Irvine-based Glidewell Dental Laboratories celebrated its 50th anniversary mid-January “with a relatively humble employee celebration,” according to press release.
“I’m not normally a man to celebrate milestones,” President and CEO Jim Glidewell said to hundreds of his employees in a speech. “I’ve always feared that being too proud of one’s achievements can lead to complacency, impeding continued growth.”
One real estate milestone worth noting: The company’s announcement noted it now counts a local base of operations in Irvine and Newport Beach running about 1 million square feet. That’s among the largest corporate campuses in Orange County, particularly in the area around John Wayne Airport.
Prior Business Journal reports on the privately held device maker from 2018—at the time of a big property acquisition just off Von Karman Avenue—estimated Glidewell’s real estate collection closer to half a million square feet.
The company ranked third biggest on the Business Journal’s annual list of medical device makers with an estimated 2,000 employees. That figure appears low; the company says it now employs nearly 5,000 companywide, ranging from technicians to engineers to scientists.
A U.S. Navy and Vietnam War veteran, Glidewell founded his company on Jan. 6, 1970 to make rehabilitative dentistry affordable. The company has grown its revenue annually except for 2009.
That same year in 2009, the company released BruxZir Solid Zirconia, a tooth-colored material developed by Glidewell’s R&D team as a durable alternative to cast gold or metal occlusal restorations. The research publication Clinicians Report said the product is “the most successful tooth-colored restoration in the history of dentistry.”
