Align Technology Honors 10 Million Invisalign Smiles Milestone with US$1 Million to Operation Smile for Children Born with Cleft Lip And Cleft Palate

(image: Align Technology, Inc.)

TEMPE, Ariz., June 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Align Technology, Inc. (“Align”) (Nasdaq: ALGN) a leading global medical device company that designs, manufactures, and sells the Invisalign system of clear aligners, iTero intraoral scanners, and exocad CAD/CAM software for digital orthodontics and restorative dentistry, today announced that the Align Foundation, the Company’s donor-advised fund through Fidelity Charitable, has donated US$1 million to Operation Smile, a global surgical nonprofit, to help children around the world born with cleft conditions receive safe, effective, and timely cleft surgery and comprehensive care.

“Operation Smile’s mission strongly resonates with Align’s purpose of transforming smiles and changing lives,” said Raj Pudipeddi, chief innovation, product and marketing officer and senior vice president, Align Technology. “We are proud to support a future where more smiles can be transformed through safe surgery and medical treatment – and hope to inspire others through our donation to help Operation Smile change the lives of more children.”

The “10 Million Smiles. 10 Million Thanks” campaign is based on the transformative power of Invisalign treatment as seen through the eyes of Invisalign patients. The donation to Operation Smile builds on that goal and aims to help more children around the world to smile by raising awareness and generating support and funding for Operation Smile. Operation Smile provides surgery and ongoing care for people affected by cleft lip and cleft palate in resource-limited environments.

“We are so appreciative of the dedication and support from Align Technology over the years and are excited for what we can do to bring families renewed hope, and help children around the world smile even more as a result of this latest donation,” said Kristie Magee Porcaro, chief strategy officer, Operation Smile. “Together, we’re improving the health of many children and ensuring that they have the opportunity for a better future.”

Align Technology initiated a wave of photo sharing activity by asking its followers on social media channels around the world to share their smiles and to help change a child’s life using #10MInvisalignSmiles. The Company is working with Operation Smile and Invisalign ambassadors and regional stakeholders to encourage their communities of followers to join with them in the awareness campaign. Tag yourself using #10MInvisalignSmiles and help Align increase awareness of Operation Smile and its global mission. To learn more, please visit: www.10MInvisalignSmiles.com

For information about Operation Smile, please visit http://www.operationsmile.org

About Operation Smile
Operation Smile revolutionized cleft surgery globally in 1982. With nearly four decades of experience as one of the largest surgical volunteer-based nonprofits, Operation Smile staff, its private-public partnerships and thousands of volunteers have improved the health and dignity of patients with cleft conditions, helping them to better breathe, eat, speak and live lives of greater quality and confidence. While one cleft surgery can bring immediate transformation to a child’s life in as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile is committed to providing patients with health that lasts—being there to offer patients additional surgeries, dentistry, psychological services, speech therapy and other essential cleft treatments. Its training and education programs elevate local surgical standards and entire health systems to aid safe surgery and strengthen a global network to reach more people earlier in their lives. You can learn more about its transformative and healing work by visiting www.operationsmile.org or by following @operationsmile on social media.  

The Align Foundation
Launched in 2020, the Align Foundation provides a structured means by which significant donations are directed from a donor-advised fund overseen by Fidelity Charitable, with the flexibility to provide smaller monetary donations, processes to donate our products, as well as an organized way to involve our employees in giving activities. In March 2020, we funded $1 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts globally and donated personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks and worked with partners to source supplies for additional PPE to help hospitals and healthcare providers. To date, Align has contributed over $4.6 million to charitable causes including Operation Smile, America’s Toothfairy, and other non-profits dedicated to youth development through schools and educational programs. Over the last two years, our employees have volunteered over 10,000 hours as part of our dedicated month of giving in October called Month of Smiles.

About Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology designs, manufactures and offers the Invisalign system, the most advanced clear aligner system in the world, iTero intraoral scanners and services, and exocad CAD/CAM software. These technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies for over 200 thousand doctor customers and is key to accessing Align’s 500 million consumer market opportunity worldwide. Align has helped doctors treat over 10.2 million patients with the Invisalign system and is driving the evolution in digital dentistry through the Align Digital Platform, our integrated suite of unique, proprietary technologies and services delivered as a seamless, end-to-end solution for patients and consumers, orthodontists and GP dentists, and lab/partners. Visit www.aligntech.com for more information.

For additional information about the Invisalign system or to find an Invisalign doctor in your area, please visit www.invisalign.com. For additional information about iTero digital scanning system, please visit www.itero.com. For additional information about exocad dental CAD/CAM offerings and a list of exocad reseller partners, please visit http://www.exocad.com.