Increases Sales Volume and Market Coverage in Western Canada

    ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Patterson Dental Company
(Nasdaq: PDCO) today announced it acquired Canadian Dental Supply Ltd., a
dental products distributor with 1996 sales of $26 million.  Canadian Dental
Supply has operations in Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; and
Toronto, Ontario.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
    "The addition of Canadian Dental Supply's profitable operations offers us
expanded geographic penetration in Western Canada," said Peter L. Frechette,
president and chief executive officer.  "Further, we see a significant
opportunity to improve the profitability of our Canadian operation through the
increased sales volume and overhead cost coverage this acquisition provides.
In addition, we continue to implement strategies to reduce our overall
operating costs in this market.  The integration of Canadian Dental Supply is
expected to take about six months, and we anticipate that it will be accretive
to earnings."
    Patterson Dental Company is the largest distributor of dental products in
North America.  The company supplies more than 75,000 products to dentists,
dental laboratories, institutions, physicians and other health care providers.
These products include x-ray film, impression and restorative materials, hand
instruments, sterilization products, front office forms and stationery as well
as capital equipment.  Patterson markets its products and services through
nearly 800 direct sales representatives and equipment specialists in the
United States and Canada, and ships approximately 97 percent of its consumable
goods within 24 hours of receipt of order.
    This news release contains certain forward-looking statements as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which may be
identified by the use of certain forward-looking terminology such as "may,"
"will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "goal," or "continue," or
comparable terminology that involves risks and uncertainties, which may cause
the company's actual results in the future to differ materially from expected
results.  These risks include, among others:  competition within the dental
supply industry; changes in the economics of dentistry, including reduced
growth in expenditures by private dental insurance plans and the effects of
healthcare reform, which may affect future per capita expenditures for dental
services and the ability of dentists to invest in or obtain reimbursement for
the use of high-technology products; the ability of the company to maintain
satisfactory relationships with its sales force; the effects of economic
conditions; the effect of the UPS strike and the ability of the company to
ship products by alternative means; the successful integration of the Colwell,
EagleSoft and Canadian Dental Supply operations; unforeseen operating risks;
risks associated with the dependence on manufacturers of the company's
products; and the availability of capital to finance planned growth.  These
risks are qualified in their entirety by cautionary language set forth in the
company's Form 10-K report filed July 25, 1997, and other documents filed with
Securities and Exchange Commission.

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