that have adopted

Speaker 1: We are seeing that it wins the gray area. We are seeing that it wins the gray area. we are seeing that it wins the gray area

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: That is a positive for us and anything that we can do. Because remember, on a wires and brackets basis, most regions, 80% of the cases are still done with wires and brackets. On the teen side, which this is really what it tries to help, sometimes the wires and brackets in a region might be 90% of the cases. Even in a tougher economy, those wires and bracket cases were going to happen anyway. I mean, teens go into treatment regardless of what's happening from an economy standpoint. If we can help our doctors win those cases so that they were going to go into treatment, and if instead of wires and brackets, they go into Invisalign, that's a win for us, and we start to see that utilization benefit. That is a positive for us and anything that we can do. that is a positive for us and anything that we can do Because remember, on a wires and brackets basis, most regions, 80% of the cases are still done with wires and brackets. because remember on a wires and brackets basis most regions 80% of the cases are still done with wires and brackets On the teen side, which this is really what it tries to help, sometimes the wires and brackets in a region might be 90% of the cases. on the teen side which this is really what it tries to help sometimes the wires and brackets in a region might be 90% of the cases Even in a tougher economy, those wires and bracket cases were going to happen anyway. even in a tougher economy those wires and bracket cases were going to happen anyway I mean, teens go into treatment regardless of what's happening from an economy standpoint. i mean teens go into treatment regardless of what's happening from an economy standpoint If we can help our doctors win those cases so that they were going to go into treatment, and if instead of wires and brackets, they go into Invisalign, that's a win for us, and we start to see that utilization benefit. if we can help our doctors win those cases so that they were going to go into treatment and if instead of wires and brackets they go into invisalign that's a win for us and we start to see that utilization benefit

Speaker 2: Great. Are there any key markets where you haven't rolled this out yet? Great. great Are there any key markets where you haven't rolled this out yet? are there any key markets where you haven't rolled this out yet

Speaker 1: Various versions are out everywhere. Various versions are out everywhere. various versions are out everywhere

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: We see it in North America. Now, doctors need to adopt this. It's one of those where you want to make sure doctors understand that if they have a lot of refinements, maybe they need to ease into products that don't have as many refinements because in the future, they'd have to pay for them. We want to make sure that that is right for them. We see this rolling out in North America. There's versions of it in Europe and APAC as well. Look, for our business and in success, we'll continue to roll things out. We see it in North America. we see it in north america Now, doctors need to adopt this. now doctors need to adopt this It's one of those where you want to make sure doctors understand that if they have a lot of refinements, maybe they need to ease into products that don't have as many refinements because in the future, they'd have to pay for them. it's one of those where you want to make sure doctors understand that if they have a lot of refinements maybe they need to ease into products that don't have as many refinements because in the future they'd have to pay for them We want to make sure that that is right for them. we want to make sure that that is right for them We see this rolling out in North America. we see this rolling out in north america There's versions of it in Europe and APAC as well. there's versions of it in europe and apac as well Look, for our business and in success, we'll continue to roll things out. look for our business and in success we'll continue to roll things out

Speaker 2: I don't know if you've kind of given the timeline here, but do you expect by the end of this year you'll have it pretty broadly-? I don't know if you've kind of given the timeline here, but do you expect by the end of this year you'll have it pretty broadly-? i don't know if you've kind of given the timeline here but do you expect by the end of this year you'll have it pretty broadly-

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: rolled out? rolled out? rolled out

Speaker 1: I would expect. I would expect. i would expect

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: I mean, you look at how we've done a product that was really the precursor to this, we had the Comprehensive Unlimited. The product that's kind of in the middle is what we call the 3-and-3. It's three years of treatment with three refinements. We introduced that three and a half years ago, it quickly became our number one selling product. The takeaway for something like this is many doctors. Just think about it as a consumer. You want to be able to purchase things the way you want to. Sometimes if you buy a product, you want a service plan. Other times, you don't want a service plan. I think giving these doctors the flexibility. I mean, you look at how we've done a product that was really the precursor to this, we had the Comprehensive Unlimited. i mean you look at how we've done a product that was really the precursor to this we had the comprehensive unlimited The product that's kind of in the middle is what we call the 3-and-3. the product that's kind of in the middle is what we call the 3-and-3 It's three years of treatment with three refinements. it's three years of treatment with three refinements We introduced that three and a half years ago, it quickly became our number one selling product. we introduced that three and a half years ago it quickly became our number one selling product The takeaway for something like this is many doctors. the takeaway for something like this is many doctors Just think about it as a consumer. just think about it as a consumer You want to be able to purchase things the way you want to. you want to be able to purchase things the way you want to Sometimes if you buy a product, you want a service plan. sometimes if you buy a product you want a service plan Other times, you don't want a service plan. other times you don't want a service plan I think giving these doctors the flexibility. i think giving these doctors the flexibility to add service at the beginning or maybe as you go gives them that flexibility. What we're seeing is when you give them choices, they respond in the right way. When we look at products like this, don't think of, hey, different pricing is going to affect ASP and so on. The way we defer our revenue. We're really indifferent- to add service at the beginning or maybe as you go gives them that flexibility. to add service at the beginning or maybe as you go gives them that flexibility What we're seeing is when you give them choices, they respond in the right way. what we're seeing is when you give them choices they respond in the right way When we look at products like this, don't think of, hey, different pricing is going to affect ASP and so on. when we look at products like this don't think of hey different pricing is going to affect asp and so on The way we defer our revenue. We're really indifferent- the way we defer our revenue. we're really indifferent-

Speaker 2: Similar Similar similar

Speaker 1: for products like this, because you're just going to get the refinements later. Also from a gross margin standpoint, products that have less refinements, like this comprehensive with no refinements, has some of the highest gross margin rate that we have because there's not a lot of back and forth. They follow a template. It's ship the product, and then you're done. If there's refinements, we charge them for that going forward. It's really a good combination of driving utilization and doing the things that are right with the doctor, but then also driving what's right for our business, which is improving our margin. for products like this, because you're just going to get the refinements later. for products like this because you're just going to get the refinements later Also from a gross margin standpoint, products that have less refinements, like this comprehensive with no refinements, has some of the highest gross margin rate that we have because there's not a lot of back and forth. also from a gross margin standpoint products that have less refinements like this comprehensive with no refinements has some of the highest gross margin rate that we have because there's not a lot of back and forth They follow a template. they follow a template It's ship the product, and then you're done. it's ship the product and then you're done If there's refinements, we charge them for that going forward. if there's refinements we charge them for that going forward It's really a good combination of driving utilization and doing the things that are right with the doctor, but then also driving what's right for our business, which is improving our margin. it's really a good combination of driving utilization and doing the things that are right with the doctor but then also driving what's right for our business which is improving our margin

Speaker 2: Makes sense. I did want to pivot to some of the other things Align has been doing to help the docs. You recently hosted the Tech Talk, the tech summit. I thought that was really helpful. One of the things you talked about was the HFD partnership and the Smile Advance program, and I think it's something like $99 down payment for the patient, 0% APR for 24 months. I think you even disclose you have over 6,000 offices enrolled here. What types of benefits are you seeing among those adopters and could we start to see this play out in terms of growth acceleration? Makes sense. makes sense I did want to pivot to some of the other things Align has been doing to help the docs. i did want to pivot to some of the other things align has been doing to help the docs You recently hosted the Tech Talk, the tech summit. you recently hosted the tech talk the tech summit I thought that was really helpful. i thought that was really helpful One of the things you talked about was the HFD partnership and the Smile Advance program, and I think it's something like $99 down payment for the patient, 0% APR for 24 months. one of the things you talked about was the hfd partnership and the smile advance program and i think it's something like $99 down payment for the patient 0% apr for 24 months I think you even disclose you have over 6,000 offices enrolled here. i think you even disclose you have over 6,000 offices enrolled here What types of benefits are you seeing among those adopters and could we start to see this play out in terms of growth acceleration? what types of benefits are you seeing among those adopters and could we start to see this play out in terms of growth acceleration

Speaker 1: Well, we already are seeing it play out with HFD and other financing. In this market, where it's been this more challenging market, really since the middle of last year, we've kind of leaned into ideas like this, where if we can help our doctors to be able to try to drive this patient conversion in their offices, that's definitely a benefit. What an HFD or other type of financing is, be able to provide those potential patients with low down payment options. They don't want to pay a lot of interest or any interest. Ideally, maybe a two year. Then also there's FICO scores that people are concerned with. HFD has done a really good job of having a very high acceptance rate without much money down and then getting the payments over the time. It's good from a patient standpoint. Well, we already are seeing it play out with HFD and other financing. well we already are seeing it play out with hfd and other financing In this market, where it's been this more challenging market, really since the middle of last year, we've kind of leaned into ideas like this, where if we can help our doctors to be able to try to drive this patient conversion in their offices, that's definitely a benefit. in this market where it's been this more challenging market really since the middle of last year we've kind of leaned into ideas like this where if we can help our doctors to be able to try to drive this patient conversion in their offices that's definitely a benefit What an HFD or other type of financing is, be able to provide those potential patients with low down payment options. what an hfd or other type of financing is be able to provide those potential patients with low down payment options They don't want to pay a lot of interest or any interest. they don't want to pay a lot of interest or any interest Ideally, maybe a two year. ideally maybe a two year Then also there's FICO scores that people are concerned with. then also there's fico scores that people are concerned with HFD has done a really good job of having a very high acceptance rate without much money down and then getting the payments over the time. hfd has done a really good job of having a very high acceptance rate without much money down and then getting the payments over the time It's good from a patient standpoint. it's good from a patient standpoint It's also good from a doctor standpoint because they're getting a lot of patients through. They're getting much of their cash up front. HFD or others give a certain amount of money up front, and that helps from a working capital standpoint. Then they do all the collections. It's also good from a doctor standpoint because they're getting a lot of patients through. it's also good from a doctor standpoint because they're getting a lot of patients through They're getting much of their cash up front. they're getting much of their cash up front HFD or others give a certain amount of money up front, and that helps from a working capital standpoint. hfd or others give a certain amount of money up front and that helps from a working capital standpoint Then they do all the collections. then they do all the collections There's an added benefit for doctors to be able to partner with this. Our role really in this is to be kind of the broker of all this, making sure that, even though it's not on our books, this is not our financing that we're doing, we're arming our sales reps to be able to go into those doctors' offices and give them alternatives and say, "Look, have you thought of this?" If you introduce this program, HFD and others have salespeople or kind of field people that come and help with this as well. This is an environment where you've got to win those gray areas, and I look at this as winning those gray areas. You want to be able to give flexibility to those potential patients to be able to go into treatment. People get concerned with inflation and so on. There's an added benefit for doctors to be able to partner with this. there's an added benefit for doctors to be able to partner with this Our role really in this is to be kind of the broker of all this, making sure that, even though it's not on our books, this is not our financing that we're doing, we're arming our sales reps to be able to go into those doctors' offices and give them alternatives and say, "Look, have you thought of this?" If you introduce this program, HFD and others have salespeople or kind of field people that come and help with this as well. our role really in this is to be kind of the broker of all this making sure that even though it's not on our books this is not our financing that we're doing we're arming our sales reps to be able to go into those doctors' offices and give them alternatives and say "look have you thought of this?" if you introduce this program hfd and others have salespeople or kind of field people that come and help with this as well This is an environment where you've got to win those gray areas, and I look at this as winning those gray areas. this is an environment where you've got to win those gray areas and i look at this as winning those gray areas You want to be able to give flexibility to those potential patients to be able to go into treatment. you want to be able to give flexibility to those potential patients to be able to go into treatment People get concerned with inflation and so on. people get concerned with inflation and so on If you have these strategies to be able to help drive the conversion, it can make a big difference. It's another type of tool that we've learned with our DSO involvement because they're seeing the success. We look at our big DSO partners, they're all doing this. If you have these strategies to be able to help drive the conversion, it can make a big difference. if you have these strategies to be able to help drive the conversion it can make a big difference It's another type of tool that we've learned with our DSO involvement because they're seeing the success. it's another type of tool that we've learned with our dso involvement because they're seeing the success We look at our big DSO partners, they're all doing this. we look at our big dso partners they're all doing this

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: This is another learning, just like we talked about the comprehensive with no refinements. We learn in the DSO. You start to see how it scales within those practices, and then we take it quickly to the rest of the organization. We're looking for these types of ideas. Really country by country is kind of how you have to go to this. Again, it's not on our books, but we are one that is trying to help facilitate this. Again, when you talk about winning the gray areas, this is one that helps. This is another learning, just like we talked about the comprehensive with no refinements. this is another learning just like we talked about the comprehensive with no refinements We learn in the DSO. we learn in the dso You start to see how it scales within those practices, and then we take it quickly to the rest of the organization. you start to see how it scales within those practices and then we take it quickly to the rest of the organization We're looking for these types of ideas. we're looking for these types of ideas Really country by country is kind of how you have to go to this. really country by country is kind of how you have to go to this Again, it's not on our books, but we are one that is trying to help facilitate this. again it's not on our books but we are one that is trying to help facilitate this Again, when you talk about winning the gray areas, this is one that helps. again when you talk about winning the gray areas this is one that helps

Speaker 2: Do you see a difference in kind of the decision to bring on a program like this between DSOs and retail? Is it just as easy a sell? Do you see a difference in kind of the decision to bring on a program like this between DSOs and retail? do you see a difference in kind of the decision to bring on a program like this between dsos and retail Is it just as easy a sell? is it just as easy a sell

Speaker 1: DSOs can go faster because you have maybe more of a top-down approach. They can put that out. DSOs can go faster because you have maybe more of a top-down approach. dsos can go faster because you have maybe more of a top-down approach They can put that out. they can put that out

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: I mean, Heartland's got 2,000 doctors that they can push that to, and it's maybe faster. The opportunity is there. The opportunity is there with those retail doctors. We'll do everything we can, whether it's product related that we spoke about, or in this case, kind of when we think about winning that last mile. This is a great opportunity. I mean, Heartland's got 2,000 doctors that they can push that to, and it's maybe faster. i mean heartland's got 2,000 doctors that they can push that to and it's maybe faster The opportunity is there. the opportunity is there The opportunity is there with those retail doctors. the opportunity is there with those retail doctors We'll do everything we can, whether it's product related that we spoke about, or in this case, kind of when we think about winning that last mile. we'll do everything we can whether it's product related that we spoke about or in this case kind of when we think about winning that last mile This is a great opportunity. this is a great opportunity

Speaker 2: Do you ever get pushback from if you're pitching this to an independent practice? Is there any standard pushback that you might get from a doc or a reason why they wouldn't want to sign on for something like this? Do you ever get pushback from if you're pitching this to an independent practice? do you ever get pushback from if you're pitching this to an independent practice Is there any standard pushback that you might get from a doc or a reason why they wouldn't want to sign on for something like this? is there any standard pushback that you might get from a doc or a reason why they wouldn't want to sign on for something like this

Speaker 1: Something like this, they look at it. They hear about it. They actually want us- Something like this, they look at it. something like this they look at it They hear about it. they hear about it They actually want us- they actually want us-

Speaker 2: Okay Okay okay

Speaker 1: to come there and help. Now, it's also maybe a little bit difference between the type of doctor. A general dentist, this is much more normal. You get a restorative procedure, you get something else, and there's a certain amount of out-of-pocket. to come there and help. to come there and help Now, it's also maybe a little bit difference between the type of doctor. now it's also maybe a little bit difference between the type of doctor A general dentist, this is much more normal. a general dentist this is much more normal You get a restorative procedure, you get something else, and there's a certain amount of out-of-pocket. you get a restorative procedure you get something else and there's a certain amount of out-of-pocket They'll finance it, and there'll be payments over a period of time, and you get more of it happening there. Whereas on the ortho side, many times it's pay as you go. They kind of have their own internal financing where you come back, and then you get a certain payment that you make each time. It's maybe more prevalent on the GP side versus the ortho side. If they're looking for the same type of opportunities. If we can help them drive conversion in their practice, if they get people there. Because really when they see the benefit of they scan every patient Invisalign, to talk maybe more general dentists. If they scan every patient, we do a lot of things to help them visualize. People get really excited, "Oh, wow, this is what my teeth would look like straightened and with restorative," and so on. They'll finance it, and there'll be payments over a period of time, and you get more of it happening there. they'll finance it and there'll be payments over a period of time and you get more of it happening there Whereas on the ortho side, many times it's pay as you go. whereas on the ortho side many times it's pay as you go They kind of have their own internal financing where you come back, and then you get a certain payment that you make each time. they kind of have their own internal financing where you come back and then you get a certain payment that you make each time It's maybe more prevalent on the GP side versus the ortho side. it's maybe more prevalent on the gp side versus the ortho side If they're looking for the same type of opportunities. if they're looking for the same type of opportunities If we can help them drive conversion in their practice, if they get people there. if we can help them drive conversion in their practice if they get people there Because really when they see the benefit of they scan every patient Invisalign, to talk maybe more general dentists. because really when they see the benefit of they scan every patient invisalign to talk maybe more general dentists If they scan every patient, we do a lot of things to help them visualize. if they scan every patient we do a lot of things to help them visualize People get really excited, "Oh, wow, this is what my teeth would look like straightened and with restorative," and so on. people get really excited "oh wow this is what my teeth would look like straightened and with restorative," and so on They're very excited in the moment. If you can then close that with, "Here's the pricing and here's the monthly payment. They're very excited in the moment. they're very excited in the moment If you can then close that with, "Here's the pricing and here's the monthly payment. if you can then close that with "here's the pricing and here's the monthly payment it brings it all together, and that's a way that you can drive. When we talk about being active around conversion, this is a way to do it. it brings it all together, and that's a way that you can drive. it brings it all together and that's a way that you can drive When we talk about being active around conversion, this is a way to do it. when we talk about being active around conversion this is a way to do it

Speaker 2: Got it. Then you also touched on ways to drive practice and workflow efficiencies for these dentists. One of the things you talked about at the Tech Talk was integrating with practice management platforms. You provided that example with Greyfinch, and you saw some pretty good results. Got it. got it Then you also touched on ways to drive practice and workflow efficiencies for these dentists. then you also touched on ways to drive practice and workflow efficiencies for these dentists One of the things you talked about at the Tech Talk was integrating with practice management platforms. one of the things you talked about at the tech talk was integrating with practice management platforms You provided that example with Greyfinch, and you saw some pretty good results. you provided that example with greyfinch and you saw some pretty good results

Speaker 1: Right. Right. right

Speaker 2: Can you talk about the key learnings from that first implementation? I think you have a pipeline of other practice management softwares. Can you talk about the key learnings from that first implementation? can you talk about the key learnings from that first implementation I think you have a pipeline of other practice management softwares. i think you have a pipeline of other practice management softwares

Speaker 1: Well, we want to integrate as much as possible because as you have that patient journey where somebody is interested in getting treatment, and they start with coming to our website, or they have interests that they have. It's being able to nurture that interest into actually driving. If you're integrating with some of the practice management systems that they have, where you can then get appointments scheduled, you could get follow-ups scheduled. You can, again, be a part of this and be integrated in. Somebody goes from being interested in this. They look for a doctor in their area that provides Invisalign. Well, if we can help them connect them to getting an appointment, and then they show up to it, you can take them through this journey that I was saying. Well, we want to integrate as much as possible because as you have that patient journey where somebody is interested in getting treatment, and they start with coming to our website, or they have interests that they have. well we want to integrate as much as possible because as you have that patient journey where somebody is interested in getting treatment and they start with coming to our website or they have interests that they have It's being able to nurture that interest into actually driving. it's being able to nurture that interest into actually driving If you're integrating with some of the practice management systems that they have, where you can then get appointments scheduled, you could get follow-ups scheduled. if you're integrating with some of the practice management systems that they have where you can then get appointments scheduled you could get follow-ups scheduled You can, again, be a part of this and be integrated in. you can again be a part of this and be integrated in Somebody goes from being interested in this. somebody goes from being interested in this They look for a doctor in their area that provides Invisalign. they look for a doctor in their area that provides invisalign Well, if we can help them connect them to getting an appointment, and then they show up to it, you can take them through this journey that I was saying. well if we can help them connect them to getting an appointment and then they show up to it you can take them through this journey that i was saying They get scanned, they get a visualization, ultimately maybe go into financing and get pre-approved, and so on. There's a lot of things that we're trying to do, and it makes it very sticky within our doctor network, so that they know that we are bringing them potential patients, and it's more of an integrated approach. When we can work with other DPMSs and different doctors because they all use different types. They get scanned, they get a visualization, ultimately maybe go into financing and get pre-approved, and so on. they get scanned they get a visualization ultimately maybe go into financing and get pre-approved and so on There's a lot of things that we're trying to do, and it makes it very sticky within our doctor network, so that they know that we are bringing them potential patients, and it's more of an integrated approach. there's a lot of things that we're trying to do and it makes it very sticky within our doctor network so that they know that we are bringing them potential patients and it's more of an integrated approach When we can work with other DPMSs and different doctors because they all use different types. when we can work with other dpmss and different doctors because they all use different types

Speaker 2: Right. Right. right

Speaker 1: Some, like a DSO might use across their DSO, but most of these doctors are kind of that retail side that it's kind of a one-off. We want to be able to integrate as much as possible. Again, to nurture that potential patient so that even in tougher economies, we can still execute and deliver and be able to help drive that conversion. Some, like a DSO might use across their DSO, but most of these doctors are kind of that retail side that it's kind of a one-off. some like a dso might use across their dso but most of these doctors are kind of that retail side that it's kind of a one-off We want to be able to integrate as much as possible. we want to be able to integrate as much as possible Again, to nurture that potential patient so that even in tougher economies, we can still execute and deliver and be able to help drive that conversion. again to nurture that potential patient so that even in tougher economies we can still execute and deliver and be able to help drive that conversion

Speaker 2: When you complete that integration like you did with Greyfinch, do you see kind of an immediate benefit, or is there kind of like a learning curve? When you complete that integration like you did with Greyfinch, do you see kind of an immediate benefit, or is there kind of like a learning curve? when you complete that integration like you did with greyfinch do you see kind of an immediate benefit or is there kind of like a learning curve

Speaker 1: There's immediate benefit. There's immediate benefit. there's immediate benefit

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: Now you're integrated in, and that patient flow and the traffic that you see, you just have less handoffs. It's more integrated in, and I think that's key in this environment because sometimes you have a reluctant potential patient, and if you can take them through this journey, through the apps that we have and some of the online characteristics, you can up drive that conversion. Now you're integrated in, and that patient flow and the traffic that you see, you just have less handoffs. now you're integrated in and that patient flow and the traffic that you see you just have less handoffs It's more integrated in, and I think that's key in this environment because sometimes you have a reluctant potential patient, and if you can take them through this journey, through the apps that we have and some of the online characteristics, you can up drive that conversion. it's more integrated in and i think that's key in this environment because sometimes you have a reluctant potential patient and if you can take them through this journey through the apps that we have and some of the online characteristics you can up drive that conversion

Speaker 2: I think you had a slide up for the Tech Talk where you had maybe seven or eight other practice management softwares on the list or in the pipeline. Do you expect those to be largely integrated? I think it's Align Link is what you're talking about now. I think you had a slide up for the Tech Talk where you had maybe seven or eight other practice management softwares on the list or in the pipeline. i think you had a slide up for the tech talk where you had maybe seven or eight other practice management softwares on the list or in the pipeline Do you expect those to be largely integrated? do you expect those to be largely integrated I think it's Align Link is what you're talking about now. i think it's align link is what you're talking about now

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: By the end of this year? By the end of this year? by the end of this year

Speaker 1: Yeah. It's on our roadmap to be able to integrate in, and we're going to keep going system by system to be able to help that integration. Again, if we can do anything that we can do to help nurture that potential patient to be able to go into treatment, big benefit for that conversion. It's also a benefit for our doctors. They know that we're a partner that's going to give them. With our brand and what people know about Invisalign, we want to be able to leverage that name, leverage that brand. If we can integrate into that practice with those doctors, that's a good thing. We see that impact almost immediately because they start to get more and more patients flowing through. They have a chance to be able to get them into treatment through some of the active conversion methods that we talked about. Yeah. yeah It's on our roadmap to be able to integrate in, and we're going to keep going system by system to be able to help that integration. it's on our roadmap to be able to integrate in and we're going to keep going system by system to be able to help that integration Again, if we can do anything that we can do to help nurture that potential patient to be able to go into treatment, big benefit for that conversion. again if we can do anything that we can do to help nurture that potential patient to be able to go into treatment big benefit for that conversion It's also a benefit for our doctors. it's also a benefit for our doctors They know that we're a partner that's going to give them. they know that we're a partner that's going to give them With our brand and what people know about Invisalign, we want to be able to leverage that name, leverage that brand. with our brand and what people know about invisalign we want to be able to leverage that name leverage that brand If we can integrate into that practice with those doctors, that's a good thing. if we can integrate into that practice with those doctors that's a good thing We see that impact almost immediately because they start to get more and more patients flowing through. we see that impact almost immediately because they start to get more and more patients flowing through They have a chance to be able to get them into treatment through some of the active conversion methods that we talked about. they have a chance to be able to get them into treatment through some of the active conversion methods that we talked about

Speaker 2: Given that kind of immediate benefit, you see, assuming you continue to roll through these integrations successfully, is that a case for maybe some growth acceleration, or how do you think about contribution in 2027? Given that kind of immediate benefit, you see, assuming you continue to roll through these integrations successfully, is that a case for maybe some growth acceleration, or how do you think about contribution in 2027? given that kind of immediate benefit you see assuming you continue to roll through these integrations successfully is that a case for maybe some growth acceleration or how do you think about contribution in 2027

Speaker 1: All the things that we're doing to be more active about driving, whether it's product related. We want to give choices to our doctors integrated in some of these systems here. We know that the more seamless that it becomes, the higher growth that we can see. We are doing all these aspects to be able to help drive the improvement in our conversion and because those potential patients are there. All the things that we're doing to be more active about driving, whether it's product related. all the things that we're doing to be more active about driving whether it's product related We want to give choices to our doctors integrated in some of these systems here. we want to give choices to our doctors integrated in some of these systems here We know that the more seamless that it becomes, the higher growth that we can see. we know that the more seamless that it becomes the higher growth that we can see We are doing all these aspects to be able to help drive the improvement in our conversion and because those potential patients are there. we are doing all these aspects to be able to help drive the improvement in our conversion and because those potential patients are there Some of them are there because they're on the ortho side, and they're going to go into treatment, and they're going to go in treatment either way. If we can get them to use Invisalign, that's a win for us. The other side is on the general dentist side. This is part of the $600 million+ potential patients that are out there who have a malocclusion, and they want to get maybe some treatment. If you can get them to kind of hit them in the moment where they're getting something done already in that dental office, and you can show them what your teeth are looking like now and what they could look like. Some of them are there because they're on the ortho side, and they're going to go into treatment, and they're going to go in treatment either way. some of them are there because they're on the ortho side and they're going to go into treatment and they're going to go in treatment either way If we can get them to use Invisalign, that's a win for us. if we can get them to use invisalign that's a win for us The other side is on the general dentist side. the other side is on the general dentist side This is part of the $600 million+ potential patients that are out there who have a malocclusion, and they want to get maybe some treatment. this is part of the $600 million+ potential patients that are out there who have a malocclusion and they want to get maybe some treatment If you can get them to kind of hit them in the moment where they're getting something done already in that dental office, and you can show them what your teeth are looking like now and what they could look like. if you can get them to kind of hit them in the moment where they're getting something done already in that dental office and you can show them what your teeth are looking like now and what they could look like The other part of it, and we talked about it at the Tech Talk last week, was how do you integrate into the labs and some of the other restorative work that's being done and leverage the labs that are already working with these general dentists to provide restorative outcomes. How can we work with the labs to help with the alignment first? We've talked a lot about this, but when you think about the restorative and the ortho restorative work that you have. If you can align the teeth first and get them in the proper position before you do restorative, you're going to save much more of the tooth mass- The other part of it, and we talked about it at the Tech Talk last week, was how do you integrate into the labs and some of the other restorative work that's being done and leverage the labs that are already working with these general dentists to provide restorative outcomes. the other part of it and we talked about it at the tech talk last week was how do you integrate into the labs and some of the other restorative work that's being done and leverage the labs that are already working with these general dentists to provide restorative outcomes How can we work with the labs to help with the alignment first? how can we work with the labs to help with the alignment first We've talked a lot about this, but when you think about the restorative and the ortho restorative work that you have. we've talked a lot about this but when you think about the restorative and the ortho restorative work that you have If you can align the teeth first and get them in the proper position before you do restorative, you're going to save much more of the tooth mass- if you can align the teeth first and get them in the proper position before you do restorative you're going to save much more of the tooth mass-

Speaker 2: Right Right right

Speaker 1: that is healthy. Align them first. Don't have to remove as much. Some of the traditional ways that are done on the restorative side is they'll grind the teeth and you see some of these pictures where so much of the tooth is ground down. that is healthy. that is healthy Align them first. align them first Don't have to remove as much. don't have to remove as much Some of the traditional ways that are done on the restorative side is they'll grind the teeth and you see some of these pictures where so much of the tooth is ground down. some of the traditional ways that are done on the restorative side is they'll grind the teeth and you see some of these pictures where so much of the tooth is ground down

Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. yes

Speaker 1: They'll put a veneer or something over it. It might look good on the surface, underneath you have a tooth that's been shaved down. Our view is move them first and then do the restorative. That's pilots that we have with some of our labs, and that's something that we're rolling out to every region because there's so many And when you think about the general dentists in the world, there's a 2 million general dentists, and we might sell to 5% of them. This helps us access many more doctors that otherwise we wouldn't have seen. They'll put a veneer or something over it. they'll put a veneer or something over it It might look good on the surface, underneath you have a tooth that's been shaved down. it might look good on the surface underneath you have a tooth that's been shaved down Our view is move them first and then do the restorative. our view is move them first and then do the restorative That's pilots that we have with some of our labs, and that's something that we're rolling out to every region because there's so many And when you think about the general dentists in the world, there's a 2 million general dentists, and we might sell to 5% of them. that's pilots that we have with some of our labs and that's something that we're rolling out to every region because there's so many and when you think about the general dentists in the world there's a 2 million general dentists and we might sell to 5% of them This helps us access many more doctors that otherwise we wouldn't have seen. this helps us access many more doctors that otherwise we wouldn't have seen

Speaker 2: I do want to dig into that lab pilot, but we have about five minutes left. I did want to see if there's any questions from the audience. Okay. Yeah, on the lab side, you've rolled out this pilot and you're actually getting labs to help sell into those GPs that wouldn't be doing the aligner cases. Can you talk about kind of the underlying economics to the extent you can, and like what the incentive is? I do want to dig into that lab pilot, but we have about five minutes left. i do want to dig into that lab pilot but we have about five minutes left I did want to see if there's any questions from the audience. i did want to see if there's any questions from the audience Okay. okay Yeah, on the lab side, you've rolled out this pilot and you're actually getting labs to help sell into those GPs that wouldn't be doing the aligner cases. yeah on the lab side you've rolled out this pilot and you're actually getting labs to help sell into those gps that wouldn't be doing the aligner cases Can you talk about kind of the underlying economics to the extent you can, and like what the incentive is? can you talk about kind of the underlying economics to the extent you can and like what the incentive is

Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah yeah

Speaker 2: For both parties on the lab side to participate in this and then to get the- For both parties on the lab side to participate in this and then to get the- for both parties on the lab side to participate in this and then to get the-

Speaker 1: Yep Yep yep

Speaker 2: the GP side. the GP side. the gp side

Speaker 1: The lab, look, they're always looking for revenue opportunities, just like any practice has. They essentially become a distributor for us, think of it that way, where there's a charge for the actual case that we have, but then on top of that, they have a markup that they'll provide for the services that they're providing, because they're doing a lot of the treatment planning and education and so on with their doctor network that they had. Distributors are excited about this because there's a revenue and margin opportunity for them. The doctors are excited about it as well because many of these doctors now working with these labs, they weren't selling Invisalign at all. The lab, look, they're always looking for revenue opportunities, just like any practice has. the lab look they're always looking for revenue opportunities just like any practice has They essentially become a distributor for us, think of it that way, where there's a charge for the actual case that we have, but then on top of that, they have a markup that they'll provide for the services that they're providing, because they're doing a lot of the treatment planning and education and so on with their doctor network that they had. they essentially become a distributor for us think of it that way where there's a charge for the actual case that we have but then on top of that they have a markup that they'll provide for the services that they're providing because they're doing a lot of the treatment planning and education and so on with their doctor network that they had Distributors are excited about this because there's a revenue and margin opportunity for them. distributors are excited about this because there's a revenue and margin opportunity for them The doctors are excited about it as well because many of these doctors now working with these labs, they weren't selling Invisalign at all. the doctors are excited about it as well because many of these doctors now working with these labs they weren't selling invisalign at all It's a revenue opportunity that they can have because, again, when you're chair side and you think about how you're nurturing patients, just like all of us, we want to be able to have an active role as to our healthcare. What's happening? How do we visualize it? So on. Right there, chair side, those doctors could show that patient and say, "Look, it's going to take maybe four months longer. I'm going to move your teeth first, but this is what it's going to save. It's a revenue opportunity that they can have because, again, when you're chair side and you think about how you're nurturing patients, just like all of us, we want to be able to have an active role as to our healthcare. it's a revenue opportunity that they can have because again when you're chair side and you think about how you're nurturing patients just like all of us we want to be able to have an active role as to our healthcare What's happening? what's happening How do we visualize it? how do we visualize it So on. so on Right there, chair side, those doctors could show that patient and say, "Look, it's going to take maybe four months longer. right there chair side those doctors could show that patient and say "look it's going to take maybe four months longer I'm going to move your teeth first, but this is what it's going to save. i'm going to move your teeth first but this is what it's going to save from a healthy tooth standpoint." The time and money that that patient would spend, it's well worth it. They'll see it, and they see the benefit. That doctor gets a little bit more of revenue because they're moving the teeth first and then doing the restorative. Then obviously from a patient standpoint, they're getting better healthcare. It's a win all across. It's good volume for us. Again, this helps leverage what we're already doing. from a healthy tooth standpoint." The time and money that that patient would spend, it's well worth it. from a healthy tooth standpoint." the time and money that that patient would spend it's well worth it They'll see it, and they see the benefit. they'll see it and they see the benefit That doctor gets a little bit more of revenue because they're moving the teeth first and then doing the restorative. that doctor gets a little bit more of revenue because they're moving the teeth first and then doing the restorative Then obviously from a patient standpoint, they're getting better healthcare. then obviously from a patient standpoint they're getting better healthcare It's a win all across. it's a win all across It's good volume for us. it's good volume for us Again, this helps leverage what we're already doing. again this helps leverage what we're already doing

Speaker 2: That's great. That's great. that's great

Speaker 1: We're already doing this on a smaller scale with many of these general dentists. If we can use the labs to be able to. Because the commonality across this is every general dentist uses a lab. It's just everywhere in the world. That's how they get their restorative products. If we can leverage those labs who already have those relationships, and why we can get in and get the benefit. Six years ago, we bought exocad, that is really good CAD/CAM type of view that they can provide in the tooth and proper positioning and so on. We leverage those relationships, be able to get to the lab, find the right ones, and be able to see good volume growth. Some of those labs that we've worked with, it's really high conversion. Again, it's volume that we never had before. We're already doing this on a smaller scale with many of these general dentists. we're already doing this on a smaller scale with many of these general dentists If we can use the labs to be able to. if we can use the labs to be able to Because the commonality across this is every general dentist uses a lab. because the commonality across this is every general dentist uses a lab It's just everywhere in the world. it's just everywhere in the world That's how they get their restorative products. that's how they get their restorative products If we can leverage those labs who already have those relationships, and why we can get in and get the benefit. if we can leverage those labs who already have those relationships and why we can get in and get the benefit Six years ago, we bought exocad, that is really good CAD/CAM type of view that they can provide in the tooth and proper positioning and so on. six years ago we bought exocad that is really good cad/cam type of view that they can provide in the tooth and proper positioning and so on We leverage those relationships, be able to get to the lab, find the right ones, and be able to see good volume growth. we leverage those relationships be able to get to the lab find the right ones and be able to see good volume growth Some of those labs that we've worked with, it's really high conversion. some of those labs that we've worked with it's really high conversion Again, it's volume that we never had before. again it's volume that we never had before

Speaker 2: Right. These are GPs that are. Right. right These are GPs that are. these are gps that are

Speaker 1: These are GPs. These are GPs . these are gps

Speaker 2: have not done aligners at all. have not done aligners at all. have not done aligners at all

Speaker 1: They have not done, or maybe they did one or two. They have not done, or maybe they did one or two. they have not done or maybe they did one or two

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: There's over 30,000 labs across the globe. They all have these relationships, and they trust their labs. If we can work with those labs, it's not every lab that's going to want to do this, but every lab might service dozens of different general dentists. There's over 30,000 labs across the globe. there's over 30,000 labs across the globe They all have these relationships, and they trust their labs. they all have these relationships and they trust their labs If we can work with those labs, it's not every lab that's going to want to do this, but every lab might service dozens of different general dentists. if we can work with those labs it's not every lab that's going to want to do this but every lab might service dozens of different general dentists In many cases, like I said, 95% of those general dentists we don't really sell to. If we can expand that out and make this more the standard of care, that you move teeth before you remove, we think that we have a great benefit here, and we feel like we're the only company who can really provide this integrated solution to the dentists and then ultimately their patients. In many cases, like I said, 95% of those general dentists we don't really sell to. in many cases like i said 95% of those general dentists we don't really sell to If we can expand that out and make this more the standard of care, that you move teeth before you remove, we think that we have a great benefit here, and we feel like we're the only company who can really provide this integrated solution to the dentists and then ultimately their patients. if we can expand that out and make this more the standard of care that you move teeth before you remove we think that we have a great benefit here and we feel like we're the only company who can really provide this integrated solution to the dentists and then ultimately their patients

Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like a great opportunity to pick up incremental revenues. Given that you are kind of using the labs like a distributor, can you talk about what the margin impact is to Align or how it stacks up? Yeah, it sounds like a great opportunity to pick up incremental revenues. yeah it sounds like a great opportunity to pick up incremental revenues Given that you are kind of using the labs like a distributor, can you talk about what the margin impact is to Align or how it stacks up? given that you are kind of using the labs like a distributor can you talk about what the margin impact is to align or how it stacks up

Speaker 1: To us, it's a moderate case. Really it's when we look at the because it's usually 26 stages or less, so it's kind of just a more moderate movement, sometimes a minimal movement. Margin for us is And it's no refinements, so that's a nice part of it too. To us, it's a moderate case. to us it's a moderate case Really it's when we look at the because it's usually 26 stages or less, so it's kind of just a more moderate movement, sometimes a minimal movement. really it's when we look at the because it's usually 26 stages or less so it's kind of just a more moderate movement sometimes a minimal movement Margin for us is And it's no refinements, so that's a nice part of it too. margin for us is and it's no refinements so that's a nice part of it too Again, going back to our earlier discussion, when you don't have a refinement, of course margin's great for us, so we're happy to do this. We're happy to be able to help educate those labs because there is some work to integrate those labs in and then have them expand out. From a margin standpoint, this is incremental for us, so we're very happy with that. I think the labs that we've worked with are looking at it that way too. It's kind of a found revenue source that they just didn't have before. Again, going back to our earlier discussion, when you don't have a refinement, of course margin's great for us, so we're happy to do this. again going back to our earlier discussion when you don't have a refinement of course margin's great for us so we're happy to do this We're happy to be able to help educate those labs because there is some work to integrate those labs in and then have them expand out. we're happy to be able to help educate those labs because there is some work to integrate those labs in and then have them expand out From a margin standpoint, this is incremental for us, so we're very happy with that. from a margin standpoint this is incremental for us so we're very happy with that I think the labs that we've worked with are looking at it that way too. i think the labs that we've worked with are looking at it that way too It's kind of a found revenue source that they just didn't have before. it's kind of a found revenue source that they just didn't have before

Speaker 2: Even with the fee that the lab's getting from that case, there's no impact? Even with the fee that the lab's getting from that case, there's no impact? even with the fee that the lab's getting from that case there's no impact

Speaker 1: No. No. no

Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 1: Because we'll charge. We'll have a moderate case that this falls into. The markup really comes from the lab providing the service to those doctors. Because we'll charge. because we'll charge We'll have a moderate case that this falls into. we'll have a moderate case that this falls into The markup really comes from the lab providing the service to those doctors. the markup really comes from the lab providing the service to those doctors

Speaker 2: Got it. Got it. got it

Speaker 1: They mark that up. They mark that up. they mark that up

Speaker 2: Right. Right. right

Speaker 1: I don't have to discount that down to From a starting point, they're marking up for their service. I don't have to discount that down to From a starting point, they're marking up for their service. i don't have to discount that down to from a starting point they're marking up for their service

Speaker 2: Right. Right. right

Speaker 1: Again, that doctor looks at it as this is a really positive benefit for their patients. Again, that doctor looks at it as this is a really positive benefit for their patients. again that doctor looks at it as this is a really positive benefit for their patients

Speaker 2: Great. Well, I think that's all the time we have. John, thank you so much for joining us today. Great. great Well, I think that's all the time we have. well i think that's all the time we have John, thank you so much for joining us today. john thank you so much for joining us today

Speaker 1: Of course. Thank you. Of course. of course Thank you. thank you