DENTSPLY International Acquires Minority Interest in Materialise Dental N.V.

YORK, Pa. -- DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) today announced that it has acquired a forty percent interest in Materialise Dental N.V., in a cash transaction of 20 million euros. Materialise Dental is a market leader in dental implantology simulation software, and a leading manufacturer of a variety of surgical guides to assist in the placement of dental implants. Materialise Dental is a spin-off of the dental business of Materialise N.V., a leader in rapid prototyping technology serving a wide variety of industries. With this purchase, DENTSPLY will assume two Director seats of Materialise Dental, which will be filled by Henrik Roos, Senior Vice President and Bert Sterkenburg, Vice President Global Prosthetics. The transaction also provides the opportunity for DENTSPLY to acquire, and the other shareholders to sell the remaining interest in Materialise Dental to DENTSPLY over time.

Materialise Dental offers planning and simulation software tools under the SimPlant brand. These tools enable implantologists and oral surgeons to scientifically plan dental implant surgery on an interactive basis. SimPlant enjoys wide acceptance throughout the world dental market and is the global market share leader. Materialise Dental also offers a customized drill guide product under the brand name SurgiGuide which can be used by implantologists or oral surgeons during the implant procedure to ensure accurate implant placement.

Materialise Dental holds numerous patents related to preparation of medical models, including dental implant drilling guides, using CT scans and rapid prototyping.

Mr. Gary Kunkle, DENTSPLY's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are excited about our investment in Materialise Dental which has a strong background of innovation in the dental, automation software and rapid prototyping industries. We see significant synergies between their capabilities and DENTSPLY's. Materialise Dental will allow DENTSPLY to continue developing state-of-the-art products to support dental professionals in many categories of care."

"Materialise Dental inherits the technology and experience of Materialise, and joining forces with DENTSPLY will allow the company to expand further in the field of 3D Digital Dentistry and Dental CAD/CAM that can be broadly applied in many dental procedures," says Bart Swaelens, Chief Executive Officer of Materialise Dental.

Mr. Wilfried Vancraen, Materialise's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "DENTSPLY brings a solid base of technologies combined with a broad market reach, which will accelerate the development and access of Materialise Dental products and services to the global market. We believe DENTSPLY is the best partner to help drive the penetration of SimPlant in the dental market as the standard implant planning software."

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, and crown and bridge materials; the leading United States manufacturer and distributor of dental handpieces, dental x-ray film holders, film mounts and bone substitute/grafting materials; and a leading worldwide manufacturer or distributor of dental injectable anesthetics, 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.

This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Company. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking information set forth herein as a result of certain risk factors. These risk factors include without limitation; the continued strength of dental markets, the timing, success and market reception for our new and existing products, outcome of litigation, and changes in the general economic environment that could affect our business. Changes in such assumptions or factors could produce significantly different results.

For an additional description of risk factors, please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.