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.