US deal won't stop dental inventor

Simon McDonald has established a team at new company Rhondium to work on his innovations. Photo/Thinkstock

A Bay of Plenty design and manufacturing success story, Katikati-based Triodent, has been sold to one of the world's largest dental products companies.

The sale of the multi-award winning company to Dentsply International does not mean that Triodent's founder and "serial inventor" Simon McDonald will stop developing new products in Katikati.

He has established a new company Rhondium to develop dental products in different markets to the Triodent range. Rhondium has a team of 25 people working on his newest innovations, with the first product launches planned for later this year.

Dr McDonald's career in dentistry led to him designing and developing precision products that enabled dentists around the world to do higher quality work on composite fillings.

Triodent was launched in 2003 with its first product the Tri-clip. By 2005, the product had developed into the V-ring which was simplified into the V3 dental system - a tool kit used to assist with difficult restorations at the back of the mouth. The V3 kit brought his company global success and an annual turnover of $20 million.

Asked whether Dentsply had given a one-year commitment of future employment to its Katikati workforce, Dr McDonald said Dentsply was committed to growing the Triodent product line and supporting Triodent's customers from its Dentsply NZ headquarters in Katikati.

Dr McDonald said every Triodent employee had kept their position and was now part of Dentsply NZ.

However, he was unable to go into details of the sale agreement, saying it was confidential. Mr McDonald said the $68 million sale figure put to him by the Bay of Plenty Times was "incorrect".

Triodent became one of Katikati's biggest employers as a result of Dr McDonald's inventive streak, with the workforce peaking at 120 in 2011 of which 100 were in Katikati.

The sale of Triodent to US-based Dentsply followed the two companies developing a strong commercial partnership over the past five years. Mr McDonald said the relationship began with Dentsply's appointment as Triodent's Australian distributor. Three years ago Triodent began supplying Dentsply International with its product range.

Mr McDonald arrived in New Zealand from the UK 28 years ago after completing a dental degree and master's degree in dental public health. He worked in dental education and health service management roles until he started a dental practice in Katikati in 1998.

With a five-year plan to give up his day job, he focused on inventing better dental solutions and Triodent was born. The company that started with $250,000 of capital ended up earning more than $90 million in export earnings since its inception.

Mr McDonald calls himself a "serial inventor" and has lodged over 90 patent applications.