Signing of the Agreement between the State Hermitage and the Nobel Biocare Company

17 December 2009, in the Hermitage Theatre Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage, and Alexander Smirnov, Director of the Nobel Biocare Company (the world leader in innovative restorative and esthetic dental solutions) signed the Agreement on cooperation in implementing a joint social and informational project Hermitage Smile.

The museum and company have been preparing this project for several months. The participants of the project are people who work in the Hermitage, people of basic museum professions - curators, restorers, guides as well as representatives of other professions. On the website pages (www.4culture.ru) they were telling of the importance of smile in their job.

What is a Hermitage Smile? It is sociability, amicability and an appropriate attribute of self-confident people. The State hermitage workers and representatives of the Nobel Biocare Ñompany unite their efforts so that this smile could be available to everyone.

At first the list of the museum workers who required dental care in particular was made up, and such dental care has already been provided to some of them. Specific goals, objectives, format and target audience of the project were determined. This project was pronounced the winner in the nomination Creative combination of social initiative and achievement of commercial goals of the Health Idea National Award. The project was accepted as a practical example for Russian medical institutions of higher education and was introduced into teaching programmes for the fifth year students and doctors receiving further education.

The parties hope that the signing of the Agreement will become the beginning of deeper friendly relations and that such partnership will assist in developing social responsibility of the Russian business and in preserving health of the citizens.

The Agreement on cooperation was signed by:

Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage

Alexander Smirnov, Director of the Nobel Biocare Russia Company

The Nobel Biocare Company has involved a famous photographer Oleg Zotov in the project.

Nobel Biocare Company

Nobel Biocare is the world leader in innovative restorative and esthetic dental solutions. It is represented with such brands as Brånemark System®, NobelReplace™, NobelSpeedy™, NobelPerfect®, NobelDirect®, Replace Select (dental implants), NobelProcera™ (individualized dental prosthetics), NobelGuide™ (a complete patient rehabilitation programme). Nobel Biocare provides a systematic approach to restorative and esthetic dental solutions and offers a wide range of products (crowns, bridges and implants) made in accordance with the innovative technologies. It also offers a wide range of training courses for professionals and programmes on educating patients and increasing their level of knowledge about clinically proven concepts of treatment. Nobel Biocare Russia, Russian subsidiary of the company, has been functioning since January, 2006. Nowadays Nobel Biocare accounts for 40-45 percent of the Russian market of implantology equipment. Since September, 2009, Nobel Biocare Russia has launched several large-scale programmes directed both at developing the market of implantology and esthetic dental solutions and at strengthening its positions in this market. Namely this is a programme of marketing assistance to dental clinics through informing the patients about modern dentistry capabilities and a programme of support for Russian education.

Alexander Smirnov, Director of the Nobel Biocare Company, and Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage

Signing of the Agreement between the State Hermitage and the Nobel Biocare Company

At the press conference