1899–2000
Dentsply Incorporated was founded as Dentist's Supply Company in New York City in 1889 when a proposed business charter filed by three men - Dr. Jacob Frick Franz, John Sheppard, and Dean Osborne - was approved by the acting Commissioner of Deeds of New York City, Lewis Fawcett. Starting with an investment of $10,000 (roughly ), the charter stipulated that the corporation would last fifty years pending renewal.[13] Shortly after its founding, the company 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 1960s, the company developed many of the ideas used by its equipment today like tooth cleaning machine Dentsply Cavitron and Neolux which improved the finish of plastic teeth. The company renamed itself Dentsply International in 1969 due to its products' brand name being more widely recognized.[6]
Key acquisitions by Dentists' Supply Company: LD Caulk Company in 1963, Ransom and Randolph Company in 1964, F&F Koenigkramer Company (chairs and stools). Largest was Amalgamated Dental Industrial (former distributor that played a major role in helping the company grow early on that also controlled Australia's largest dental supply chain) in 1976.
In 1993, after it acquired Gendex Corporation in a reverse takeover, the company went public on the NASDAQ. The new company then purchased medical X-ray tubes supplier Eureka X-Ray Inc., which was key since Gendex was a major manufacturer of X-ray systems (Eureka X-Ray was later sold in 1994).[14] Healthco, its main distributor in the US, went bankrupt in 1993.[15]
