Innovation has always been our lifeblood

Jeremy Booth, Dental Tribune International

Fri. 28. August 2026

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Having worked across several areas of healthcare—including dentistry, pharmaceuticals and medical products—Paul Keel brought a broad industry perspective when he joined Envista Holdings Corp. as CEO just over two years ago. He is now leading the company through its next phase of development. In an interview with Dental Tribune International, Keel discusses the forces shaping dental innovation, the growing role of workflow integration and artificial intelligence (AI), and the resilience and stability of the global dental market.

Mr Keel, what key characteristics of the dental industry inspired you to return and lead Envista?
Having worked across several areas of healthcare, I was drawn back to dentistry because it combines something that’s hard to find elsewhere: a stable, resilient market with a relentless drive to innovate. Structural factors contribute to the industry’s predictable growth and stability. These include digitisation, longer life expectancy, the connection between oral and systemic health, and expanding access to clinical education.

What has always impressed me is that, even after decades of advancement, there’s still tremendous opportunity to improve patient outcomes and help clinicians work more effectively. Dentistry is well known for strong demand, proven market stability and, above all, continuous innovation.

Globally, because there is roughly one dentist for every 2,500 people, dentists’ skills are always in demand, even more so today as the industry continues to fill the staffing gaps that opened during the pandemic. For manufacturers, the scale of patient need makes innovation essential. New solutions are always welcome, and dentists show strong interest in new products and solutions that improve clinical efficiency and results. Ultimately, continuous innovation benefits patients, who will always be at the centre of dentistry.

“Envista and our predecessor companies have been serving clinicians for over 135 years.”

How has Envista participated in this drive for innovation, and what does the future of dental innovation hold?
Envista and our predecessor companies have been serving clinicians for over 135 years, and innovation has always been our lifeblood. Envista has played a role in many of the industry’s biggest milestones, such as the invention of the endodontic K-file, dental implants, panoramic radiographs, straight-wire and self-ligating orthodontics, and digital treatment planning. Importantly, these innovations were developed in partnership with our clinical customers, and this remains central to Envista’s approach to innovation.

In terms of where dental innovation is headed, the future is already very much here. The current pace of change is as rapid as I’ve ever seen it.

Two important technology vectors that illustrate this are digitisation and workflow integration. Not so long ago, patient models were made of plaster, and patient records were stored on paper. Today, more than 75% of all dental models are digital, and more than 90% of patient records are electronic. A similarly rapid transformation is underway across dental imaging, diagnostics and treatment planning, and this broad, connected digitisation is bringing about a tectonic shift in workflow integration.

Workflow integration has always been a focus for clinicians. This is because most dental procedures consist of the same three sequential stages: diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment delivery. In an analogue world, these steps were completed using materials that worked well, but had limitations in terms of storage, collaboration and transportation. Today, with the help of digital imaging, advanced software and massive computing power, a dentist can quickly go from patient imaging to a treatment plan and a fully customised appliance with minimal manual intervention. This is a very powerful advancement.

In August, Envista inaugurated its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Suzhou in China.

At the new facility in Suzhou in China, Envista companies Ormco, Nobel Biocare and DEXIS will manufacture products for orthodontics, implantology and diagnostics under one roof.

Envista became one of the world’s largest dental companies in 2019, when Danaher Corp. spun off its dental businesses through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

How can dental teams most effectively benefit from digital innovation?
High-performing dental teams providing great patient care already have their priorities right, regardless of where they are on their digital journey. Digitisation simply allows them to accelerate and amplify what they already do well, and there are several on-ramps for clinicians looking to speed up their transition.

Digital 2D imaging is a good example. Digital radiographs improve the patient experience, reduce radiation exposure, simplify storage and data sharing, and enable richer diagnostic capabilities. Most practices have transitioned to digital imaging, but for those that haven’t, it is a natural place to start. Intra-oral scanning and 3D imaging have proved to be similarly helpful. Increasingly, digital imaging systems include integrated toolsets for automated diagnostics and AI-enabled treatment planning.

A third key category is automated workflows. These are often enabled by cloud-based applications that connect the various clinical steps. Think of these applications as the connective tissue linking different repositories of clinical data. We’re still in the early stages in this area, but the pace of change is fast and very exciting.

AI is increasingly present in diagnostics, treatment planning and practice efficiency. Where is it creating measurable value?
The impact of AI can be framed by the same three fundamental clinical steps: diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment delivery. AI-driven diagnostic support in 2D imaging is already well established, routinely helping to detect dental disease and other abnormalities. Automated, AI-driven diagnosticis in 3D imaging is a bit more complicated due to the larger datasets, but leading providers like DEXIS are progressing quickly in this area.

AI is also increasingly common in treatment planning. Some of us still remember the steps involved prior to digitisation, such as physically cutting and moving teeth on a stone model and creating diagnostic wax-ups. Today, these steps are mostly processed automatically by AI algorithms. Similar advances are being made in implant planning, enabling clinicians to move rapidly from image capture to a full treatment plan and supporting the production of 3D-printed surgical guides and prostheses.

When it comes to treatment delivery, AI is also having a significant impact. Prior to digitisation, advances in dental manufacturing were largely driven by advances in mass standardisation: the mark of quality was consistency in replicating specific devices across millions of parts. Mass customisation has now emerged as an equally important standard.

For instance, Ormco and other leading orthodontic companies now collectively manufacture hundreds of millions of aligners annually, and each is uniquely customised for a specific indication, patient and stage of treatment. This is an entirely new way of thinking about innovation, made possible by digitisation, workflow integration and AI.

“It’s encouraging to see the market beginning to regain the steady growth patterns that have historically made dentistry such a resilient industry.”

Earlier this year, you described the dental market as “stable and with green shoots emerging”. Can you elaborate on this assessment and what it suggests about the resilience of dental demand?
For decades, dentistry has proved its resilience, consistently outperforming the broader economy. This has been true in times of economic expansion as well as contraction and across both developed and developing markets. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions temporarily upended this consistency, resulting in a historically challenging year for the dental industry in 2020. As clinics reopened, pent-up demand led to record-breaking market performance in 2021 and 2022.

In retrospect, coming off that sharp upswing, it is not surprising that 2023 and 2024 turned out to be softer years. The big question is: when will the market fully return to the consistent, steady growth we saw for so many years?

We’re now seeing green shoots of recovery, and diagnostics is a good example. After contracting throughout 2023 and 2024, the segment returned to growth in the second half of 2025. Today, diagnostics is one of the faster-growing parts of our portfolio.

Stable with green shoots is still probably the best way to describe the market relative to pre-COVID levels, as we’re increasingly seeing evidence of a return to consistent growth. Envista’s first-half 2026 results showed 7% sales growth, well balanced across geographies and business segments. That suggests that improvement is broad-based across multiple parts of the industry, not just isolated areas. After the volatility of the past several years, it’s encouraging to see the market beginning to regain the steady growth patterns that have historically made dentistry such a resilient industry.