Centrix: Making Dentistry Easier for 50 Years & Counting
Founded by Dr. William Dragan in 1970, Centrix has consistently developed products that have solved problems in all facets of dentistry
When Centrix released the Benda Brush in 1989, company founder and inventor Dr. William Dragan recalls that people in the industry laughed at his latest creation. Never before had a disposable, bendable brush been offered to dentists. Dr. Dragan ended up with the last laugh. Centrix would capture 70% of the brush business in dentistry because the product offered a simple solution to the problem of how to accurately apply dental materials, such as whitening gel, bonding agents, sealants, and desensitizers, in hard-to-access sites. And because the brushes were disposable, cross-contamination was no longer a concern.
Still widely used today, the award-winning Benda Brush is one of many groundbreaking innovations from Dr. Dragan and the team at Centrix, the company he founded 50 years ago.
In fact, the very beginning of Centrix is tied to Dr. Dragan’s first dental product invention. The AccuDose Tube and Mark I Syringe were the result of much experimentation after Dr. Dragan saw the need for a better delivery system for composite materials that were becoming more viscous, and therefore harder to spatulate and apply. “This changed the way dentists place fillings, and it’s the way they’re delivered to this day,” Dr. Dragan notes.
This stainless-steel push-syringe with disposable C-R tubes and plugs gave dentistry its first direct-to-the-prep delivery system for dental materials. Today, almost all composites and pastes are packed in tubes modeled after the Centrix design. The original design evolved over the years, and in 2007, Centrix released the Snap-Fit Syringe, further improving the placement of materials. Loading and application of even the most viscuous materials are now a breeze. Such inventions have revolutionized the practice of dentistry, but they’ve also fulfilled Centrix’s motto: Making Dentistry Easier.
A half-century since he launched the company to sell products that solve problems for dentists, Dr. Dragan, 87, is still at it. “I can never see myself retiring,” he says. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. There’s a million things that I haven’t done yet in life.”
Originally, Dr. Dragan hoped to invent and sell his patented products to existing manufacturers. When there were no takers for his composite syringe, he founded Centrix. But he would spend a significant portion of the company’s early years defending his patents in court. “Every time I came up with an idea, I would get sued by the big companies, because they wanted it,” he says. “But we fought and we did win. We won four times and had one draw.”
A Period of Growth & Innovation
With the lawsuits behind them, Centrix was able to grow rapidly in the 1980s. In 1984, it released another milestone product, Tempit, a prefilled tip of temporary filling material that snapped directly into a Centrix C/R or similar syringe. With each formula unit-dosed to eliminate waste, Tempit meant no need to mix and spatulate, squeeze from tubes, or access open jars, eliminating cross-contamination.
Dr. Dragan—who has authored the book How to Become an Overnight Success in 30 Easy Years—has always held the same simple philosophy: Pay attention to problems dentists face in practice and then devise solutions.
This was the case in 2004 when Centrix brought NoMIX to market. As its name suggests, the single-component, moisture-activated temporary cement requires no mixing. In 2009, FluoroDose made fluoride varnish safer and cleanup easier—just dip, mix, brush, and throw away. That same year, Encore D/C MiniMix broke new ground with the single-dose delivery of core buildup.
Soon, Access Edge debuted as a gingival retraction paste packaged in a convenient unit-dose syringe tip. More recently, NoCord VPS gave dentistry an all-in-one system that retracts the gingiva, controls bleeding, and takes a clear impression while eliminating the time and cost of packaging cord. The innovations continue to this day.
Passing the Torch
Centrix is now run by Dr. Dragan’s son, Bill, President and CEO. Bill hadn’t originally intended to join the company, but when he graduated law school, his father urged him to come aboard. “I said, ‘Why don’t you just come and work in the shop and see how you like it. If you like it, you can stay. If you don’t, you can go become a lawyer,’” Dr. Dragan recalls.
Bill’s legal training merged seamlessly into the business. “Both business and law nurture creative, critical, and persuasive thinking, the same skills required to strategize and manage a business organization,” he says. He continually studies the market and assesses the competitive landscape as he and the Centrix team of more than 100 employees work to bring innovative solutions to the dental profession.
“I’m proud that we have improved dentistry and improved lives for over 50 years, and will continue to do so for at least 50 more,” Bill says. “We will continue to focus on unique and innovative material delivery systems, and maintain a strong emphasis on prevention. We will provide best-in-class tissue management materials, temporary materials, impression materials, and restorative tools. If we have one fault, it’s that we have too many ideas to ‘Make Dentistry Easier’ and not enough time in the day!”
The Life of the Party
Bill is glad to see his father still playing a key role in the business and interacting with employees. “He’s still the life of the party, still joking with everybody. He knows everybody by name and everybody loves him in a grandfatherly way. It’s great to see him every day. He is the soul of the business.”
While Dr. Dragan’s initial inventions were designed at a table in his basement, reflecting an investment of his personal time and money, his vision and commitment grew into a company that has changed the face of dentistry. “A lot of times people have ideas, but many people are timid,” Dr. Dragan says. “Sometimes you just have to grab that idea and run with it. Take your dream and try to live it. Why not?”
