Dentsply Sirona, York, Pa, and Zephyr Sleep Technologies, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at sleep dentistry. Zephyr designs, develops, and manufactures medical devices for diagnosis and treatment of sleep disordered breathing.

The partnership comes as Zephyr releases its MATRx Plus system, a tablet-based and cloud-connected medical device designed for home use. The MATRx Plus system helps determine which patients with a sleep-related breathing disorder, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), will respond positively to treatment with oral appliances before the appliance is prescribed. MATRx Plus is cleared in the United States for diagnostic indications and approved in Canada for both diagnostic and theragnostic indications.

According to a press release from the companies, the goal of the partnership is to bring together their experience in providing technologies and applications for OSA treatment.

In conjunction with the investment, Dentsply Sirona has appointed Dr Stefan Hehn, vice president of imaging system, to Zephyr’s board of directors to spearhead the cooperation.

“Bringing on Dentsply Sirona as both an investor and strategic partner opens up a whole new world of opportunity. A significant challenge to any emerging technology company is building a path to market, and by partnering with a company of Dentsply Sirona’s stature it increases credibility with our customers and provides an established and extensive network to create, build, and deliver the best treatments possible for sleep-related breathing disorders,” said Paul Cataford, Zephyr’s Chief Executive Officer.

Dentsply Sirona currently offers a range of products in its sleep dentistry portfolio, including 3D imaging, digital impressions, SICAT Air software, and the OPTISLEEP appliance. Through the combination of 3D imaging systems like Galileos and selected Orthophos SL 3D units, digital impressions from the CEREC Omnicam, and the SICAT Air software, clinicians can analyze the upper airways in 3D volume and illustrate the workflow of an appliance-based treatment digitally. This workflow allows users to order mandibular advancement appliances like OPTISLEEP by SICAT that can be used to reduce or alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate OSA.