Open Dental Forum

Hi everyone,

So I am buying a practice. It isn't fully digital, all they use is Dentrix for appointments and billing. I have not had a good experience with Dentrix where I currently work, so am trying to decide between Open Dental and Curve Hero. I am just wondering, what equipment I would need and about how much it would cost to set up/purchase for Open Dental.

There are six operatories (one exam room, two hygiene, three dental) and the front desk. There will be one full time DDS and one part time (1-3 days a week. The wife is going to be taken care of the kids most of the time, but wants to work a few days a week). I imagine I will need nine stations (two front desk, six in operatories, and one for my office). The office is going to be in Canada. I know we need digital xrays and computers, but I am not sure on the network, server, training, etc. and have no clue how much that all would cost.

For those of you who have done this with Open Dental, would you mind sharing what you did and how much it cost you?

Thanks,
Bill

One of the good things about Open Dental is that it doesn't require much resources. It will run on a $600 computer perfectly well. It doesn't need a real server for a network like yours since it can run peer to peer very well. I would be more worried about what computing power your imaging software will need. One thing you should spend on is large monitors for the best image possible for your x-rays. You can really see the difference on a good display. In your case I would probably buy one more powerful computer with a large hard disk that will cost around $1500-$2000 and eight regular computers (under $1000 each).

If you are not comfortable setting up network, xrays, etc.. then you should get an IT professional to help you. The best bet is to go with one that does a lot of Dental offices because they are going to be familiar with setting up digital xrays and what not. This is not the cheapest route but if you aren't computer savvy, it's your safest bet. If you are computer savvy then doing it yourself with OpenDental is going to be very cost effective. The Open Dental software itself has no initial purchase price. Where you'll be spending money with them is on a conversion and monthly maintenance which I HIGHLY recommend. I haven't looked recently to see if they've raised their prices so I won't quote anything here but our monthly maintenance is less then we were spending a month for Dentrix support. We are very happy we made the switch and would never go back. Hardware requirements are very minimal and I would say you could probably buy workstations for about $400 that will work fine for along time. If you have more specific questions, please check back in and let us know.

I would get Raid 1 on the server.

Does anyone actually have a list of everything you would need? I am really not sure besides the PC stations, surge protectors, and open dental.

You'll need printers, I suggest an ink jet for printing x-rays and something for the front desk to print out invoices, receipts, insurance forms, etc. You'll also need a scanner and a copier. We have a Multifunction printer/scanner/copier. You should decide on what you are going to do for backups. We backup to other computers on the network, to an external hard disk and to a flash drive that I take home. Some people like to backup to the cloud. I recommend uninterruptible power supplies for each computer to protect against power outs. Later on (not necessary until you go paperless) you might want to get some signature tablets. If you're going to set up the network yourself you'll need a network switch and network cables for each computer and network printer. You'll also need to decide how you are going to connect to the internet and how that system can connect to your network.