Dentsply Sirona Highlights Women Focused Efforts

Dentsply Sirona highlighted the progress the company has made in its support of women in the dental field ahead of International Women’s Day.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, Dentsply Sirona advocated for a greater focus on women’s equality, representation and inclusion in the dental industry.

“The world has come a long way since the beginnings of International Women’s Day over a hundred years ago, but we still have some distance to go,“ says Andrea Frohning, senior vice president, chief human resources officer at Dentsply Sirona. “In a time where more and more women are choosing to join dentistry, we all need to make sure that our industry offers them equal opportunities, values their expertise and recognizes their achievements.”

Dentsply Sirona has supported gender equality in the dental industry by launching its own initiatives to further inclusion and increase the representation of women in educational programs, events, and case studies.

Dentsply Sirona’s relaunched Smart Integration Award is one such initiative. The award honors innovative female dentists and dental technicians for their ideas in digital dentistry, including areas such as digital clinical workflows, patient, community, and educational impacts, as well as sustainability practices.

Dentsply Sirona also sponsors a global women speaker development program called First to 50 which aims to elevate the voices of accomplished female dental professionals through speaking opportunities. The program provides access to structured speaker training for all levels of experience. The company says that First to 50 has grown steadily, with the number of participants per year more than doubling since inception.

Additionally, Dentsply Sirona supports opportunities for women abroad with the She’s Prime program in Latin America. Named after the company’s Prime Solutions, the program aims to help women in the region establish leadership skills and technical knowledge in digital dentistry. The program provides mentorship, education, and increased awareness of the role women play in the dental industry.

Dentsply Sirona has made its stated goal to reach global gender pay parity and gender parity by 2025 – five years ahead of the 2030 goal set by the Paradigm for Parity initiative, a coalition to which Dentsply Sirona is a signatory. The company has implemented training focused on eliminating hiring bias, mentoring, coaching and leadership programs.

Within the company, DS Women, an employee resource group (ERG) works to elevate female talent through professional development, offering women opportunities to take center stage in the company. It is the biggest ERG at Dentsply Sirona with more than 1,200 members in 40 countries.

“As a leader in the dental industry, Dentsply Sirona is committed to driving the movement for gender inclusion and equity in dentistry. We take this responsibility seriously and are working hard to help build a better, more inclusive world for women,” said Frohning. “We are delighted and grateful for every company and every dental professional who joins us and takes action for more inclusion and more gender equality.”