Our Story

With over 200 years of collective experience in the dental industry, HuFriedyGroup is a global leader in dental instrument manufacturing, infection prevention, and instrument reprocessing workflows. HuFriedyGroup helps dental professionals be the best in practice by providing a complete circle of protection in the dental suite, bringing together world-class products, services, education, and communities that result in superior clinician performance, clinical outcomes, and safety for clinicians and patients. Headquartered in Chicago, HuFriedyGroup products are distributed in more than 100 countries, and the dental division maintains offices in Germany, Italy, China, and Japan.

We pride ourselves on forging relationships with the dental professionals, starting as students and continuing through their entire careers. We are constantly creating new products and new opportunities for them to deliver the best care to patients.


A Proud Legacy and a Focus on the Future

Founded in 1908, Hu-Friedy is a global leader in the manufacturing of dental instruments and products designed to help dental practitioners perform at their best. Its 10,000-plus products, hand-crafted by highly skilled artisans, are known for their precision, performance, longevity, reliability, and quality.

From a simple beginning in 1953, as a disposable towel/bib manufacturer, Crosstex has steadily grown to become one of the world's leading providers of infection prevention and control (IP&C) and compliance solutions. Crosstex is a recognized leader for its portfolio of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Dental Water Management, Chemistries, Sterilization, Preventives, Nitrous-Oxide Equipment, and Single-Use Disposable products.

As one of the world’s leading dental instrument and product companies, we continue our commitment to advance dental performance by supporting these products with world-class service, education and peer communities.

In 2021, HuFriedyGroup was acquired by STERIS, a leading provider of infection prevention and other procedural products and services. HuFriedyGroup is proud to be the dental business segment of STERIS.

1908

Hu‑Friedy founded by Hugo Friedman

1945

Introduced Gracey Line of Instruments

1953

Crosstex founded as disposable towel/bib manufacturer

1959

Hu‑Friedy Acquired by Saslow Family; Richard Saslow named Hu‑Friedy Chairman

1970

Former EVP and CEO Howard Wax joins Hu‑Friedy

1975

Developed Wilkins/Tufts explorer

1978

Launched first restorative line of immunity steel instruments

1981

Began Japanese distribution partnership

1985

Introduced IMS™ Cassettes

1991

Established European office in Germany

1996

Entered ultrasonic scaling marketing with insert line

1999

Launched orthodontic product line

2002

Established Japan office to support growth in Asia Pacific market

2004

Ron Saslow Named Hu‑Friedy President

2005

Introduced EverEdge™ Scalers

Crosstex Acquired by Cantel Medical

2007

Expanded global presence in China

Initiated Friends of Hu‑Friedy online community

2008

Launched Nevi™ Scalers, named after legendary Hu-Fredy artisan Neville Hammond

2009

Established European office in the Netherlands

2010

Launched magnetostrictive ultrasonic scaler

Introduced full line of hand care products

2011

Entered new category with pediatric crowns

Ron Saslow Named Hu‑Friedy Chairman

Ken Serota Named Hu‑Friedy President

2013

Introduced Clear Collection™ for Clear Aligners Instrument Set

2014

Introduced Black Line Collection

2015

Launched Hu-Care Service Programs

2016

Accutron Inc. acquired by Crosstex 

Introduced EverEdge™ 2.0 Scalers

2017

J. Palmero Sales Company and subsidiaries acquired by Hu‑Friedy 

2018

Launched GreenLight Dental Compliance Center™ by Hu‑Friedy

Launched EverCare Sharpening Service

2019

Hu‑Friedy acquired by Cantel

2020

HuFriedyGroup introduced as the Dental Division of Cantel

Introduced Harmony™ Ergonomic Scalers and Curettes

2021

Andy Xilas Named President of HuFriedyGroup

HuFriedyGroup named as the Fourth Steris Business Segment, Dental