Digital Dental X-Ray Makes Dollars
and Sense
Install It Now—If Only to Save Money
by David A. Hall,
D.D.S. Are you
agonizing over what digital x-ray system to buy? Are you waiting for
patients to demand digital x-rays? Well, I'm suggesting that you do a
little math and see how much money you'll save by going digital.
Try setting up a separate accounting
category in your practice for x-rays. Put the cost of film, chemicals,
mounts, machine maintenance, and anything else you spend on x-rays into
that category. If you're a typical one-dentist practice, you spend about
$400 per month on these items.
Now add in the cost of staff time in
developing, mounting, and keeping track of x-rays. And you may want to
throw in the cost of looking for misplaced x-rays. Do you duplicate
x-rays? Don't forget to add in that time. According to dental practice
management expert Sally McKenzie, an average practice takes 12 to 15
darkroom visits to develop and mount 50 film x-rays in a day, taking about
two to two-and-a-half hours of assistant and hygienist time to accomplish
it. Multiplying that by $20 per hour gives $700 to $1000 per month in
staff time, varying somewhat depending on how many days per week you
operate. This
totals about $1250 per month, give or take a few. Compare that with the
average lease cost for a digital dental x-ray system: $500 per month. If
you're skeptical, run your own numbers and see what you come up with.
Besides that, the perceived value to the
dental patient of a digital x-ray system is higher than for a film x-ray
system. So, you may be able to raise your fees. And doctor, how much time
do you think it will save you not to have to hunt down misplaced x-rays?
And how much value will it add to your case presentations when you use the
enhancements that all digital x-ray software has?
To use a cliché: It's a no-brainer.
The numbers work regardless of which system
you buy. I recommend that you do your homework. Find out which one works
best for you. But even a poor choice of a digital system will save you
money. So just do it. And take the extra $600 to $900 per month that you
were throwing at your old film system and buy yourself a nice car. What do
you say? To find
books about dental radiography, click
here.
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