The development of the dental implants market is still hard to judge three months into the year, Nobel Biocare AG (NOBN.VX) Chief Executive Domenico Scala said Wednesday.

The Swiss dental implant maker is unlikely to provide full-year 2009 financial targets when it presents first-quarter results April 29, Scala told Dow Jones Newswires at the International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany.

"The market environment remains hard to judge and it would be irresponsible to give a guidance right now," he said.

The Zurich-based maker of implants, crowns and bridges plans to continue cost savings 2009, especially in purchasing and production, Scala said. "We also target selling, general and administrative costs in 2009 to be below the level of 2008."

In 2008, Nobel Biocare, which also develops software for digital dentistry, spent EUR327.8 million on SG&A costs, compared to full-year sales of EUR619.2 million.

With regards to mergers and acquisitions, Scala said the company doesn't rule out buys in 2009, but has also been very active in M&A in 2008 with three acquisitions.

Potential takeover targets for the company may be companies that own technology Nobel Biocare doesn't have in its portfolio yet, for example intraoral scanners which digitally create a copy of a patient's teeth for further treatments.

"We'll present an intraoral scanner within the next 15 to 18 months," Scala said, adding it sin't clear yet whether Nobel will buy the technology, find a partner or develop it internally.

However, the technology, which means dentists don't have to take tooth impressions, isn't yet fully mature. "The technology is not precise yet to replace scanners on the market that digitalize impressions of patients' jaws," Scala said. "The technology would be a complementary one," he added.

Intraoral scanners have been on the market for about two years. While they aren't yet precise enough to produce images of bridges which cover or replace several teeth, some dentists already use them for single tooth replacement.

Company Web site: www.nobelbiocare.com

-By Julia Mengewein, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 80 45; julia.mengewein@dowjones.com