What does cone beam CT economics actually look like for a typical general dental practice?
Substantially worse than the manufacturer’s pitch suggests, especially for practices not running heavy implant or oral surgery volume. The manufacturer claim runs something like: do five full-mouth scans per week and produce $100,000 in additional imaging profit per year. The pitch glosses over operational realities. The lease payment on a unit runs $2,500 to $3,500 per month. Service and maintenance contracts add to the monthly cash burn. Staff training for any team turnover adds more. The scan volume claim of five per week assumes the practice has the case mix to justify them, which most general practices do not. Adjusted for holidays, vacation, and realistic case flow, the projected revenue typically falls well short of the claim. Meanwhile the monthly cash outflow continues regardless. The economic kicker is that the lease payment in major metropolitan markets consumes half or more of the typical external marketing budget. In smaller markets it can exceed the marketing budget entirely. Marketing is what produces big cases. Starving marketing to feed a CT lease is a net loss for any practice not running enough volume to justify the equipment honestly.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.
