FORM 8-K


                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                            WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549



                ______________________________________________


                                CURRENT REPORT
                    Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                        Securities Exchange Act of 1934


                         Date of Report July 30, 2003
                       (Date of earliest event reported)


                          DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC
                (Exact name of Company as specified in charter)



                    Delaware             0-16211       39-1434669
              (State of Incorporation) (Commission   (IRS Employer
                                        File Number) Identification No.)




               570 West College Avenue, York, Pennsylvania    17405
              (Address of principal executive offices)      (Zip Code)



                                (717) 845-7511
               (Company's telephone number including area code)









Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits (a) Financial Statements - Not applicable. (b) Exhibits: 99.1 The Dentsply International Inc. second quarter 2003 sales and earnings release issued July 30, 2003 as referenced in Item 12. Item 12. - Disclosure of Results of Operations and Financial Condition The following information is furnished pursuant to Item 12, "Disclosure of Results of Operations and Financial Condition." On July 30, 2003, the Company issued a press release disclosing its second quarter 2003 sales and earnings. This earnings release references net sales excluding precious metal content. Due to the fluctuations of precious metal prices and because the precious metal content of the Company's sales is largely a pass-through to customers and has minimal effect on earnings, the Company reports sales both with and without precious metals to show the Company's performance independent of precious metal price volatility and to enhance comparability of performance between periods. A copy of the Company's press release is attached hereto as Exhibit (99.1) and is hereby incorporated by reference.

SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC (Company) /s/ Bret W. Wise Bret W. Wise Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Date: July 30, 2003

      DENTSPLY

                                        NEWS
      For further
      Information
      Contact:



      Bret W. Wise                             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
      Senior Vice President and
      Chief Financial Officer
      (717) 849-4718


                             DENTSPLY International INC.
                   REPORTS STRONG RESULTS FOR SECOND QUARTER 2003


      York,  PA - July 30, 2003 --  DENTSPLY  International  Inc.  (NASDAQ
      -XRAY) today  announced  sales for the second quarter of 2003 were a
      record  $417.9  million,  an increase of 9.7% compared to the second
      quarter  of  2002.  Sales  excluding  precious  metal  content  rose
      10.9% to  $371.7  million  compared  to $335.2  million  in the 2002
      period.   Net  income  for  the  second   quarter   2003  was  $44.2
      million,  up 20.1% over the prior year and  earnings  per share were
      $.55, a 19.6% increase over 2002.

      Sales for the six months  ended June 30, 2003 were  $814.1  million,
      a 10.6%  increase  compared  to $735.9  million  for the six  months
      ended June 30, 2002.  Sales  excluding  precious metals for the 2003
      period were $713.5 million,  an 11.3% increase  compared to the 2002
      period.  Net  income  for the six  month  period  in 2003 was  $82.5
      million,  a 18.0%  increase over the prior period,  and earnings per
      diluted share were $1.03 per share,  an increase of 17.0%,  compared
      to $0.88 per share in the 2002 period.

      The Company  recorded  pretax  charges of $5.5 million in the second
      quarter and total  pretax  charges of $9.6  million in the six month
      period of 2003,  related  primarily  to  accounting  for  inventory,
      receivables  and  prepaid  expenses at three  locations  impacted by
      integration  activities  following the completion of acquisitions in
      2001.   The  largest   portion  of  these   charges   relate  to  an
      inventory  adjustment  at one of  these  divisions,  confirmed  by a
      physical  inventory that the Company  initiated and completed in the
      second   quarter.   Also  in  the  second   quarter,   the   Company
      initiated   and   completed  an   independent   evaluation   of  its
      accounting  practices  for  establishing  reserves.  As a result  of
      this  evaluation,  the  Company  identified  and  reversed to income
      $4.4  million of reserves  that  should have been  reversed in prior
      periods or were  erroneously  established.  In the first  quarter of
      2003, the Company  reversed $2.4 million of product return  reserves
      that were recorded in excess of appropriate  amounts.  The impact of
      the  establishment  and reversal of these  reserves was not material
      to the  results  of  operations  in  prior  periods  and will not be
      material  to the  results  of  operations  in 2003.  As a result  of
      this  evaluation,  the Company is revising  certain  procedures  for
      identifying  and estimating  reserves to improve the accuracy of its
      accounting for loss contingencies in the future.

John C. Miles, II, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented that "the Company's growth continues to be driven by new product introductions over the past 18 months, particularly those in dental consumables. I am particularly pleased with the rapid sales growth of several of our new product introductions including Cercon, our all ceramic crown and bridge consumable and Aquasil Ultra, our new impression material. Our new product pipeline remains robust and we anticipate several additional key product introductions in the second half of 2003." DENTSPLY Conference Call Information: DENTSPLY will hold a conference call on Thursday, July 31, 2003 at 8:30 a.m. (TZ: Eastern). To access the call, please dial domestic (877) 885-5820 and international (706) 643-9578. This conference call will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.dentsply.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks. To access the replay, please dial domestic (800) 642-1687 and international (706) 645-9291. Call I.D. : 1382341. A transcript of the conference call will also be available through the Company's web site five days after the call. DENTSPLY designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products for the dental market. The Company believes that it is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of dental prosthetics, precious metal dental alloys, dental ceramics, endodontic instruments and materials, prophylaxis paste, dental sealants, ultrasonic scalers, and crown and bridge materials; the leading United States manufacturer and distributor of dental x-ray equipment, dental handpieces, intraoral cameras, dental x-ray film holders, film mounts and bone substitute/grafting materials; and a leading worldwide manufacturer or distributor of dental injectible anesthetics, impression materials, orthodontic appliances, dental cutting instruments and dental implants. The Company distributes its dental products in over 120 countries under some of the most well established brand names in the industry. DENTSPLY is committed to the development of innovative, high quality, cost-effective new products for the dental market. This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking statements set forth herein as a result of certain risk factors. These risk factors include without limitation; the ability to continue to generate sufficient cash flow to pay down debt as planned, the continued strength of dental markets, the timing, success and market reception for our new product introductions, and changes in the general economic environment that could affect our business. For an additional description of risk factors, please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (IN THOUSANDS EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) THREE MONTHS ENDED SIX MONTHS ENDED June 30 June 30 -------------------- -------------------- 2003 2002 2003 2002 --------- --------- --------- --------- NET SALES $417,949 $381,013 $814,136 $735,881 NET SALES - ex PM $371,668 $335,218 $713,506 $640,786 COST OF PRODUCTS SOLD 212,839 196,473 418,955 381,969 GROSS PROFIT 205,110 184,540 395,181 353,912 % OF NET SALES 49.1% 48.4% 48.5% 48.1% % OF NET SALES - ex PM 55.2% 55.1% 55.4% 55.2% SELLING, GENERAL & ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES 134,085 119,783 262,146 234,199 RESTRUCTURING (INCOME)/COSTS 0 (44) 0 (2,001) --------- --------- --------- --------- INCOME FROM OPERATIONS 71,025 64,801 133,035 121,714 % OF NET SALES 17.0% 17.0% 16.3% 16.5% % OF NET SALES - ex PM 19.1% 19.3% 18.6% 19.0% NET INTEREST AND OTHER EXPENSE (INCOME) 5,542 9,017 10,832 15,714 --------- --------- --------- --------- PRE-TAX INCOME 65,483 55,784 122,203 106,000 INCOME TAXES 21,265 18,964 39,718 36,084 --------- --------- --------- --------- NET INCOME $44,218 $36,820 $82,485 $69,916 % OF NET SALES 10.6% 9.7% 10.1% 9.5% % OF NET SALES - ex PM 11.9% 11.0% 11.6% 10.9% EARNINGS PER SHARE-BASIC $0.56 $0.47 $1.05 $0.90 -DILUTIVE $0.55 $0.46 $1.03 $0.88 DIVIDENDS PER SHARE $0.04600 $0.04600 $0.09200 $0.09200 WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING-BASIC 78,688 78,163 78,566 78,056 -DILUTIVE 80,327 80,076 80,168 79,858

DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC. CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS (IN THOUSANDS) JUNE 30, DECEMBER 31, 2003 2002 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS: CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS $ 81,401 $ 25,652 ACCOUNTS AND NOTES RECEIVABLE-TRADE, NET 243,813 221,262 INVENTORIES, NET 229,592 214,492 OTHER CURRENT ASSETS 82,489 79,595 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 637,295 541,001 PROPERTY,PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET 348,971 313,178 GOODWILL, NET 941,598 898,497 IDENTIFIABLE INTANGIBLES ASSETS, NET 236,973 236,009 OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS, NET 139,372 98,348 TOTAL ASSETS $2,304,209 $2,087,033 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY: CURRENT LIABILITIES $ 379,577 $ 365,745 LONG-TERM DEBT 824,971 769,823 OTHER LIABILITIES 93,321 87,239 DEFERRED INCOME TAXES 27,038 27,039 ---------- ---------- TOTAL LIABILITIES 1,324,907 1,249,846 MINORITY INTEREST IN CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES 1,320 1,259 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 977,982 835,928 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY $2,304,209 $2,087,033