Dexis digital x-rays now sell for $10,000 to $14,000 per sensor based on the sales representative that sells it to you.  The warranty is only for 1 year and the annual service contract is $1,400 per Dexis sensor per year.  Let me repeat this. The annual service contract per Dexis digital X-ray sensor is $1,400 or 10% to 14% of the acquisition cost.   

In the world of corporate technology sales, decisions are made based on the concept of Total Cost of Ownership or TCO.  TCO views all buying decisions based on the total cost of owning the product over its entire product lifetime including warranty and service plans.

In the world of dental technology sales, decisions are often based on the concept of Total Cost of Acquisition or TCA.   TCA only considers the up-front cost of a dental product and does not factor in the cost of annual warranties or service plans.
 
Let’s take a look at the concepts of TCO vs. TCA when investing in 2 different dental digital x-ray solutions (Dexis vs. XDR).  

Digital X-ray Exclusive (Dexis)                              Digital X-ray Non-Exclusive (XDR)

Price:   $10,000 per sensor                                   Price:      $6,995 per sensor
            x  3 Dexis sensors                                                   x  3 XDR sensors
      $30,000 for 3 Dexis sensors                                      $20,985 for 3 XDR sensors

(TCA)  Total Cost of Acquisition: $30,000               (TCA)     Total Cost of Acquisition: $20,985

Annual Service Contract $1,400 (per sensor)          Annual Service Contract $540  (for all sensors)                 
                      x       3  (Dexis sensors)                                                        x   1 (XDR sensors)
Annual Service Cost:  $4,200 (3 Dexis sensors)      Annual Service Cost:  $540 (3 XDR sensors)

(Based on 5 Year Product Life cycle)                      (Based on 5 Year Product Life cycle)
$4,200 x 5 Years = $21,000 Warranty Cost             $540 x 5 Years = $2,700 Warranty Cost

(TCO) Total Cost of Ownership: $51,000                 (TCO) Total Cost of Ownership: $23,685

Again this is how corporations make technology buying decisions.  Now the dental community needs to embrace the buying concepts of TCO vs. TCA to truly understand the true cost of their dental technology investments.       

Here, at Dentists Management Corporation, we promote all of our 2D/3D dental digital solutions and our practice management software based on the Total Cost of Ownership principle.

If you are considering investing in digital x-rays, digital PANs, 3D conebeam or practice management software call Dave Novitsky at 503-765-3413 or email him  and set up a FREE online consulting session to review how Dentists Management Corporation can save you thousands of dollars annually.

Using TCO to determine the true cost of your technology investments is a right click.

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