Planmeca · Dental Equipment · $3,500 – $7,000
A unit with <8,000 total exposures and last service within 12 months commands $6,200–$7,000; anything with a >18-month service gap or sensor calibration drift drops to $3,800–$4,500 because you're buying a recalibration job ($400–$600). Age alone is less brutal than maintenance history - a 2018 model with full records beats a 2021 neglected unit.
Power it on and take 10 test shots into a phantom skull or wet towel - look for uneven pixel response, dark corners, or horizontal line artifacts, which mean the sensor's failing. Inspect the bite block connector for corrosion or cracking; replacement blocks run $180–$280, and buyers will dock you for that. Pull the full service history from Planmeca's portal or the clinic's IT guy; missing calibration records between 2022–2024 is a red flag that costs you $800 in negotiation.
California and Texas dominate intraoral sensor demand because DSO expansion is brutal there - Pacific Dental Services alone upgrades 40+ operatories per quarter in the Southwest. New York and Florida follow, driven by multi-unit consolidation where chains standardize equipment across markets.
| Model | Brand | Used Price | Key Spec | Value Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planmeca Intra ✓ | Planmeca | $3,500–$7,000 | Intraoral X-ray sensor, size 2... | ●●●●● |
| ProMax 3D Plus | Planmeca | $40,000–$85,000 | CBCT 3D imaging, cephalometric, 23x26cm FOV... | ●●●●○ |
| OP 3D Pro | KaVo | $35,000–$70,000 | CBCT 3D, 16x13cm FOV, low dose... | ●●●●○ |
| Orthophos SL 3D | Dentsply Sirona | $38,000–$75,000 | CBCT panoramic ceph, 11x10cm FOV... | ●●●●○ |
No. The Intra is Planmeca's mid-tier intraoral; Schick CDR is bulkier and proprietary, KODAK RVG is 2010–2015 hardware. Intra has better USB reliability and Planmeca's support is faster in the US. Pick Intra if the clinic already runs Planmeca software; pick RVG refurb if they're budget-tight and okay with 8-bit imaging.
Planmeca rates the sensor for 250,000+ exposures; anything under 12,000 is light use, 12,000–40,000 is normal 2–3 year clinic life, over 60,000 means the unit was hammered and you're buying sensor replacement risk ($1,200–$1,600). Ask the seller for the exposure log from the software; if they don't have it, assume 35,000 and price accordingly.
Yes, both integrate with Planmeca Intra via TWAIN driver - takes an IT guy 45 minutes to set up. Confirm your software version is 2018 or later; anything older needs a patch. Some older Dentrix versions had USB handshake lag; test it in your IT environment before committing.
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I move these in 14–21 days by matching service records to buyer's compliance requirements; most clinics won't even make an offer without proof of recalibration within the last 24 months because their IT director blocks it. That documentation saves you 30 days of holding inventory and avoids a $2,400 price cut.