The suit, filed today in U.S. District Court in Delaware, alleges that Dentsply International Inc. enforced restrictive dealing arrangements that affected more than 80 percent of the nation's tooth distributors. Dentsply tried to limit competition by depriving its rivals of effective distribution networks. Without Dentsply's anticompetitive acts, there would have been more competition in the artificial teeth market. Dentsply sells some 70 percent of the artificial teeth used in the U.S., and has maintained that approximate market share for at least a decade. Almost all prefabricated artificial teeth sold in the U.S. are used by dental laboratories to make dentures.
Artificial teeth are the single most expensive component of a denture.
The complaint alleges that in 1987, after foreign competitors began attempting to build distribution networks in the U.S., Dentsply entered into agreements and other arrangements with independent dealers whereby the dealers, in most cases, could not add the new competing lines of false teeth. Since that time, Dentsply has refused to sell its teeth, as well as other popular dental laboratory products, to dealers who add any competitor's artificial tooth line. Dentsply has similarly deterred other firms, both domestic and foreign, from entering the United States. Dentsply International is a Delaware corporation, with corporate headquarters in York, Pennsylvania. In December, after the Justice Department indicated it would challenge its conduct, Dentsply asked a court to rule that its actions were legal.