SDM was formed in 1994 by Julie Kastell to offer the dental industry the important market data enjoyed by other industries. As companies like IMS Health and Nielsen provide retailer driven sales data to the pharmaceutical and consumer industries, SDM provides reports based upon distributor sales. The company now serves virtually all of the major manufacturers and distributors in the US and UK. It launched its parallel service in the UK in 1996. SDM has been working with the British Dental Trade Association to provide valuable research information to its members.

Ms. Kastell holds an MBA and was the Senior VP, Director of Marketing for a manufacturer of products for the dental industry, taking the company from a single product introduction to a 4 million dollar, multi-product company. In 1994, Ms. Kastell acted on her long standing frustration with the quality of information available to dental marketing professionals by forming Strategic Dental Marketing, Inc.