Laurence Dollimore
THE only false tooth factory in Spain will celebrate its 65th anniversary this year.
Unidesa-Odi is still the country’s only denture manufacturer, and exports to some 52 countries worldwide.
When Ana María Dominguez and her partner Jose started out in the denture industry, false teeth were still made by hand.
Today, a machine she calls the ‘robot’ produces more than 60 a minute.
“I’m amazed whenever I see the robot, and at how much things have changed… madre mía. In the beginning we just mixed a little powder with some liquid in a small cup.”
Now the company – based 50km southeast of Madrid in Tielmes – makes a total of 12 million dentures every year.
“Demand depends on the morphology of our clients. African countries ask for whiter teeth that are more of a square shape, while people in Asia like smaller teeth, made of ivory,” Export Manager Soraya Domínguez explains.
“We have a variety of colours, from very bright to darker. We realised that people from the United States like their teeth really, really white and so we had to create a brighter white for them,” added Soraya’s nephew, Guillermo Domínguez, who heads development and research.
The company continues to be run by the same family and is a mainstay of its small town of 2,600.
