[12] Dentsply was founded by four New York businessmen in 1899 as Dentists' Supply Company, about the same time it made its first acquisition, a Pennsylvania porcelain teeth manufacturer.

Whiteley's contributions to the company were invaluable as he was responsible for many innovations such as a patented process involving platinum rings that reduced tooth breakage.

Other innovations (credited to doctors like James Williams who were hired by the company for research purposes) included better fitting dentures, tooth size for people of different face shapes and age specific colored teeth.

A rivalry between De Trey and the main other denture equipment producer at the time, Ash Company, nearly eliminated cash flows due to extreme price cutting.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the company developed many of the ideas used by its equipment today like tooth cleaning machine Dentsply Cavitron and Neolux which improved the finish of plastic teeth.

[15][16] In June 2011, Dentsply acquired Astra Tech, the world's third largest maker of dental implants from the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for $1.8 billion.

[citation needed] On February 29, 2016 Dentsply combined with Long Island-based Sirona Dental Systems in a $14.5 billion merger of equals.

[citation needed] In October 2017, CEO Jeffrey Slovin, executive chairman Bret Wise, and president Christopher Clark all resigned.

[25][26] In June 2023, it was reported by the Chief Executive Leadership institute of the Yale School of Management that the company continued to do "business as usual" in Russia while many others had wound down or curtailed their operations there in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

[27]This decision has been widely criticized as enabling the Russian economy and, by extension, its war effort, undermining global solidarity against the aggression and raising ethical concerns about the company's commitment to social responsibility.