High number of scans required to justify owning a CT scanner

• Financial break-even on a conebeam CT scanner is in excess of 20 scans a month
• Loss of operatory space
• Additional staffing requirements
• Doctor's time required to take scans
• Increased liability risk
• Back-up and storage

Referring to radiology groups has its drawbacks

• Dental patients are not their core focus, often leading to slow turnaround times and little or no customer service
• Scans are not formatted for dental use and services such as Simplant conversions, scatter reduction and nerve drawing are not performed. If they are, only basic conversions are included or the prices are substantially higher
• Higher costs, claustrophobic 'tunnel' CT scanners and significantly higher radiation lead to poor patient experience

Referring to other dentists is not ideal

• Many dentists feel uncomfortable referring their patients to competing dentists
• Lack of systems result in slow turnaround times, inconsistent scan quality and generally unprofessional service
• Dentists owning CT scanners prioritize their own patient scans above those from referrals