Renew Digital offers a wide variety of 3D cone beam enabled and 3D upgradeable panoramic X-ray and panoramic + ceph combination machines. Practices on a budget often ask us if it makes sense to buy a 3D upgradeable panoramic unit and upgrade later or go ahead and purchase a 3D enabled dental X-ray machine right now. The correct answer will be different for every practice, but here are some tips to help.
3D Cone Beam Upgradeable Units
Renew Digital offers several different models of certified pre-owned 3D upgradeable panoramic dental X-ray machines from leading manufacturers such as Planmeca, Sirona, Carestream, and more. Dentists and specialists can often purchase these pre-owned units for less than $15,000.
Upgrade Costs
Upgrading a 2D panoramic unit to 3D requires significant parts replacements including sensors, tube heads, boards, and other electrical components. Most upgrades also need to be done through the manufacturer in order to receive compatible parts. These replacement components are usually the most expensive parts on an X-ray machine. For example, digital 3D sensors can run as high as $15-30,000. Tube heads can cost $8-10,000. Other components, such as boards, can cost thousands of dollars each as well. You may also need to purchase 3D imaging software separately, too.
You can definitely save a lot of money by buying a certified pre-owned 3D upgradeable unit now, if you plan to upgrade to 3D later. But, keep in mind that it will often cost $30-50,000 to make that upgrade. It is a good plan to upgrade a 2D machine if it fits into your budget because you essentially get a "brand new machine" after the upgrade since you are replacing the most critical components.
Other Options
Some alternatives to physically and mechanically upgrading the 2D panoramic machine to 3D is to trade-in your existing digital 2D panoramic or panoramic + ceph X-ray machine towards a certified pre-owned dental CBCT machine. Likely, the cost will be much less than upgrading to 3D with the manufacturer. It also allows you to recoup some of the initial investment of the 2D panoramic X-ray machine purchase and apply that trade-in amount towards a dental CBCT enabled unit. This often makes for a more economic choice.
Another option some practices consider is starting with a lower-cost cone beam machine with a smaller field of view or less robust features rather than purchasing a 3D upgradeable panoramic model and upgrading later. Dentists can use this "starter" cone beam machine to learn how to take and interpret 3D scans, implement an efficient 3D imaging workflow, and gradually add more billable dental procedures to their practice. Renew Digital sells these affordable certified pre-owned dental CBCT machines with smaller 3D fields of view starting at under $25,000. Once the practice is more efficient with the CBCT diagnostic workflow, and has earned more profit through the addition of more dental procedures, then they can trade that "starter" cone beam system for either a new machine or another certified pre-owned cone beam machine with more features or a larger field of view. Again, often the initial investment of the original "starter" cone beam can be realized and applied to the new or certified pre-owned cone beam purchase.
Start Shopping Today
Contact our Renew Digital expert Sales Team to discuss your imaging needs both now and in the future. They can help guide you on which machine to purchase and get you on the right path for your practice and your budget. Renew Digital is vendor-neutral in our approach, so they will find the right machine for you, regardless of manufacturer. Call us today at 888-246-5611 or send us a message online to get started.
