Carestream Dental Files IPO Prospectus: A Digital Transformation Journey from Kodak Legacy to Oral Healthcare Innovation

Carestream Dental has evolved from its origins at Kodak through mergers and acquisitions to become a global leader in dental medical imaging. Two and a half years ago, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a private equity firm specializing in corporate divestitures, became the controlling shareholder and spearheaded the spin-off of Carestream Dental from Carestream Health, whose core business was broad-scale medical imaging. CD&R also strategically invited Senbo Investment, an industry investor focused on oral care, to take a minority stake, thereby supporting Carestream Dental’s accelerated growth in the digital dentistry sector. Carestream Dental has established its unique competitive advantage by possessing leading, market-validated technologies in three critical areas of dental digitalization: digital imaging, intraoral scanners, and back-end software integration.

Amid the technological wave of digitalization in the dental industry, what is Carestream Dental’s development strategy in China’s rapidly growing dental market? VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Qi Yue, General Manager of Carestream Dental for Greater China. Having previously served as the first General Manager in China for both Sirona and Straumann, and possessing nearly a decade of investment experience in the healthcare sector, Mr. Qi has returned to helm Carestream Dental’s Greater China operations. What insights does he offer on the future development, transformation, and expansion of dental equipment enterprises?

Mr. Qi Yue, General Manager of Carestream Dental Greater China

Carestream Dental traces its origins back to Eastman Kodak (commonly known as Kodak), founded in 1896. This century-old enterprise, dedicated to the development and application of imaging technologies, acquired Trophy Radiologie, a French pioneer in dental imaging established in 1946, in 2003. It later acquired PracticeWorks, a company specializing in practice management software systems. In 2007, Carestream Health was established, with Carestream Dental operating as part of the Carestream Health group. Since then, it has gradually evolved into a leading global brand in dental imaging equipment and practice management software.

In April 2017, Carestream Dental was spun off as an independent entity, backed by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and oral care industry investor Shuangbai Investment. As a leader in the global dental medical imaging field for over a century, it embarked on a new journey.

Carestream Dental Development History

The dental industry exhibits distinct dual characteristics of consumerism and professionalism. Compared with other medical subsectors, it differs significantly in development models, growth pace, and customer composition. Following its spin-off into an independent entity, Carestream Dental is better positioned to focus on the dental sector. Regarding the changes brought about by this separation, Qi Yue highlighted two major transformations:

First, prior to the spin-off, the company’s DNA was more akin to that of a medical imaging firm, implementing a diversified product strategy. After becoming an independent entity, Carestream Dental transformed into a company focused exclusively on digital dentistry. Coupled with headquarters’ support and enhanced localized decision-making capabilities, this has brought us closer to the market and our users.

Second, Carestream Dental is transforming from a pure equipment manufacturer into an open, comprehensive solutions provider. Carestream Dental not only provides CBCT and intraoral scanners but also offers solutions encompassing implantology, orthodontics, and prosthodontics for industry participants such as dentists, dental laboratories, and distributors.

Carestream Dental’s transformation into a provider of digital dentistry solutions was also made possible by the close collaboration between its management team and shareholders.

According to publicly available information, the controlling shareholder of Carestream Dental is the long-established U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (hereinafter referred to as “CD&R”; official websitewww.cdr-inc.com), other shareholders include Seaboard Investment, an industrial investor focused on the dental sector (official websitewww.carecapitalpartners.com）。

Founded in 1978, CD&R is one of the world’s oldest private equity firms, with investments spanning the consumer and retail, industrial, services, and healthcare sectors. The combined annual revenue of its portfolio companies exceeds $60 billion. CD&R is renowned for its expertise in complex transactions, 60% of which involve corporate divestitures.

Invited to take an equity stake and join the board of directors, Songbo Investment is one of the leaders in the dental industry, integrating investment and operation. It holds controlling interests in leading enterprises across the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, including Angelalign, Songbo Dental Instruments, and Huizhou Stomatological Hospital, while also extensively investing in and participating in various segments of the dental industry, such as academic education, imaging, orthodontics, software, distribution services, and medical services. What does the entry of an industrial investor mean for Carestream Dental?

Drawing on his experience as China General Manager for multiple global corporations, Qi Yue believes that beyond providing financial support, industrial investors offer something even more valuable: industry insights and resource networks forged through deep engagement in the sector. He summarizes that for a company to achieve sustained long-term growth, several prerequisites must be met: long-term resource commitment, sound strategy, market-responsive decision-making mechanisms, and strong collaborative relationships across the industry chain. In these areas, Ruike Dental has received substantial strategic and operational support from Songbo Investment.

“Shinbai Capital has deeply cultivated product technologies, distribution networks, and medical services within the dental industry, demonstrating a profound understanding of dentists’ needs. This has played a crucial guiding role at the strategic level in shaping Carestream Dental’s focus for development direction and resource allocation,” introduced Qi Yue. “Meanwhile, leveraging its extensive collaborative network in China’s oral care industry, Shinbai provided Carestream Dental with critical resources for market expansion and comprehensive supply chain support. This included facilitating the establishment of mutual trust with multiple partners—such as enabling our strategic partnership with Straumann Group—and introducing numerous high-quality distribution and laboratory partners, thereby helping Carestream Dental break into the private oral care market.”

Although digitalization has been present in the Chinese dental market for many years, it has not yet been fully implemented. While CBCT has become widely adopted in China, the promotion of intraoral scanners is only just beginning. Even in facilities equipped with intraoral scanners, their utilization efficiency remains less than satisfactory.

From Qi Yue’s perspective, the primary reason digitalization fails to gain traction is that it does not truly address the pain points of stakeholders involved in the dental treatment process. This gap represents an opportunity for Carestream Dental to create value. “There are many participants throughout the entire digital dentistry workflow. We need to help consumables manufacturers supply products more effectively, enable distributors to generate profits by better serving clinics, assist dental laboratories in improving efficiency and technical capabilities, facilitate smoother communication between dentists and technicians so that clinicians can focus more on medical care, and enhance the efficiency of dentist-patient communication. In fact, each segment currently has unmet pain points.”

Carestream Dental’s slogan, “Simply Dental,” embodies the philosophy of “digital simplicity.” Leveraging its strengths as a provider and integrator of data entry points, the company connects the value of every participant in the digital workflow, truly simplifying dentists’ work. Qi Yue stated, “We aim to be partners with every link in the process. Our goal is not merely to sell CBCT systems and intraoral scanners to clinics and consider the job done, but to genuinely enable these data to create value.”

In terms of specific application scenarios, Carestream Dental has focused on the workflows for aesthetic restoration, implantology, and orthodontics in recent years. By integrating cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and intraoral scanners—the two most critical data entry points—the company has undertaken extensive software development initiatives.

For example, in the field of dental implants, Carestream Dental and Straumann China entered into a strategic partnership in 2019 to provide comprehensive implant solutions for implant dentists and dental technicians, addressing pain points in their workflows.

“During our collaboration with Straumann, we identified a clear pain point for dental laboratories: communication with dentists was time-consuming and labor-intensive, resulting in suboptimal efficiency. After collecting CBCT and intraoral scan data, Carestream Dental integrates this information through its software to generate more accurate implant planning and surgical guide restoration solutions. These plans are then transmitted via backend software to the dentist’s mobile app. Dentists can view the digital 3D treatment designs anytime and anywhere on the app, make adjustments as needed, and share them with colleagues for discussion. Compared to traditional communication methods, this approach significantly enhances communication efficiency between dental laboratories and dentists while improving the precision of implant treatment plans.”

Carestream Dental optimizes digital dental workflows through equipment, software, and services, addressing the pain points of all stakeholders.

Qi Yue believes that digital tools can seamlessly connect dental laboratories, clinics, and dentists around implant planning and guide design, providing implantologists with immediate, safe, precise, comprehensive, and convenient services. This will help dentists design personalized implant and restorative treatment plans more quickly and effectively. “Carestream Dental is set to launch a complete digital chairside implant planning and guide system in 2020, along with chairside aesthetic restoration solutions covering equipment, data processing, and services. This comprehensive solution has been designed by Carestream based on extensive market and user research to address the current pain points of dental practitioners.”

Seamlessly integrating CBCT and intraoral scan data, coupled with capabilities in software development and data processing, to address the pain points of all stakeholders in the workflow through digital means—this is the logic behind Carestream Dental’s digital industry upgrade. Qi Yue stated that a successful business model must never pursue digitalization for its own sake; the key lies in understanding user needs and resolving pain points in clinical workflows, which will naturally drive the continuous expansion of the digital market.

“The dental markets in Europe and the United States have developed for many years and entered a relatively mature stage. In contrast, demand in the Chinese market is just beginning to surge. Meanwhile, driven by technologies represented by digitalization, the Chinese market is developing very rapidly,” emphasized Qi Yue. “Since the spin-off and independence, Carestream Dental’s business in China has achieved a compound annual growth rate of over 50%, benefiting from strategic focus, more localized decision-making, expanded channel partnerships, and the introduction of new product lines.”

Meanwhile, Carestream Dental is further tapping into incremental markets. The global bestseller 8100SC 3D, which was grandly launched in China last year, carries high expectations for penetrating the private sector. Historically, imported CBCT brands have focused primarily on public hospitals, whereas private clinics are currently the fastest-growing and most dynamic segment. With their greater emphasis on cost-effectiveness, private clinics found the 8100SC 3D to be Carestream’s first CBCT system that is affordable for them while still delivering root canal-level image clarity. Moreover, the 8100SC 3D’s product design thoroughly accounts for the specific characteristics of private clinic practitioners and facilities. It lowers the barrier to CBCT operation through intelligent positioning for imaging, imposes no restrictions on software ports to accommodate clinics with varying numbers of dental chairs, and features a minimalist interface that makes the software functions easier to use.

The CS 8100SC 3D Smart CBCT, a global bestseller, is highly anticipated to pioneer the private healthcare market.

Qi Yue revealed to reporters that, in terms of specific product lines, the company will launch this year a complete aesthetic restoration solution offering dentists an experience of “digital simplicity,” as well as a comprehensive chairside digital implantology solution. Carestream is currently registering its latest generation of CBCT systems; this revolutionary innovative CBCT is expected to hit the market in 2021. Intraoral scanners are also undergoing continuous innovation, with three to four new models scheduled for release between this year and next. It is reported that Carestream Dental operates two global R&D and manufacturing centers—in Paris, France, and Shanghai, China—as well as a software development center in Atlanta, USA. At its global R&D center in Shanghai, a team of more than 60 R&D professionals has established a complete hardware and software development system aimed at serving customers worldwide. The team has won numerous awards in dentistry and innovation, including the Edison Award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of the technology world,” underscoring its formidable R&D capabilities.

In the future, Carestream Dental will collaborate with partners to establish global service and demonstration centers, adopting more effective approaches to enable users to maximize the value of their equipment. “The transition from an imaging equipment company to a true provider of digital dentistry solutions is an inevitable choice for Carestream Dental’s long-term development.”