The increase in sales for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2000 over the same periods in 1999 were a direct result of the marketing by the Company coupled with the progression from the original Millennium to the introduction of the new and more technically advanced Waterlase and Twilite laser systems, both launched in quantity during the third quarter of 2000. The increase in gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2000 over that reported for the same period in 1999 was due principally to engineered cost reductions and higher volumes. The increase was due principally to market development expense including a broad expansion of the Company s domestic sales force and its marketing infrastructure. The dental laser market today is where the ophthalmic, medical and cosmetic laser markets were in the early nineties.
Lasers are commonplace for today s ophthalmologists, dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons.
It is the common belief by dentists using the Waterlase, that this technology will be routinely used in dentistry in a few short years. We have moved from being a minor player in the embryonic new dental laser market in 1998 to the respected position of the world leader in this promising and rapidly expanding market. It has taken a lot of hard work, but as the public is becoming increasingly aware of the superior clinical benefits of the Waterlase patented technology, we will see more and more dentists purchasing the system to offer their patients a higher standard of care and pain free procedures. Our clinical directors, Ioana Rizoiu, M.S. and William Vitale, DMD, have recently developed expanded applications for the product to perform root canal, periodontal, cosmetic and whitening treatments. These new expansions of our existing products into the endodontic and cosmetic markets dramatically expand the market for products.