Dentsply Sirona
Dentsply Sirona is an American dental equipment manufacturer and dental consumables producer that markets its products in over 120 countries. It has factories in 21 countries. The present company is largely the result of a merger in 1993 in which Gendex Corporation acquired Dentsply International Inc. for $590 million. As an equipment maker, it designs and manufactures laboratory and specialty products relating to dental supplies. With regards to consumable products, it specializes in anesthetics, plaque and gum disease prevention (prophylaxis) and tooth polishers. It also designs and constructs artificial teeth. It has also been cited as a key player in the future-intra oral flat panel sensor market. Because of the income disparity between wealthy and developing nations, the variety of products in demand differs from region to region (and thus subsidiary to subsidiary since many of them are regional). On August 28, 2022, Dentsply Sirona announced the appointment of Simon D. Campion, formerly Executive Vice President and President of the Interventional segment for BD, as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board. In 2018 a Netherlands-based certification company awarded Dentsply the “Top Employer” certification. In 2019 the company joined forces with the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) to co-sponsor the Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application (SCADA). The SCADA aims to bolster students research. The company was ranked #56 by Forbes as America's Best Midsize Employers 2019. History 1899–2000 Dentsply was founded by four New York businessmen in 1899 as Dentists' Supply Company, about the same time it made its first acquisition, a Pennsylvania porcelain teeth manufacturer. One of the four founders, George H. Whiteley became the main operator of the company as a result of his experience as a ceramicist. Whiteley's contributions to the company were invaluable as he was responsible for many innovations such as a patented process involving platinum rings that reduced tooth breakage. Other innovations (credited to doctors like James Williams who were hired by the company for research purposes) included better fitting dentures, tooth size for people of different face shapes and age specific colored teeth. In the early 1920s, the company selected European distributor E. de Trey & Sons as its primary marketer to Europe, however it quickly became the company's main distributor in the US also. A rivalry between De Trey and the main other denture equipment producer at the time, Ash Company, nearly eliminated cash flows due to extreme price cutting. The problem was resolved when the two decided to merge their distribution businesses into one named the Amalgamated Dental Company Limited. In 1925, 45% of Zahnfabrik (artificial teeth producer) was bought by Dentists' Supply and its distributor Amalgamated Dental bought a 30% interest in the manufacturer. High American tariffs and increased efforts to gain market share abroad, especially in Europe and Australia, led the company to set up more research and manufacturing centers abroad. Its first foreign subsidiary was established in Australia as a means to acquire Natudryl Manufacturing. In the 1950s and