Hi David:
I can’t give you a simple yea or nay. But I’ll keep it short. You have been thinking about this since April, you have done extensive due diligence on all the big names, you’ve demo’d. If I were the Erbium I’d say to you,
“David if you don’t ask me to marry you soon, I’m going to give up and go away.” Just jokeing you. You can expense the entire purchase for this year on your taxes. if that will help. Otherwise, make a conscious effort to shelf the decision until next year. If it’s right for you and the way you practice, it will all be there for you next year. I say, take a break from it for awhile. Best Regards, Nick

and it would make a hell of a good Channuka present to yourself. Nick

There ya go David, you’ve crystalized a priority list. go for it. It’s a great journey, isn’t it. Nick

David:
I think you are attributeing Dave Kimmel’s statement made on Nov 4 at 8:14 am to me. If I knew how to show quotes like you guys do I would have done that, however, I think your question was actually directed to him,becausse I never made the statement that I didn’t want to go back to life before having an erbium and a periolase. Although, I agree with Kimmel whole heartedly. It depends on your personal practice profile. How do you want to practice and how do you want your practice recognizedby your clientele and associates. It’s what you want to be known for. Those are issues that only you can can answer because they are specific for you. Now, I could give you a bunch of slick talk regarding how the erbium has effected me and my practice, but most of the important issues have been addressed in previous threads on this topic, by guys who are far more effective at presenting arguments than I am. I think my advise was fairly clear based on being involved in your thread on this topic. The thought process was to help you develope a way of thinkingthat was right for you, not me or anyone else. There are no universal answers just arguments for the pro and the con. Buy the things that make you happy and keep moving. I hope that helps. Nick

It is funny how we evaluate things…i cant in my right mind justify paying for a cerec but I wouldnt give my lasers up for anything. The waY I see it is Cerec saves you lab bill money but the last thing I want to do is stain and galze restoration or keep patients in the chair for extra time …Now I know some people tell patients to come back in a few hours but that partially defeats the purpose for me…So for me spending 100 large on a cerec makes no sense…Now with lasers, no morepacking cord, easier to do soft tissue without local, , multiple quads of operative without local( most of the time) making my life easier and providing a higher level of service, I like my good friend dave, would never give up my lasers.

dmd92east,
I thought you just wanted a Yes or No???

Your right, a HP is fast, it’s less expensive and you can do almost anything a laser can do…

There are many clinical reasons to use a laser from less fracturing of enamel to being able to do cross arch quads of dentistry without a shot. Its even fun and the patients love it.

From a business point of view it also has merit. It has always been said that as dentist we do not compete with each other but for the patients discretionary dollar. I disagree we do compete , with each other. We compete for the patients that value our services enough to use thier discretionary dollars for dentistry. This is a realtively small number of patients as compared to the total population. The Er lasers brings an increased value of our services to a larger group of potential patients.
It gives me a niche. It shows that I am different from all other practices in my area. It does not allow me to do that many more procedures to increase my billing. It gives me a steady flow of new patients that value what I do and pay for it themselves. (our collection rate YTD is 100%).
Unlike the Periolase and Er laser is not for everyone. You have to change how you think and work when using an Er laser. You have to relearn your restorative skills. You have to invest time and money in your practice.

Hope that helps.