About Us
Started 40 years ago in Newberg, OR by the Spencer family, DCI redefined the dental landscape by designing dental parts and equipment that challenge the status quo—and make any practice run more smoothly. Utilizing decades of experience in dental parts manufacturing, DCI expanded in 2016 with the launch of DCI Edge, our brand of reliable, value-driven dental equipment. Today, the family continues to lead the company with the same design expertise and commitment to value and service at the forefront.
Designing and building the best dental equipment in the industry is our passion. Manufacturing with an unwavering focus on reliability and optimal value is our promise.
Our Core Values
1. Make our customer’s life easier.
We believe in managing every aspect of the business around the simple goal of making our customer’s life easier. We are guided by a key principle: that by delivering expertly-made, value-driven products, while never wavering in our commitment to customer service and care, we can simplify and improve the lives—and businesses—of our customers. This value has driven DCI since its inception, and has remained at the forefront of all we do.
2. Enhance the lives of our employees.
While we remain focused on making each customer’s life easier, we also know that a business is nothing without the people that keep it going. We strive every day to create an environment and company culture that celebrates accomplishments, nurtures each employee, and caters to a healthy work-life balance.
Our employees make us what we are. Click here to learn more about working for DCI and join our team.
3. Provide dental care to those in need.
DCI’s founders, John and Janelle Spencer, have long had a dream that 250,000 people per year would someday receive dental care on donated DCI equipment. They have long since committed to that goal, and to supporting communities in need, by helping to provide free and affordable dental care. The Spencer Family Foundation, officially founded in 2005, is a larger-scale continuation of their many years of work in the community.
The foundation often partners with major dealers like Henry Schein, Benco, and Burkhart on their community programs, ensuring that we work with organizations that will make long-term use of donated equipment and provide essential care to communities who have not otherwise had access. These partnerships include, among many others:
- Opening a large-scale dental school in Tanzania, now used by students across Africa
- Compassion Connect (Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Minnesota)
- Compassion Connect India
- Virginia Garcia Beaverton Wellness Center
- Mothers of Mercy (MOM)
- Pacific University
- International organizations worldwide
Four Decades of DCI
Forty years ago, equipped with a small home loan, a concept for an improved dental syringe, and a makeshift office in their living room, John and Janelle Spencer started DCI. Drawing on their own firsthand experience in the dental industry—John having been a top representative for a major dental supplier and Janelle working as a dental hygienist—they turned DCI into the world’s largest and most trusted dental parts manufacturer.
Eventually becoming a multi-generational family business, with the addition of their children Jason and Amy to the company, they then expanded further with the launch of DCI Edge, the company’s dental equipment brand. To this day, the Spencer family continues to lead DCI with their continued commitment to quality, affordability, and making every customer’s life easier—values that have made DCI Edge the fastest-growing dental equipment manufacturer in North America. In pursuit of this continued expansion and growth, in 2023 DCI went through a transition of ownership to the dental manufacturer NSK—another family-run company with decades of experience in the dental industry and shared focus on the customer, employee, and community. DCI has maintained its entire leadership and sales team during this transition and will do so into the future.
1983
DCI is founded by John and Janelle Spencer as a manufacturer of quality dental parts and accessories, driven by the principle of making the customer’s life easier.1993
DCI becomes the largest dental parts manufacturer in the world.1997
DCI acquires Pelton & Crane and Marus, expanding into the dental equipment market. These companies are later sold in 2005, but this provides the experience to ultimately start the DCI Edge brand.2016
DCI announces an expansion, launching DCI Edge, their brand of dental equipment . DCI continues to innovate with the introduction of the Series 5 Operatory Package.2018
DCI continues to expand its dental offerings with the introduction of cabinetry and orthodontic lines.2020
DCI launches the integrated NSK NLZE electric motor. The two family-owned dental manufacturers form a partnership, and NSK became a minority investor in DCI.2022
DCI Edge becomes the fastest growing dental equipment manufacturer in North America. The Series 5 Chair becomes the chair most frequently chosen by private practice and DSO dentists in the US.2022
As a result of a random act of arson, the DCI Parts Assembly and Corporate Office building burns to the ground. With limited interruptions to customer orders or staff pay, the building’s operations are moved to a new temporary location within months.2023
John Spencer wins EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Mountain West for his decades of work in the industry and successful growth of multiple businesses.Today
DCI celebrates 40 years in business and becomes an NSK company, in order to continue their goals for innovation and accelerated growth.
Celebrating the partnership at an all-employee barbeque, August 2023: (left to right) Colan Rogers, President /GM (NSK America Corp); Eiichi Nakanishi, President and CEO (NSK); John Spencer, CEO and Founder (DCI); Jason Spencer, President (DCI)
