DS Core Open Platform: How Dentsply Sirona Is Building the Connected Digital Dental Ecosystem of the Future

When Dentsply Sirona launched DS Core in 2022, it was positioned as a case management and connectivity platform — a digital hub where practices could send scans to laboratories, track case progress, and access educational content. Four years later, DS Core has evolved into something considerably more ambitious: an open digital ecosystem that connects practices, laboratories, manufacturers, and educators across the global dental industry, and which Dentsply Sirona describes as the foundation of its long-term strategy for digital dentistry.

Scale and Adoption

As of mid-2026, DS Core has been adopted by more than 60,000 dental practices and 8,000 dental laboratories in over 100 countries, making it one of the largest connected dental platforms in the world. The platform processes more than 2 million digital cases per month, and Dentsply Sirona reports that practices using DS Core for end-to-end digital workflows achieve an average case turnaround time that is 35% faster than those using disconnected point solutions. The platform's growth has been accelerated by its integration with Primescan, Cerec, and Primeprint — Dentsply Sirona's core hardware portfolio — but the company has been deliberate in building DS Core as an open platform that works with third-party devices and software.

Open Architecture: The Strategic Differentiator

The decision to build DS Core as an open platform — rather than a closed ecosystem that exclusively supports Dentsply Sirona hardware — has been central to its adoption. DS Core accepts digital impressions from all major intraoral scanners, including 3Shape Trios, Align iTero, and Carestream, and supports design files from exocad, 3Shape Dental System, and other leading CAD platforms. This openness means that practices do not need to replace their existing equipment to benefit from DS Core's connectivity and workflow features, significantly lowering the barrier to adoption.

AI and Data-Driven Dentistry

One of the most significant recent developments on DS Core is the integration of AI-powered clinical decision support tools. The platform now includes an AI-assisted caries detection module that analyses intraoral scan data and radiographic images to flag areas of concern, providing a second-opinion layer that Dentsply Sirona says improves detection rates for early-stage interproximal caries by up to 30% compared to visual examination alone. A separate AI module analyses occlusal data from digital scans to identify wear patterns and parafunctional habits, generating automated reports that clinicians can use to guide treatment planning and patient education conversations.

DS Academy Campus: Education at Scale

DS Academy Campus, the educational arm of the DS Core ecosystem, has grown to offer more than 500 courses across all major dental disciplines, with content available in 14 languages. The platform hosts both live webinars — including the recently announced series on full-mouth implant rehabilitation, orthodontic-restorative integration, and tissue management — and an extensive library of on-demand modules. More than 200,000 dental professionals have completed at least one DS Academy course, and Dentsply Sirona reports that course completion rates on the platform are significantly higher than industry benchmarks for online professional education, which it attributes to the clinical relevance of the content and the integration of case-based learning with real DS Core workflow scenarios.

The Road Ahead: Interoperability and Patient Data

Looking ahead, Dentsply Sirona has signalled that its next major focus for DS Core is deeper interoperability with practice management systems and electronic health record platforms. The company is working with several major PMS vendors to enable bidirectional data exchange, which would allow patient demographic data, treatment histories, and imaging records to flow seamlessly between the clinical and administrative layers of the practice. Dentsply Sirona is also exploring the use of anonymised, aggregated DS Core data to support population-level oral health research — a development that, if realised, could position the platform as a significant contributor to the evidence base for preventive dentistry and public health policy.

"DS Core is not just a product — it is the infrastructure for the future of dentistry," said Ulrich Nolte, Chief Digital Officer at Dentsply Sirona. "We are building a platform that connects every stakeholder in the dental ecosystem — the clinician, the laboratory, the manufacturer, the educator, and ultimately the patient — and that uses data intelligently to improve outcomes at every point in that chain."