Methods, systems, and devices for determining characteristics of an intraoral dental imaging sensor. A method includes providing an intraoral dental imaging sensor having a housing and a magnetic field sensor disposed in or on the housing, placing the intraoral dental imaging sensor in a holder, positioning the intraoral dental imaging sensor and at least part of the holder in a mouth of a patient, attaching a reference magnet to the patient, receiving, by an electronic processor, magnetic field data from the magnetic field sensor, determining, by the electronic processor, information including a position of the intraoral dental imaging sensor in the mouth of the patient based at least in part on the magnetic field data, and detecting x-rays by the intraoral dental imaging sensor to produce image data.