BRIGHT SMILES RETURN

Dental Industry Adapts, Embraces Electronic Records, 3D Printing, Teledentistry and More

Orange County’s dental industry has its bite back.

Leaders in the area’s varied and sizeable dental community are bullish on a recovery now underway that they believe will push the industry—hammered in the early stages of the pandemic—to even greater heights.

OC’s cluster of dental businesses—ranging from established dental support organizations, device makers, and software firms to upstart 3D printing companies and publicly traded conglomerates—are seeing new revenue-generating potential as dentists embrace emerging technologies and consumers place more attention on health and well-being.

“The industry is stronger than it was preCOVID,” according to Stephen Thorne, chief executive of the country’s thirdlargest dental support organization, Pacific Dental Services. The Irvine-based firm has over 800 affiliated offices across 24 states. It builds and manages office practices for dentists, taking care of just about everything except the actual dentistry.

“The dental industry has proven to be impressively resilient,” added Amir Aghdaei, president and chief executive of Brea’s Envista Holdings Corp. (NYSE: NVST), a maker of dental consumables, equipment and services provider, with a nearly $7 billion valuation, in a recent call with analysts.

“Having adjusted to the new operating model, including a stronger focus and infection prevention protocols, dentists are now more confident in the long-term prospects of their business,” said Aghdaei, whose company was profiled in the June 14 print edition of the Business Journal.

It’s been a wild ride for the industry over the past year and a half.

The American dental industry was valued around $150 billion and projected to have a 3% compound annual growth rate over the next five years as of 2019, Thorne said.

Then, the industry was expected to fall to as much as $52 billion in 2020 as dental offices experienced mandated closures across the country.

Now, new research shows a return to more growth than ever before, with the industry projected to have a 4.4% compound annual growth rate over the next five years.

Here and on page 47 are snapshots at how a handful of OC’s more notable dental companies are plotting for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.