A Practice Affordability Worksheet · Vol. I

Should you buy that printer, mill, or scanner?

An honest, dentist-built calculator that pits in-office digital fabrication against your actual lab spend. Fill in your numbers — your case mix, your fees, your staff cost — and the math will tell you whether the equipment pays for itself before it's obsolete.

by Christopher Pescatore, D.M.D.

Download the Full 10-Page Guide
Equipment & Capital
§ A
$
%
$
$
Monthly Production
§ B
Crowns & Restorations
Per-Unit Costs
§ C
Material — your in-office cost
$
$
$
Lab fee — what you currently pay
$
$
$
Staff time
min
$
Outsourced CAD design use if you send designs to a remote service instead of designing in-house
%
$

Examples: independent CAD studios $5–18/unit (iDentCAD, FullContour, Alien Milling). Reduces staff time but adds per-unit cost. If 0%, every case is designed in-house and only staff time applies.

Other consumables — annual
$
%
Bottom Line
—
Enter your numbers on the left.
Annual lab spend (current)If you keep outsourcing
—
Annual in-house cost (projected)Materials + staff + service + financing
—
Annual savings (or excess cost)
—
Payback periodMonths to recover capital
—
5-year net positionCumulative savings minus equipment
—
Cost per restoration (in-house)
—

Annual Cost Breakdown — In-House

ComponentAnnual%
Total annual cost—100%
How payback is computed: Annual savings = (lab fees you'd have paid) − (in-house material + staff time + service contract + software + financing payment + supplies, with remakes added). Payback = total equipment cost ÷ annual savings, in months. The 5-year net position assumes consistent volume and includes the full capital outlay rather than just financed payments.