In the world of dental care, the advancement of technology has created a dynamic marketplace for equipment. While new, state-of-the-art equipment garners much attention, there is a bustling market for used dental machinery. But who exactly is on the lookout for these pre-owned devices?
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 X-ray machines.
Graduating Dentists: 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, 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.
Adding Locations: 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 X-ray units and 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 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 Damaged Equipment: Replacing equipment when its lifespan is over is completely expected. It is easy to plan and budget for this. However, if expensive digital dental X-ray 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.
Transitioning to Cone Beam: Dental cone beam computed tomography 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 3D imaging 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 this dental imaging 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 for treatment planning. 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!
Retiring Dentists: 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 high-quality, newer pre-owned dental equipment at a reasonable price. This makes their practices far more attractive from both a patient and potential buyer perspective.
Get Started Saving 30% to 50% Off Used Dental Equipment
Shop with Renew Digital Today! 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 them online or call 888-246-5611 today. They offer a wide inventory of many types of X-ray systems leading brands, from panoramic X-ray machines, CBCT, intraoral scanners and more.
