Ultradent Products celebrates 40 years

This year, Ultradent Products, Inc., a family-owned, international dental supply and manufacturing company, based in South Jordan, Utah, celebrates 40 years in the dental industry. Ultradent began as a family-run, grassroots small business that, throughout four decades, has become a worldwide leader in its field - known for its innovative dental products, rock-solid core values and family-friendly, people-centered business culture.

"Looking back on the last 40 years, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the sacrifice and hard work put in by so many people—whether it be my own family, our fabulous Ultradent employees, or the leaders in dentistry who championed us from the beginning and along the way in this wonderful endeavour," said, Dr Dan Fischer, founder and CEO of Ultradent Products. "The time has truly flown by and it's amazing to look back on the progress we've made since our humble beginnings at the kitchen table of my home.

"I often say that companies are not made of concrete, glass, and steel. They're made of people and people serving people is what business is all about. I believe that is one of the key ingredients to Ultradent's success over the last 40 years."

A humble beginning

Ultradent began 40 years ago with a simple idea by Dr Fischer, then a young dentist who had recently graduated from Loma Linda University. He wanted to create a product that would act as a solution to a common problem dentists everywhere face - achieving predictable, rapid and profound haemostasis in the mouth. He knew that if he could come up with a product that met that criteria, he would not only save dentists time and money by allowing them to work more efficiently, but that it would also allow dentists to produce higher quality, more accurate impressions.

Dr Fischer began experimenting with different chemistries after-hours at his small dental practice in Salt Lake City and by 1978, he had invented and patented Ultradent's first product, Astringedent® hemostatic, a groundbreaking feat in tissue management. That same year, he founded Ultradent Products, Inc., as a vehicle to market and sell his invention.

From a single product

Astringedent hemostatic's wild success set the pace for a succession of products that today includes a wide range of innovative dental materials and equipment. In fact, since 1978, Ultradent Products has gone from one offering, Astringedent hemostatic, to offering over 1,600 dental products worldwide.

As business grew rapidly, Ultradent also expanded from its first headquarters, a 40-foot x 60-foot metal hay barn on Dr Fischer's property, to its South Jordan headquarters, which encompasses over 460,000 square feet. This doesn't include its numerous offices and subsidiaries throughout the world in Asia, Australia, Europe and South America.

Made in the USA

Ultradent is also a proud USA-manufacturer. The company researches, designs, manufactures, packages and ships 95% of what it sells in its South Jordan facility. It also exports 70% of its products beyond U.S. borders to over 100 countries throughout the world.

"We believe in staying in touch with our products," Of this practice, Dr Fischer said. "The more one outsources, the more one delegates shipping, or production, or R&D to other parts of the world, the more one loses touch with what has made them who they are."

A comprehensive product range

Ultradent's hallmark products include its expanded line of tissue management products, which still includes Astringedent hemostatic, and its world renowned, industry-leading line of tooth whitening products, Opalescence®. Ultradent's product family also includes the multiple-award winning VALO® and VALO Grand curing lights, Ultra-Etch® etchant and its recently introduced dual-wave soft tissue diode Gemini® laser.

Community

Beyond the dental community, Ultradent supports and donates products to humanitarian efforts both locally, nationally and internationally, including the Crown Council and Sealants for Smiles. Ultradent also founded and sponsors its own Diversity Foundation, a progressive outreach program committed to preventing hate crimes and intolerance. The foundation is currently helping support over 50 students in their efforts to pursue higher education.