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Corporate Profile: Shofu By Benjamin Lund Editor, Dentaltown Magazine

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Since its founding in 1971, Shofu Dental Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shofu Inc. (Kyoto, Japan), has always focused on superior quality of its products. The company, based out of San Marcos, California, is currently making strides to gain a larger share in the porcelain, diamond and cement markets, as well as innovating new products for the dental profession.

“Shofu is known for quality. We hear that over and over again – even from our competitors. We’re the best-kept secret in the industry,” says Shofu Dental Corporation President & CEO C. Brian Melonakos. Melonakos was recruited to Shofu in June 2004, to integrate the clinical and lab divisions of the company, to increase marketing and educational efforts and to launch more new products into the American markets.

  

Right: Shofu Director of Sales Randy Bailey,
Director of Marketing Lynne M. Calliott, and
President and CEO C. Brian Melonakos.
Eastern Beginnings

Shofu Inc., was founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1922 by Kajo Shofu III, a researcher and entrepreneur who was very knowledgeable about the ceramics industry. The company’s first breakthrough into dentistry was the development of high-quality porcelain teeth for dentures. Prior to Shofu Dental Corporation’s founding in North America, Shofu was almost exclusively focused on the large Japan market. Some of the company’s products were available to other parts of the world through importers at that time. After almost 50 years, Shofu decided to expand west and set up corporate offices in Menlo Park, California. It was the first location outside Japan that was initially responsible for all territories in the Americas and Europe.

Today, Shofu Dental Corporation, based out of San Marcos since 2001, is responsible for all territories in North and South America and sells selected products that are only available in the Americas for unique market demands. Shofu Dental Corporation’s offerings are more limited than its parent company, but the catalog is still rather broad, including abrasives, diamonds, cements, direct and indirect restoratives, whitening products, finishers, polishers and other products. In terms of dollar volume, the company’s three most popular products are still its Vintage Halo Porcelain, Dura-White Stones and Brownie Polishers.

With everything that it has to offer, Shofu is not afraid of losing its identity as a core abrasives/porcelain manufacturer, but the company is aware that it needs to maintain a certain focus in its product development. According to Shofu Director of Marketing Lynne M. Calliott, there’s a logical tie between its porcelain and abrasive products. “We’re making abrasives specifically tied to porcelain materials so that we know how to polish and finish them the best. We’re polishing everyone else’s composites, so why not have a composite that compliments our polishers,” says Calliott.

While Shofu Dental Corporation still has the freedom to adapt to cultural and market differences – separating it from its parent company – it is now working more closely with Shofu Inc.’s research and development department. “For the first time we’re working intimately with Shofu Inc.’s R&D,” says Melonakos. “Shofu’s key R&D people travel quite a bit, spending time with American and other dentists and dental technicians. They visit universities, trade shows, dental offices and dental labs and speak directly with customers. When a product is developed, but not yet launched, samples are sent to each major market for customer evaluation. Sometimes these evaluations will confirm that we hit the mark and other times further changes will be indicated. In terms of the current focus of R&D, it’s to become more of a global player in cements, restoratives and bonding agents where we historically have not been a strong market player.”

Currently, Shofu has found that it is able to get products specifically, if not exclusively, for the American market. This company is based on quality and a long-term focus. Melonakos says it is very different from other companies he has worked with including those outside the dental profession. Shofu is very medium- to long-term focused, and not overwhelmingly focused on quarterly results. There is a lot of careful planning that goes into product development and manufacturing processes – which might be the key to Shofu’s endurance.

One of the new and carefully planned products on Shofu’s immediate horizon include Ceramage, an indirect restorative product that is about 70 percent zirconium silicate, which is already selling millions of dollars on a worldwide basis. According to Calliott, since the beginning, Shofu has worked with a world-recognized master ceramist to develop and refine it’s porcelains – with a strong focus on colors. The entire range of colors for all of the company’s porcelains, including Ceramage, undergo comprehensive research with a computerized colorimeter and several studies on thousands of teeth by Master Dental Technician Makoto Yamamoto. No porcelain product goes to market unless it meets with Yamamoto’s approval. “I think Ceramage will present a sort of rebirth to the whole indirect restorative market,” says Melonakos. “We’re also excited about our zirconia porcelain called Vintage ZR. The CRA has recently identified that zirconia porcelains on the market tend to have issues with cracking and with their firing temperatures; we feel like we have a very significant advantage there. We also have a new veneer cement coming out, and a new bonding agent arriving in the short-term. Next year we have a significant new porcelain system coming out.”

Getting the Word Out

While Shofu Dental Corporation is known among its loyal client base for the quality of its products, its marketing and corporate image have remained low-key. Melonakos has even mentioned that as he was being considered for his position at Shofu, one of his peers gave him a four word analysis of the company – “Great products, weak marketing.” Marketing aside, breadth-of-distribution has also been a contributing factor in preventing Shofu from gaining a larger market share.

“I think it’s becoming increasingly difficult for even the larger players like Dentsply and 3M to get the kind of support from retail representatives that they have in the past,” says Melonakos. “For a relatively smaller company, like Shofu, it is still harder. It is a question of resources – not only advertising, but also educational resources and all the things that go into marketing. But having said that, I think we have tremendous potential.”

Historically, Shofu Dental Corporation has been conservative when it comes to presenting educational programs or even purchasing advertising to make the company and its products more visible. That is changing now. Relying on Web sites like Dentaltown.com, Shofu America is focused on grassroots campaigns and what Melonakos likes to call, “guerilla marketing.”

“We want to make much greater use of the Internet, and that’s why we’re working with Dentaltown,” says Melonakos. “The Internet and associated new communications technologies should enable Shofu and other companies to have a more even playing field with the largest players. Personal relationships continue to be extremely important in this industry. We want to be smart. I’ve said several times, to some degree, that we have to engage in guerilla marketing right now. For example, we tell our sales reps, ‘If you just do the same things as the Dentsply rep or the 3M rep, you’re probably not going to be successful, because in your territory are five or 10 of them.’ Our guys have to work differently – even just using the phone more effectively. We’re also doing more on the outside in terms of working with an outside telesales firm that routinely follows up on all of our sales calls to try to extend our reach.”

Shofu is also providing more continuing education programs, either by sponsoring them or providing courses itself. “We currently host continuing education programs – especially on the lab side,” says Melonakos. “We have dedicated lab education programs around the country both in conjunction with lab meetings and separately scheduled at different labs. We have also sponsored some dentist speakers in the past. We will be doing more of that in the near future as well.” Shofu’s San Marcos facility is primarily made up of offices and a warehouse, but the company is presently retrofitting it with a dental lab where Shofu plans to hold several hands-on continuing education courses where lab technicians can improve techniques in building restorations with various porcelains and with Ceramage. The lab area will have a bench area with room for eight attendees and a classroom with room for 12. Shofu also recently opened up its new training facility in Kyoto, Japan, where dentists and technicians from around the world can be trained on some of the company’s lab and chemical products.

Given time, loyalty from its customers, strong recognition of its existing products, a new focus on increasing its market share in several areas of dentistry, and maintaining its reputation of offering quality products, Shofu looks to go from being the “best-kept secret” to a “household name” in the profession.

(Portions of this article were taken from an interview with Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director)


Ceramage (above) is a zirconium silicate infused indirect restorative, used for indirect restorations, which has virtually identical light transmission as natural teeth. It can be applied to any type of alloy or as a metal-free veneering material. Ceremage is used for veneer implant substructures, inlays, onlays, and anterior and posterior jacket crowns. Its micro fine structure gives it a high tensile and compressive strength and color stability. It is easy to polish and is resistant to plaque accumulation.
Shofu Diamond Points (left) are manufactured by high-tech robots under a computer automated environment, untouched by human hands, and conform strictly to ISO standard and specification. This robotic environment ensures even distribution of natural diamond particles so that each point can provide precise, smooth and effortless cutting efficiency. Five different grit sizes are available: standard, coarse, super coarse, fine and super fine.
MonoCem (right), a new advancement in resin-luting agents, is a three-step self-adhesive resin cement that Shofu introduced in 2006. MonoCem will self-adhere to a wet tooth structure and requires no etching, priming, bonding, silane or drying.
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September 2025
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