DENTSPLY Appoints Bret W. Wise as Senior Vice President and CFO.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

YORK, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2002

DENTSPLY International Inc. (Nasdaq:XRAY) today announced the appointment of Mr. Bret W. Wise as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective December 1, 2002.

The announcement was made by Mr. Gary K. Kunkle, Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer, who also announced that Mr. William R. Jellison, current Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will assume new responsibilities as Senior Vice President on that date responsible for the DENTSPLY Professional Division, the Company's Asian operations, and worldwide endodontic franchise comprising the Tulsa Dental, Maillefer and VDW Divisions.

Mr. Wise joins DENTSPLY following a very successful career with Ferro Corporation of Cleveland, OH, where he served as their Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Ferro Corporation is a $2 billion diversified specialty chemical producer with manufacturing operations in 20 nations and sales in over 100 countries around the globe.

In addition to his responsibilities as Senior Vice President and CFO, Mr. Wise played a key role in Ferro Corporation's acquisition and divestiture activity, geographic expansion, and the rebalancing of Ferro's businesses toward core capabilities with greatest growth potential.

Prior to joining Ferro Corporation in 1999, Mr. Wise held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at WCI Steel, Inc., of Warren, OH, from 1994 to 1999. At WCI Steel, he was a member of a four-person executive team leading the company.

He was formerly with KPMG from 1982 to 1994, where he was a Partner in both their information and technology practice and their manufacturing practice with emphasis on serving public companies.

A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Wise earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the Indiana University Business School in Bloomington, IN.

He and his wife June and their three children will be relocating to the York, PA area in the near future.

DENTSPLY designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products for the dental market. The Company believes that it is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of dental prosthetics, precious metal dental alloys, dental ceramics, endodontic instruments and materials, prophylaxis paste, dental sealants, ultrasonic scalers, dental injectible anesthetics and crown and bridge materials; the leading United States manufacturer and distributor of dental x-ray equipment, dental handpieces, intraoral cameras, dental x-ray film holders, film mounts and bone substitute/grafting materials; and a leading worldwide manufacturer or distributor of impression materials, orthodontic appliances, dental cutting instruments and dental implants.

The Company distributes its dental products in over 120 countries under some of the most well established brand names in the industry.

DENTSPLY is committed to the development of innovative, high quality, cost-effective new products for the dental market.