Zest Dental Solutions (Formerly Zest Anchors), the developer and manufacturer of the award winning LOCATOR Attachment System, celebrates its 40th anniversary of providing innovative solutions for the treatment of edentulous patients.
Zest’s humble beginning started in 1972 within a small dental laboratory in San Diego, California. From that point through 1976, the original founder Max Zuest recognized the continual problems his clinician customers were experiencing with patients’ overdentures. During this time, the Zest® Attachment originated, a solution considered to be far better than what was on the market at the time. In 1977 Mr. Zuest’s son, Paul Zuest, joined him officially forming Zest Anchors and releasing the second generation Zest Anchor Advanced Generation (ZAAG®) Attachment. The ZAAG Attachment was designed for all major implant systems, a product differentiator that proved to be an important growth driver resulting in the need for a larger manufacturing facility in Escondido, California. In 2000, realizing improvements could still be made to the product portfolio, Paul took over operations of the company, and together with Scott Mullaly, set forth to develop a product that would eventually become the most globally recognized and trusted brand for overdenture restorations, the LOCATOR Attachment System, commercially released in 2001. In late 2009, Zest Anchors was acquired by the private equity firm The Jordan Group.
Today, Zest Dental Solutions is a portfolio company of Avista Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm. Day-to-day operations are led by Steve Schiess as President and CEO. The company’s flagship product LOCATOR has achieved worldwide acceptance as the premier overdenture attachment in the dental industry. More than 100 manufacturers have partnered with Zest to customize its patented LOCATOR Attachment System to be compatible with their respective implant platforms. Zest’s Global Headquarters is in Carlsbad, California and the company has grown to a nearly 225 employee, 75,000 total facility footprint strong innovations driven company. It provides removable and fixed implant restorative solutions, world class narrow diameter implant systems, and dental materials and products for overdenture modification and processing to clinicians treating the real world problems associated with edentulism. The company has also further diversified its product portfolio with acquisitions of Danville Materials, a leader in small equipment and dental consumables, and Iveri Whitening. This diversification makes Zest a true solutions based company for a continuum of patient care from the preservation of natural teeth to the treatment of total edentulism.
“40 years ago the Zuest Family set out to make a difference in patients’ lives”, said Steve Schiess, Zest Dental Solutions President and CEO. “I am honored to be a part of a company that has made such a large impact in the dental industry, supporting clinicians and ultimately improving patient’s quality of life. I am excited for the bright future Zest has in bringing additional innovations to the dental community”
To learn more about Zest Dental Solutions and the Zest Anchors Product Portfolio, please visit www.zestdent.com.
