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 [...]