UN's Sustainable Development Goals

How Our Work Aligns With the UN SDGs

Dentsply Sirona supports the United Nation’s SDGs by monitoring how our material issues and key sustainability priorities align with different goals and selecting those which most closely connect with our mission to improve the lives of individuals and communities around the world.

Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-Being for All at All Ages

Dentsply Sirona works with numerous charitable organizations to provide oral healthcare through donations of expertise and resources. Through the continuous partnership with Smile Train since 2021, we supported more than 3,800 cleft surgeries and helped develop the first-ever global workflow for digital cleft treatment in partnership with the FDI World Dental Federation. To raise awareness of the importance of oral health we partnered with the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe and FDI for World Oral health Day. We also run a comprehensive program of employee physical and mental well-being initiatives across all sites around the world.

Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All

Dentsply Sirona’s Academies provide best-in-class face-to-face and online clinical education programs for dental professionals to support continuous learning and development. In 2023 we delivered over 9,200 courses for dental practitioners in over 80 countries. In cooperation with the FDI World Dental Federation, we developed a course to help dentists, dental teams and students understand the impact of oral healthcare on the environment. Internally, we’re committed to quality training and education for all our employees. Our employees completed more than 17,500 LinkedIn Learning courses in 2023.

Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls

Our Inclusion & Engagement Council, established in 2020, works to benchmark, challenge, prioritize action, and ensure that our policies and business structures are inclusive across the entire business. At the start of 2024, we completed our gender pay parity analysis globally. Based on data from the first half of 2024, we have achieved total average gender pay parity across our global workforce, ahead of our 2025 target. Through programs like She’s Prime in Latin America or First to 50 we support female dentists to pursue a strong career.

Promote Sustained, Inclusive, and Sustainable Economic Growth, Full and Productive Employment, and Decent Work for All

We created two new ERGs in 2023 and now have nine employee-led groups that proactively create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Each group has its own objectives aligned with our mission, purpose, vision, values, operating principles, goals and business priorities. In 2023, membership increased by 46% compared with 2022. All employees are trained in our newly updated Code of Ethics & Business Conduct, and we have specific codes of conduct that extend to our business partners and suppliers.

Build Resilient Infrastructure, Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization, and Foster Innovation

Dentsply Sirona has made significant investments in R&D in 2023, and our established track record of creating innovative, long-lasting products sets us apart from our peers. In 2023, we invested more than $184 million in R&D, a 6% increase year-over-year. More than 650 of our employees are engineers or scientists and we strive to integrate sustainability into our new product and packaging development process.

Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries

Our Conversations of Understanding program creates a space for colleagues to share their perspectives on Inclusion & Engagement topics. Our ERGs have taken responsibility to host Conversations of Understanding throughout the year so colleagues can learn from one another and increase awareness, empathy and allyship. In 2023, we hosted 14 sessions and more than 2,000 employees participated from across the globe.

Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

All our products meet regulatory standards, including the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (“RoHSD”). By developing the “Quality Begins with Me” activation we support the delivery of quality products for clinicians and patients. As a founding member of the FDI World Dental Federation’s initiative Sustainability in Dentistry we increased the provision of digital resources to support sustainable improvement throughout the dental industry.

Take Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and Its Impacts

In 2023 our absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions decreased by an absolute value basis of 47%. This was largely driven by sourcing renewable energy for our European facilities through market sources, and means we exceeded our original goal to reduce our combined Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity by ≥ 15% by 2025 more than two times against our 2019 baseline. We continue to improve the tool we use to track our GHG emission data and further extended its use to also track Scope 3 GHG emission data.

Implement, Strengthen and Revitalize Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development

We engage in impactful partnerships and philanthropic initiatives aimed at advancing better health and well-being globally. Hand in hand with organizations like Smile Train, Project 32 initiative or the Harvard School of Dental Medicine we can globally increase access to oral healthcare.