Used dental equipment seems to be everywhere these days. Several used dental equipment dealers have crept up in the past 5-10 years and it’s hard to keep them all straight. Many of these dealers advertise used dental equipment for sale directly on their websites or through other online channels and marketplaces such as eBay. If you’ve never bought used dental equipment for your practice, or never even considered it, you may be asking “Who is buying all of this used stuff?” and “Is it just as good as new?”
Dental professionals seek to buy used dental equipment for sale for a variety of reasons and in different stages of their careers. Here are just a few of the most common types of customers that purchase used dental equipment.
Dental students are graduating with more debt than ever before. According to the American Dental Education Association, the average amount of debt for a graduate in 2019 was nearly $300,000. This high level of debt can hinder a new dentist’s spending ability when opening a practice. By purchasing used dental equipment for sale, a new practitioner can save 30-50% on equipment costs when compared to buying new. Used dental equipment can also be capitalized and is often eligible for tax incentives, making it even more affordable for dentists just starting out.
The number of multi-location practices, including small dental groups and large DSOs, is growing exponentially. When expanding a dental practice, practitioners or practice managers can choose to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars outfitting each new location with brand new equipment, or they can look for certified pre-owned used dental equipment for sale to help minimize their initial investment. Additionally, when they can find used dental equipment for sale that is the same brand, model, and generation or age of their existing practice’s equipment, they often reduce the learning curve for staff members that move between locations.
Replacing equipment when its lifespan is over is completely expected. It is easy to plan and budget for this. However, if expensive dental equipment breaks unexpectedly or succumbs to environmental damage such as power surges or water damage, dentists may not be prepared to replace this pricey equipment immediately. Instead, when these unexpected losses occur, many practitioners seek out used dental equipment for sale. These more affordable options help minimize the initial loss by incurring less out of pocket expense to replace the damaged systems. They will likely still get the same amount of remaining life and use out of the used equipment as they would have from the previous equipment had it not been damaged. Then, they can budget and plan to purchase brand new devices when they’re ready, and not when they’re left with no choice.
Dental cone beam is the new standard of care for many dental procedures, but it comes with a learning curve and can be very expensive to implement. Before investing a lot of time and money into a new CBCT machine, many practitioners ease their way into this new technology. For example, they may purchase a used small or medium 3D field of view cone beam unit to place single implants here and there or to add some endodontic or periodontic cases to the practice. Once they’re feeling more comfortable with the technology, and after receiving feedback from their patients, dental professionals can plan to invest in the more expensive and newer technology with a larger 3D field of view and more advanced features such as the creation of surgical guides, airway studies, and other tools. Some practitioners are so happy with their first used dental cone beam purchase, that they go back and buy a used one for their next, more advanced, purchase too!
It may seem odd that a dentist who is retiring would want to buy used dental equipment. Why go to all of that expense? When you consider the fact that 600-800 new dentists are entering the profession each year than retire from it, the reason becomes clear. Established dental practices are a valuable commodity. If a new dentist buys an existing practice, he or she does not have to worry about a lot of the startup costs, hiring staff, or finding new patients. So, those retiring practitioners do their best to make their practices as appealing as possible to these tech-savvy graduates by upgrading to newer pre-owned dental equipment at a reasonable price. This makes their practices far more attractive from both a patient and potential buyer perspective.
Dental professionals across the spectrum may choose to purchase used dental equipment for a variety of reasons. To learn more about certified pre-owned used dental equipment for sale from Renew Digital, contact us online or call 888-246-5611 today. We offer a wide inventory of leading brands, from panoramic X-ray machines, CBCT, intraoral scanners and more.