Major dental manufacturers report a mixed second quarter

Jeremy Booth, Dental Tribune International

Mon. 21. September 2026

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LEIPZIG, Germany: The 2020s have challenged dentistry’s reputation as a stalwart of economic stability. Often viewed as resilient to the fluctuations of financial markets, the industry has found itself firmly tethered to growing macroeconomic pressures, including inflation, higher interest rates and changes in consumer spending. In the second quarter of this year, the four largest international dental manufacturers reported mixed but largely resilient results. Patient demand remained stable in many regions—including North America—and a weaker capital equipment market contrasted with growth in dental implants, consumables and aligners.

Revenue for the second quarter at Straumann Group reached CHF 707 million (€766 million^*), a year-on-year increase of 5.9% in Swiss francs or 8.5% on an organic basis.^** The period saw Straumann post sales growth in all regions.

At CHF 285 million, sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region represented a 5.4% year-on-year increase. Outgoing CEO Guillaume Daniellot told analysts in the company’s earnings call that sales of implantology products were the main driver of growth and that Germany, Poland and Hungary were among the strongest-performing markets.

In North America, sales rose by 4.0% year on year to CHF 178 million—8.4% on an organic basis. The company’s dental implant sales and partnerships with dental support organisations helped it to recover from the dip of 5.6% recorded in the region in the prior quarter.

During the period, Straumann returned to sales growth in Asia-Pacific after respective year-on-year declines of 9.3% and 19.3% in the two preceding quarters. Revenue in the region amounted to CHF 178 million, up by 4.9% year on year. Excluding China, sales in the region increased by 25% year on year on an organic basis. Dental implant sales in China have remained sluggish because of delays in government-led volume-based procurement. Daniellot described growth in Japan, India and Southeast Asia as “very strong”.

In Latin America, sales totalling CHF 67 million represented a 17% year-on-year gain. Sales in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia were the main contributors.

The company’s global revenue for the six-month period stood at CHF 1.4 billion, up by 2.3% year on year. Over the same period, revenue was down by 1.0% in North America and 2.0% in Asia-Pacific.

In August, Straumann announced that Daniellot had stepped down as CEO and would be succeeded by Christopher Norbye in December. Daniellot has led the company since January 2020, a period marked by significant disruption in the dental market.

Align Technology records increase in scans and aligner shipments

Align Technology reported record second-quarter revenue of US$1.06 billion (€929 million^*), a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. Revenue from the company’s aligner business rose by 8.2% to US$871 million. However, this was partly offset by a 10.8% decline in sales from imaging systems and CAD/CAM services, which fell to US$185 million.

Revenue growth was driven by record aligner shipments, which totalled 691,785 cases—up by 7.4% year on year. The number of Invisalign-trained dentists who received cases during the period increased to 89,175 from 86,250, while the average number of cases shipped per participating dentist increased from 7.5 to 7.8.

Second-quarter aligner shipments at Align Technology totalled 691,785 cases—up by 7.4% year on year. (Image: Евгений Вершинин/Adobe Stock)

Aligner volumes increased across both the orthodontist and general dentist customer channels and across adult, teen and younger patient groups. Volumes shipped through dental support organisation channels also recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. International markets led the company’s volume increases, and double-digit year-on-year growth was recorded in Asia-Pacific, the EMEA region and Latin America. In North America, overall market stability and double-digit year-on-year growth in dental support organisation volumes helped to offset lower demand in retail channels. When asked by analysts during an earnings call if the North American market had improved during the quarter, CEO Joseph Hogan tempered expectations, stating “basically, what we’ve seen is no better and no worse than what we’ve seen before”.

The company, which owns exocad, attributed its drop in revenue from imaging systems and CAD/CAM services to ongoing challenges in the market for capital equipment. Amid higher interest rates and increased macroeconomic uncertainty, Align has made efforts to reduce adoption barriers for its intra-oral scanners by reducing unit prices and diversifying purchase options. During the period, these measures resulted in lower revenue but a double-digit increase in the number of scanners placed with customers. Hogan explained: “By lowering the upfront cost of adoption, we can expand access to care, grow recurring revenue and strengthen the Align Digital Platform.” He noted that 12.4 million scans were performed using the company’s intra-oral scanners during the second quarter, a 16% year-on-year increase.

Dentsply Sirona reaffirms restructuring priorities

Revenue for the second quarter at Dentsply Sirona reached US$898 million, down by 4.1% year on year. Favourable currency movements partly cushioned the decline, which reached 6.3% on a constant-currency basis.^** Net income was US$37 million, compared with a net loss of US$45 million a year earlier.

All of Dentsply Sirona’s dental businesses reported year-on-year sales declines. At US$239 million, global sales of connected technology solutions were down by 1.5%. Sales of essential dental solutions reached US$376 million, down by 2.7%. Sales of orthodontic and implant solutions, at US$197 million, were down by 13.2%.

In March, Dentsply Sirona President and CEO Daniel Scavilla told Dental Tribune International that returning to growth in the US market was a key priority in 2026. (Image: Dentsply Sirona)

Sales were flat in the EMEA region and down by 1.0% year on year in Asia-Pacific. In the Americas, they fell by 10.7%.

Dentsply Sirona is now six months into a 24-month action plan focused on returning to growth. The plan involves major commercial restructuring—particularly in the US—as well as investment in global clinical education and in sale and customer support infrastructure internationally.

President and CEO Daniel Scavilla told analysts in the company’s earnings call that these priorities had not changed and that progress had been made. “Some parts of the business are improving faster than others, and there’s still a lot of work ahead,” he said.

Scavilla pointed to stabilisation in the global dental market, sharing an estimate of 3% growth for 2026; however, he emphasised that Dentsply Sirona’s transition from negative to positive growth would take time. Scavilla expects a more favourable overall result for the third quarter and positive year-on-year growth for its US business by the end of the year.

Envista Holdings increases guidance

In the second quarter, sales at Envista Holdings Corp. totalled US$731 million, a year-on-year increase of 7.1% and 5.0% in core sales growth.^** The company, which owns more than 30 dental brands, banked US$471 million from sales of specialty products and technologies, a 5.8% year-on-year increase and core growth of 3.1%. Sales of dental equipment and consumables reached US$260 million, an increase of 9.5% and 8.5% core growth.

Eric Hammes, chief financial officer at the company, highlighted “positive growth in both reporting segments with well-balanced performance across our businesses and geographies and strong contribution from both volume and price”. Envista raised its full-year guidance for core growth to 3.5%–4.5%, up from 2.0%–4.0%. The guidance assumes that China’s volume-based procurement for orthodontics and dental implants will take place by the end of this year, and Hammes noted that the process was underway for both product categories.

Envista CEO Paul Keel told analysts in the company’s earnings call that global patient demand had remained stable during the period, despite ongoing macroeconomic pressures. Keel said that sales of Spark aligners increased by double digits during the period, while sales of brackets and wires decreased by high single digits. Sales of dental implants grew by low single digits.

Keel told Dental Tribune International in August that growth in global sales of dental diagnostic products was indicative of persistent market recovery. He said that Envista’s 7% sales growth over the first half of this year was spread broadly across geographies and business segments, adding: “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.”

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