DENTSPLY International Inc. Reports Record Sales and Earnings for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006.

YORK, Pa. -- DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY) today announced record sales and earnings for the three months and year ended December 31, 2006.

FINANCIAL RESULTS

Three Months Ended December 31, 2006

Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2006 increased 5.4% to $471.3 million compared to $447.4 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2005. Net sales, excluding precious metal content, increased 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2006. Sales of specialty products, including implants and orthodontic products along with the Company's all-ceramic Cercon products all enjoyed double-digit sales growth in the quarter. Consistent with the Company's statements in September and October, sales decreased in the United States reflecting the short-term effects of the implementation of the U.S. Strategic Partnership Program.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $65.0 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $0.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2006 includes the net of tax impact of both expensing stock options of $3.6 million ($0.02 per diluted share) and of restructuring and other related items of $1.0 million ($0.01 per diluted share). The fourth quarter of 2006 also includes a net reduction to income tax expense of $8.8 million ($0.06 per diluted share) from the resolution of certain tax matters. The fourth quarter of 2005 included an after tax charge of $67.5 million ($0.42 per diluted share) for impairment of certain intangible assets and a net reduction of income tax expense of $5.7 million ($0.04 per diluted share) related to the resolution of certain tax matters.

On an adjusted basis, earnings, excluding restructuring and other related items and tax adjustments, but including the expensing of stock options in both periods, which constitutes a non-GAAP measure, were $57.1 million or $0.37 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to $55.7 million or $0.35 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2005. For a reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure to earnings per share calculated according to GAAP, see the attached table.

Year Ended December 31, 2006

Sales for all of 2006 increased 5.6% to $1.81 billion compared to $1.72 billion in 2005. Sales excluding precious metals increased 5.2% in 2006.

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For comparability analysis, net income including the expensing of stock options in both periods and excluding the other items noted above for the years ending 2006 and 2005, (a non-GAAP measure), were $224.0 million or $1.42 per diluted share for 2006 compared to $201.6 million or $1.24 per diluted share in 2005, an increase of 14.5% in diluted earnings per share. For a reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure to earnings per share calculated according to GAAP, see the attached table.

COMMENTS FROM MANAGEMENT

2006 Results & 2007 Outlook

Bret Wise, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented that, "We are pleased that we have delivered earnings performance at the high end of our range of expectations for 2006. During the year, we have made strategic investments in several key initiatives, including implementation of our Strategic Partnership with our U.S. distributors, the expansion of our sales force in key markets, and the January 1, 2007 implementation of the merger of our U.S. endodontic and implant businesses. We believe these initiatives will generate substantial benefits in 2007, and beyond. We remain confident about the opportunities in 2007, and we anticipate earnings in the range of $1.56 to $1.61 per diluted share."

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DENTSPLY will hold a conference call on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the call, dial 888-202-2422 (for domestic calls) and 913-981-5592 (for international calls). The Conference I.D. # is 2841543. This conference call will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.dentsply.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available for one week. To access the replay, please dial 888-203-1112 (for domestic calls) and 719-457-0820 (for international calls). Conference I.D. # is 2841543.

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 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other 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, uncertainty with respect to governmental actions with respect to dental products, outcome of litigation, continued support of our products by influential dental professionals, 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 Form 10-Qs filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

DENTSPLY believes that the non-GAAP financial information provided in this release may be useful to investors for comparison purposes because the Company has historically provided similar information. The non-GAAP financial information should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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(a) - For the three months ended December 31, 2005, the dilutive weighted average number of common shares outstanding excluded potential common shares from stock options of 1,299. These shares are excluded due to their antidilutive effect resulting from the loss from continuing operations. For all other periods, fully diluted shares were used to calculate EPS.

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