Exhibit 31.1

Section 302 Certifications Statement

I, Gerald K. Kunkle, Jr., certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this Form 10-K of DENTSPLY International
      Inc;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
      untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
      material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
      light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were made, not misleading with respect to the period
      covered by this report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
      financial information included in this report, fairly
      present in all material respects the financial condition,
      results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
      of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
      responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
      controls and procedures and internal control over
      financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
      13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

        (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
        or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
        designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
        information relating to the registrant, including its
        consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
        others within those entities, particularly during the
        period in which this report is being prepared;

        (b) Designed such internal controls over financial
        reporting, or caused such internal controls over
        financial reporting to be designed under their
        supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding
        the reliability of financial reporting and the
        preparation of financial statements for external
        purposes in accordance with generally accepted
        accounting principles:

        (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
        disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
        this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of
        the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
        of the period covered by this report based on such
        evaluation; and

        (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the
        registrant's internal control over financial reporting
        that occurred during the registrant's most recent
        fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
        reasonably likely to materially affect, the
        registrant's internal control over financial reporting;
        and

5.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
      disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
      controls over financial reporting, to the registrant's
      auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
      of directors:

        (a) All significant deficiencies and material
        weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
        control over financial reporting which are reasonably
        likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
        record, process, summarize and report financial
        information; and

        (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
        management or other employees who have a significant
        role in the registrant's internal control over
        financial reporting.

Date: March 16, 2005




/s/ Gerald K. Kunkle, Jr.
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Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer