LONG ISLAND CITY, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 12/18/12 -- Sirona (NASDAQ: SIRO), the dental technology leader, today announced that Sirona and Patterson Dental have extended and expanded their technology partnership with Pacific Dental Services, Inc. (PDS).

Pacific Dental Services, Inc. supports over 300 dental practices in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, and Texas. As a group, PDS-supported offices have implemented Sirona's CEREC technology system and are the world's largest network of CEREC users having completed over 500,000 CEREC restorations to date. In addition to facilitating the use of CEREC equipment for its affiliated practices, PDS will recommend that its affiliated practices implement other Sirona technologies including Schick by Sirona intraoral sensors, Sirona Lasers and Sirona extraoral panoramic imaging devices.

Given the significant number of PDS-supported owner-dentists who have chosen to adopt these Sirona technologies for their dental practices to date, combined with the anticipated growth in the number of PDS-supported offices, the parties anticipate that the number of PDS-supported offices utilizing Sirona technologies could exceed 600 during the life of the agreement.

Jeff Slovin, President of Sirona, commented: "We are pleased to announce the expansion of our relationship with Pacific Dental Services. PDS' supported owner dentists have embraced Sirona technology as a core differentiator and growth enabler and continues to rapidly grow its footprint, with the plans to affiliate with 60 new practices in 2013. Already more than 100,000 patients per year receive CEREC treatment at PDS-supported dental practices and we anticipate that this will double within the term of our agreement."

Stephen Thorne, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Dental Services, explained, "After years of successful partnership it made sense that we extend and expand our relationship. For years PDS-supported dentists have lead the migration to digital dentistry. We believe that Sirona is the ideal partner to help PDS to continue to deliver on our promise to the clinicians we are so proud to support. The expansion of our relationship with Sirona will ensure access to proven, industry leading technologies for PDS-supported clinicians for years to come."

About Sirona Dental Systems, Inc.

Sirona, the dental technology leader, has served dealers and dentists worldwide for more than 130 years. Sirona develops, manufactures, and markets a complete line of dental products, including CAD/CAM restoration systems (CEREC), digital intra-oral, panoramic and 3D imaging systems, dental treatment centers and handpieces. Visit http://www.sirona.com for more information about Sirona and its products.

About Pacific Dental Services, Inc.

Founded in 1994, PDS is one of the country's leading dental service organizations, providing supported autonomy that allows dentists to concentrate on clinical excellence and the highest levels of cost-effective comprehensive patient care. PDS originated the Private Practice + model to allow dentists to focus on their passion: serving patients. PDS also pioneered the concept of Modern Dentistry -- enabling dentists to combine advances in the latest technology with the best operational practices and procedures, highly skilled support staff and a commitment to ongoing training and education -- to grow to more than 300 affiliated dental offices across the western and central United States. PDS seeks to be the provider of choice in all the markets they serve, helping affiliated dentists to develop patients for life.