@BoredSaint So I've just spent a couple of days clearing some spaces for renovation in the Sydney Dental Hospital (University of Sydney simulation clinics) and came across this topical relic. Though apparently it's not much of a relic and it does take years for new methods or products to become standard practice.

That being said, we are talking about a generation of 'teeth doctors' (my preferred broad term for dentists, orthodontists etc.) who stuck with what they were taught 10, 15, 30 years ago. Perhaps the freshest generation of enamel enthusiasts might be a little more open to using new products, equipment and techniques throughout their career rather than being (dental)cemented in antiquated teachings.

In regards to your recent #Thoughts post @Invmum:

Definitely agree that the lack of clear direction from management has been to the detriment of SDI's business. I really look forward to the new CEO possibly taking this company and pushing it strongly into the future using the tailwinds currently seen in the area of cosmetic dentistry.

I thought @BoredSaint's insights were really informative as well. I am inclined to agree with them in terms of strong competition in the field from both the big companies supplying dentists, and the smaller companies offering at home teeth whitening kits.

It will be an interesting next 12 months for SDI. 

@jwrostagno27

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on SDI.

This is a company I hold in my Strawman portfolio and I have met Samantha before.

I have to question the numbers you produce;

The company has a market cap of around $107 million, with a P/E ratio of 20.23 and a dividend yield of around 2.2%.

I believe the market cap is correct, around $107m. However the company last reported profit guidance between $7.5-$8.5m for the FY21 result (back in May). If you select the midpoint of $8m then this produces a market cap of 13.4x. (Which is a massive difference from the 20x p/e you reported).

A 13x p/e is considered relatively cheap or maybe fair for a lower quality business such as SDI. A 20x p/e is way too expensive for this type of business in my opinion.

SDI is a company that was hit very hard from COVID as a lot of dental works were suspended due to health reasons. I hold them because I think the company is undervalued in terms of its future earnings to be driven by the higher margin products.

Hi Everyone,

Thought I'd add some personal views on SDI products, might inform everyone as to whether this is a good investment. I am looking at this purely as to my personal views on their products and not on any investment thesis.

As other's have mentioned in the past, SDI is shifting more towards cosmetic products (as is a lot of dentistry shifting towards this aspect). So I'll mainly talk about their cosmetic products which I'll separate into Composites and Bonds, GIC and Whitening products.

Composite and Bonds

• Composite Resin is the main type of general filling material used in Dentistry
  • Main product is called Aura and they also have other products such as Wave (flowable composite resin)
  • From personal use of Aura it would not be my first preference of composite resin and neither would Wave
  • I find the material too hard to handle and the flowable composite Wave always seems to produce air bubbles..
• Bond is the "glue" that is used to stick the composite resin onto the tooth
  • Main bond is Zipbond
  • I've never seen any of their bond products stocked at my surgery...

GIC (Glass Ionomer Cement)

• These are sometimes used for fillings but is more usually a temporary type of material.
• Their product is called Riva
• Their main competitor in this field is called Fuji made by GC (a Japanese company)
• Personally have used both products and I find them similar. 
• I believe Riva is cheaper? May be able to gain market share here.

Whitening Products

• Main product is called Pola
• They offer an in chair option (Pola office and office+) as well as an at home option (Pola day/night)
• These have been marketed heavily in recent times (reps have been coming and trying to sell the products to us)
• Main competitor would be Zoom by Phillips (as well as the recent increase in non dental kits like Hismile)
• Personally have used Pola office+ on paients to varying results. Definitely less sensitivity produced (a common side effect) compared to Zoom but I would also say less whitening effect
• Pola day/night is a fantastic product however and patient's often return to purchase more (we basically make them whitening trays which fit exactly to their teeth and they can reuse the trays and keep purchasing the gels). The whitening doesn't last forever hence why the patient's would return.
• They also seem to release some new products in the whitening range often (I've not tried any of these yet. Due to covid not many reps coming around to promote)

So the general takeaway... Wouldn't be the first choice in terms of choice of material for fillings but they do produce some good whitening products. May be some room to improve if they can improve their products.

Hope this helps everyone, just thought I'd contribute since this is an area I am some what familar with.

Happy to answer questions too!