Best Dental Software 2021

Dental software is built to support the operations of dental practices. While dental practices typically use several software tools, the most important by far is dental practice management software. Dental practice management software includes features used by front office staff, hygienists, and dentists such as appointment scheduling, patient intake, charting, notes, billing, claims management, and reporting. Historically, most practice management systems were implemented on-premise. In the past five years, the transition to cloud-based systems has accelerated.

In addition to practice management software, dental practices often purchase patient engagement software and membership plan software. These systems are used to improve the patient experience, and increase practice revenue. Finally, innovative practices are increasingly adopting practice analytics software to understand dental KPIs and teledentistry software.

Research Led By:
Analyst Image
Co-founder & CEO

We use a rigorous software review process to create our unbiased, in-depth research.
Learn more about our software review process.

Highest Rated Dental Practice Management Software

Dental practice management software is the primary software tool used to manage the day-to-day operations of dental practices. Dental practice management systems have been around for decades, and several good options exist in the market. Since it is the foundational technology for your practice, we recommend conducting a thorough vendor evaluation process to select the best practice management system for your dental practice. Read our comparison of the best dental practice management software.

CareStack

CareStack

Best Cloud Software
Rating: 94
Starting Price: $650 per month

CareStack is an all-in-one cloud-based dental practice management system that is ideal for dental practices with multiple locations. CareStack dental software comes with HIPAA-compliant, integrated modules for patient engagement, scheduling, charting, claims & billing, and business analytics. In a few short years, CareStack has emerged as a leader in dental practice management software, and has a great reputation for being extremely customer-focused.

Pros:
  • Supports global and location-specific branding in patient-facing communications
  • Includes powerful patient engagement system to create highly targeted, relevant marketing campaigns that improve the patient experience and grow your practice
  • Extremely customer centric; over half of new features built by CareStack are requests from customers
  • Average customer support response time is under 30 seconds
Cons:
  • Imaging solution is not inbuilt, but it integrates into external cloud and non cloud imaging solutions
  • Navigating between different components of the software can be slightly awkward sometimes
  • CareStack is a newer solution, so might not integrate with all your tools
Open Dental

Open Dental

Best On-Premise Software
Rating: 92
Starting Price: $159 per month

Open Dental is an open-source, on-premise dental practice management system used by thousands of dental practices nationwide. It offers most of the time-saving and paperless features that users typically look for in dental practice management software. One feature that distinguishes Open Dental from other players in the industry is that it gives users full access to their practice's database, which enables users to create powerful custom reports and queries.

Pros:
  • Flexible system integrates with most imaging and software systems.
  • Provides users full access to their practice’s database, which enables users to create highly customizable queries and reports.
  • Robust practice management system at a fraction of the cost, compared to its competition.
Cons:
  • Officially only compatible with Windows, but some users may be able to modify the application to work on Linux/Mac if needed.
  • Database storage and encryption are your responsibility; Open Dental does not store and encrypt your data on their servers like cloud-based software solutions do.
  • Remote access to your data takes a bit more configuration than web-based alternatives.
Denticon

Denticon

Most Popular Cloud Software
Rating: 88
Starting Price: $280 per month

Planet DDS is one of the industry’s pioneers in purely cloud-based dental practice management software. Whereas many traditional dental software companies only recently began to develop cloud-based offerings, Planet DDS has been developing its solution on the cloud for over a decade, making its flagship software, Denticon, one of the most mature, full-featured cloud-based practice management software solutions on the market.

Pros:
  • Company has a proven 10-year track record of providing cloud-based software to group dental practices
  • Scalable system that can accommodate the needs of your practice as it grows
  • Exceptional reporting capabilities provide a consolidated view of performance across all locations
Cons:
  • Currently only supports sending e-claims through DentalXChange, though Planet DDS is working on partnering with other clearinghouses
  • Denticon's patient engagement module, Dentigram must be purchased separately
  • Moderate learning curve
Curve Dental

Curve Dental

Best for Solo Practices
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $350 per month

As one of the first companies to specialize in purely cloud-based dental practice management software, Curve Dental is one of the most modern solutions on the market. The software is purely web-based, so both Mac and PC users will be able to use it —- many locally hosted solutions are PC-oriented, so this is an especially nice perk for Mac users. Dentists with busy lives outside of the office will appreciate that the software can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Pros:
  • Software is 100% cloud-based and can be used anywhere with Internet access
  • Users don't have to worry about managing their own servers,backing up data, or cybersecurity protection
  • Intuitive, modern design makes the software easier to learn and more enjoyable to use
Cons:
  • As with any cloud-based software, if Curve’s servers are down, you won’t be able to use the software. However, Curve claims to have 99.99% uptime, so this should rarely be an issue
  • Check with Curve’s support team to make sure that your preferred imaging sensors and credit card processors are integrated with Curve
Dentrix Ascend
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $500 per month

Dentrix Ascend is a popular cloud-based dental practice management system that is ideal for dental practices with single or multiple locations with a preference for working with Dentrix products.

Pros:
  • Cloud-based solution helps you access data from anywhere, and simplifies the process of adding new locations to your practice
  • Ascend's charting and note-taking is an improvement from Dentrix G7
  • Dentrix Ascend includes an open API that your team can use to build custom functionality on top of the core application
Cons:
  • Patient engagement module does not include advanced features like review solicitation, email marketing, and robust two-way texting. SoftwarePundit was notified that these features are in beta testing, and will be released in the near future.
  • At $700 per month, Dentrix Ascend is priced as a premium product
  • Platform does not include an employee time clock
Dentrix
Rating: 75
Starting Price: $6,995 license + $139 per month

Dentrix (by Henry Schein) is the most recognizable name in the dental practice management software industry.

Pros:
  • Popular product that supports 35,000+ dental practices
  • Reputable company
  • Integrates with many other dental software systems that you may want to use
Cons:
  • Upgrades can be cumbersome
  • Pricey relative to some of its competition
Eaglesoft
Rating: 71
Starting Price: $200 per month

Eaglesoft is a popular locally-hosted practice management software system with a 20+ year track record of helping practices streamline their workflow.

Pros:
  • 20+ year track record of supporting dental practices
  • Easy to learn
  • Integrates with many other dental software systems
Cons:
  • Only has a server-based offering; not appropriate for those looking for cloud-based systems
  • Dated UI
axiUm

axiUm

Most Popular for Dental Universities
Rating: 66
Starting Price: Contact vendor

Though axiUm is designed to be used in academic settings, it has all of the basic functionality that you'd expect from a dental practice management system, including scheduling, EHR, dental charting, insurance coverage, and treatment planning. However, there are some unique features such as clinical evaluations, as well as integration with coursework, that make axiUm a better choice for dental universities compared to other commercial practice management systems.

Pros:
  • Widely used across many dental schools
  • Helps students learn how to chart, and manage appointments
  • Enables instructors to sign off on student work
Cons:
  • Dated UI
  • Users find the system to be clunky
  • Not popular outside of academic settings, so students will likely have to learn a new system when they begin working.
DentiMax
Rating: 66
Starting Price: $199 per month

DentiMax is a popular dental practice management software solution that includes a comprehensive set of features to help optimize your practice, and help you shift toward a paperless practice. The company has been around for over 12 years and as a result, has acquired a substantial, loyal customer base. DentiMax offers a cloud-based solution as well as an in-office, locally hosted option.

Pros:
  • Has been on the market for over 12 years, making it one of the most experienced players in the industry
  • Image sensors are integrated with patient charts
  • Available as a cloud-based solution as well as a locally hosted/installed option
  • Full-featured appointment book offers scheduling-focused features, but also links to patient information (ledger, insurance, etc.) and revenue-related data for a comprehensive view of your practice
Cons:
  • Local version only supports Windows PCs and tablets, though the Cloud version works for both Macs and PCs
  • Infrequent software updates (~once every 18 months). This may be a function of having a mature product that has been iterated on for over 12 years

Highest Rated Patient Engagement Software

Patient communication software improves patient engagement before & after appointments and helps build your practice's online presence. One of the top features, appointment reminders, have been shown to reduce no-shows by as much as 40%. The benefits of patient communication software include increased practice revenue, as well as saved time for your administrative & marketing personnel. Read our comparison of the best dental patient communication software.

Doctible
Rating: 95
Starting Price: $99 per month

Doctible is a cloud-based patient engagement platform used by thousands of dental and medical practices. The platform comes with several software tools that help practices automate patient communication, improve their patient experience, and grow their businesses. Specific modules on the platform include a website chatbot, online scheduling, appointment reminders, email & text messaging, online forms, payment processing, online reviews, and patient recalls.

Pros:
  • Offers a very wide range of features including automated reminders, two-way texting, intake forms, a chatbot, online scheduling, reputation management, and payment processing
  • Has a modular pricing structure that allows each practice to choose only the products it needs
  • All tools are built specifically for dental and medical practices and are fully HIPAA compliant
Cons:
  • Ability to text images is still under development
  • Payment and scheduling tools are not fully integrated with your practice management system
  • The payment collections tool requires you to set up a merchant bank account with a third-party
NexHealth
Rating: 93
Starting Price: $300 per month

NexHealth is a patient experience management platform used by thousands of dental and medical professionals to grow their practices. NexHealth's platform includes all the necessary tools to manage the patient experience end-to-end: email & text messaging, online reviews, appointment scheduling, online forms, appointment reminders, recalls and reporting.

Pros:
  • NexHealth is a full suite of patient engagement features in one platform
  • Online booking module is highly customizable, and integrates directly into your emails & website
  • Two-way integrations with all major practice management systems
Cons:
  • More expensive than individual tools like Lighthouse 360 or LocalMed, however each of these only offers a subset of the features included in NexHealth
  • Does not currently support payment plans or recurring payments
Weave

Weave

VoIP Integration
Rating: 90
Starting Price: $399 per month

Weave is a complete dental patient communication software system that helps to increase your staff's production on the phone, and to provide an exceptional patient experience.

Pros:
  • Results in an exceptional patient experience, and a more productive front office
  • Enables measurement of team effectiveness on the phone & the identification of improvement opportunities
  • Phone syncs with practice management software to display patient information on call pops
  • Includes appointment reminders, recall, two-way texting & reputation management
Cons:
  • Must use phones provided by Weave, which involves a learning curve
  • Requires a strong Internet connection -- otherwise Internet issues can result in dropped phone calls
  • Appointment reminder emails not fully customizable
Lighthouse 360
Rating: 88
Starting Price: $329 per month

Lighthouse 360 is a top patient communication and marketing system designed specifically for dentists, that integrates with many of the top dental practice management software systems.

Pros:
  • Designed specifically for dental practices
  • Excellent for increasing existing patient recall and engagement
  • Encourages patients to write reviews of your practice to improve your online reputation
  • Sends automatic appointment reminders via text or email to reduce no-shows by an average of 40%
Cons:
  • Does not include some core features found in competitors including teledentistry, appointment scheduling, and online payment processing
  • Reporting on marketing campaign performance is not robust
  • Communication history with each patient is not aggregated into a single inbox
Adit
Rating: 85
Starting Price: $159 per month

Adit is a patient engagement software platform built to help dental practices grow. Adit's platform includes several of the most valuable patient engagement tools, and it's pricing is the most aggressive in the market. Overall, we recommend Adit to any dental practice that wants to improve its digital patient experience without breaking the bank.

Pros:
  • Extremely attractive pricing – any single software tool is completely free
  • Adit is the only vendor that offers patient engagement software & marketing services
  • Software platform includes a broad set of tools including scheduling, patient forms, appointment reminders & reviews
Cons:
  • Platform does not include website chat or payment processing modules
  • Newer solution launched in 2018, so some features still under development
  • Integrates with the major practice management systems, but not all
RevenueWell
Rating: 85
Starting Price: $339 per month

RevenueWell distinguishes itself from the competition with its ability to automatically message patients with unscheduled procedures, based on their treatment plan.

Pros:
  • Capable of identifying patients with unscheduled procedures based on their treatment plans, and automatically messaging those patients
  • Online patient portal helps streamline the patient experience
  • Best microsite (Patient Connect 365) compared to its competitors
Cons:
  • Only offers online appointment requesting capabilities, as opposed to end-to-end online appointment scheduling. However, many practices enjoy having this control over their schedule, and the flexibility that this provides
  • Limited integrations (though it supports some of the most popular systems)
Solutionreach
Rating: 83
Starting Price: $299 per month

Solutionreach (formerly known as Smile Reminder) is a popular patient communication system used by over 25,000 customers in the medical industry, and is especially popular among dentists and optometrists.

Pros:
  • Popular, established product used across several medical fields, especially dentistry and optometry
  • Robust communication capabilities help reduce no-shows and reactivate patients
  • SR Conversations makes it easy to quickly communicate with patients via text messages
Cons:
  • Requires long-term contract that can be difficult to get out of, and auto-renews
  • Additional fees for certain modules, such as SR Schedule and SR Smart Reviews
  • Communication history with patients is not aggregated into single inbox, which can negatively impact patient engagement
PracticeMojo
Rating: 82
Starting Price: $199 per month

PracticeMojo is a cloud-based patient engagement platform used by over 1,600 dental practices. Its features include an automated appointment reminders, marketing campaigns, two-way text messaging, patient recalls, call pops and patient reviews. Overall, we recommend PracticeMojo to dental practices that need the tools it provides, and value saving a few hundred dollars per month.

Pros:
  • More affordable than most alternative solutions
  • Ability to automatically send postcards and voice calls to patients
  • Known for exceptional customer support including quarterly reviews
Cons:
  • Does not offer as many tools as leading competitors
  • User interface can be hard to navigate at times
  • Loading own images into platform can be difficult
Demandforce
Rating: 81
Starting Price: $399 per month

Demandforce is a powerful marketing system that's known for helping dental practices collect patient reviews, which helps boost each practice's online presence.

Pros:
  • Excellent for soliciting patient reviews
  • Greatly improves employee efficiency
  • Increases patient recall
  • Integrates with many popular dental & chiropractic practice management systems
Cons:
  • Reviews are stored on Demandforce's servers, so if you switch to another system you'll have to back them up
  • Not a worthwhile investment solely for reviews -- but is worthwhile if you use the patient recall & retention capabilities
  • Demandforce reviews show up when users search for your business, potentially outranking your own website
OperaDDS
Rating: 81
Starting Price: $199 per month

OperaDDS is a HIPAA-compliant communication system designed to help staff communicate more effectively with each other in order to provide a more streamlined patient experience.

Pros:
  • Provides both automated patient communications, as well as intra-office communication capabilities
  • Paperless forms streamline the patient experience
  • Affordable, without requiring any long-term contract
Cons:
  • Newer, yet well-regarded company that is less well-known compared to its competition
Yapi
Rating: 81
Starting Price: $199 per month

YAPI is powerful software that complements your PMS by offering paperless forms and patient communication capabilities, in addition to other less common features.

Pros:
  • Powerful paperless forms that integrate directly with your practice management system
  • Also includes patient recall, automated appointment reminders, and intra-office communication
  • Patient flow dashboard tracks each step in the patient visit, which allows your team to improve inefficient workflows
Cons:
  • Only integrates with Dentrix, Eaglesoft, PracticeWorks and Open Dental
  • You must call YAPI to upload forms each time they're updated
  • Full-featured tool can be difficult to use and has a moderate learning curve

Highest Rated Reputation Management Software

Reputation management software was built to help businesses generate and distribute positive customer feedback. These positive customer reviews are shared to review platforms such as Google and Facebook, which makes it easier for new patients to discover your practice. Reputation management software also includes tools to help you manage your business listings, have two-way text message conversations with patients, web chat and send customer surveys.

Birdeye
Rating: 92
Starting Price: $299 per month

BirdEye is a popular reputation management platform used by thousands of businesses to improve their online presences and attract new customers. The platform includes several tools that help you reach and engage customers including business listing management, online review generation, two-way text messaging, customer surveys and a mobile application.

Pros:
  • Listing management tool ensures your business information is accurate & consistent across online directories
  • Online reviews tool allows you to generate hundreds of customer reviews that improve your online presence
  • Unified inbox tool streamlines two-way text message conversations with customers
Cons:
  • Platform does not include tool for payment processing
  • Does not include team chat feature for your team to communicate inside BirdEye
  • Surveys, insights, benchmarking & ticketing applications are not included in the $399 Professional Plan
Podium
Rating: 90
Starting Price: $399 per month

Podium is an Interaction Management™ Platform used to generate and manage online reviews, streamline customer interactions through messaging, and monitor customer sentiment. The company has over 45,000 customers in healthcare, home services, retail, auto services, professional services, and hospitality.

Pros:
  • Customers can leave Google reviews in two clicks
  • Highly-rated mobile app allows you to manage customer conversations on-the-go
  • Includes a team chat tool for individual and group conversations
  • Each account gets a client success manager
Cons:
  • Does not include a business directory listings tool
  • Customer survey feature is more limited than some competitors
  • Conversations that start with webchat must be handled via text message
Swell
Rating: 84
Starting Price: $179 per month

Swell is a reputation management platform built specifically for the dental and medical industries. The platform helps practices generate & manage online reviews, communicate with patients, and measure patient satisfaction. Swell integrates with the major practice management systems including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Open Dental.

Pros:
  • Includes valuable features for dental & medical practices such as the ability to trigger campaigns for individual clinicians & operatories
  • Rapidly adding features to the platform including an integration with Facebook Messenger & a mobile app
  • Priced at a fraction of the cost of more mature reputation management systems
Cons:
  • Does not have all the minor features found in more mature alternatives
  • Can only personalize messages with patient name, business name & location data
  • Does not offer benchmarking to see how your practice is performing relative to competitors

Highest Rated Dental Membership Plan Management Software

Dental membership plans are subscriptions for discounted treatments that are offered directly to patients. There are significant benefits of offering membership plans at your practice. A membership plan adds recurring revenue to your practice, attracts uninsured patients, improves patient loyalty, and reduces dependency on insurance. Dental membership plan software is built to help you efficiently managing your membership program. Read our comparison of the best dental membership plan software.

DentalHQ
Rating: 88
Starting Price: 5-8% of membership fees

DentalHQ is a cloud-based membership management software used by thousands of practices of all sizes. This platform is designed to help you run a successful membership program, so you can attract uninsured patients, improve patient loyalty, and reduce your dependency on insurance companies. With DentalHQ, you can create and manage customizable membership plans that you can offer directly to your patients.

Pros:
  • No minimum membership count requirement
  • Offers white-labeled marketing materials, customized landing pages, and custom mailers
  • Includes HIPAA-compliant video conferencing, a patient financing solution, and tools to contact local businesses about your plan
Cons:
  • Does not integrate with practice management software
  • Practices with less than 50 members on their plans might save money managing plans themselves
Kleer
Rating: 87
Starting Price: $4 per member per month

Kleer is a cloud-based membership plan management software used by over 3,500 dentists in all 50 states. With its easy-to-use practice portal, you can create personalized care plans that attract new memberships and foster patient loyalty. Kleer also offers a variety of helpful features including membership tracking, automated electronic payment processing, custom marketing, and basic reporting.

Pros:
  • Membership plans are highly customizable to fit your practice’s and your patient’s needs
  • Kleer uses its proprietary algorithm to help you optimize your plan's subscription pricing
  • Kleer's growth team actively monitors your plan's performance and helps you increase membership enrollment
Cons:
  • No integration with practice management software
  • The price of Kleer might not be worthwhile for smaller practices that are able to manage dental membership plans themselves

Highest Rated Appointment Scheduling Software

Appointment scheduling software was built to help dental practices manage their appointment calendars and increase appointment volume. The core features found in this type of software are online appointment schedulers that you can embed directly on your practice’s website, the ability to schedule different types of appointments with each dentist, and patient appointment reminders. Many practice management systems have appointment scheduling modules, but practices commonly purchase these tools to improve their ability to streamline appointment management.

LocalMed
Rating: 93
Starting Price: $249 per month

LocalMed is our top choice for dentists looking to enable online appointment scheduling in their practice. It's the only system on the market that automates every step of the scheduling process, from appointment request to confirmation.

Pros:
  • Fully integrates with many of the major dental practice management systems, with both read and write capabilities.
  • Offers a widget that enables patients to book appointments directly from your website or Facebook profile, instead of redirecting them to another page.
  • Developed specifically for dentistry.
Cons:
  • LocalMed profile does not currently display patient reviews.
  • Does not help practices solicit patient reviews.
  • Currently not as well-known as Zocdoc, so fewer patients may discover your practice through the LocalMed website.
Acuity Scheduling
Rating: 89
Starting Price: $15 per month

summary

Pros:
  • A fully-featured and affordable scheduling tool
  • An established vendor trusted by a large customer base of over 50,000
  • Significantly cheaper than most industry-specific solutions
Cons:
  • Automated text messaging does not support two-way texting
  • Does not integrate with any practice management systems or electronic health record software
  • You must purchase the Powerhouse plan for Acuity Scheduling to be HIPAA compliant
Zocdoc
Rating: 86
Starting Price: $300 per month

Zocdoc is a popular online appointment scheduling system that is widely used in dentistry and across the healthcare industry. Patients use the platform to discover doctors in their area, read other patient reviews, and to schedule appointments.

Pros:
  • Enables patients to discover your practice and book appointments online
  • Saves patients and staff time by automating appointment reminders
  • Solicits reviews to be posted onto your Zocdoc profile, which is a reputable site that adds to your web reputation
Cons:
  • The system makes it easy for patients to cancel appointments, which can potentially result in more last-minute cancellations
  • Stiff competition with other dentists on the platform
  • Must manually confirm and enter appointments into your practice management system

Other Top Dental Software

Dental practices commonly use several other software tools to support operations. We have listed the most popular solutions in the list below. This includes online appointment scheduling software, dental practice analytics, and dental marketing software.

Dental Intelligence
Rating: 96
Starting Price: $499 per month

Dental Intelligence is a popular web-based analytics platform that provides dental practices with easily digestible reports and dashboards. By aggregating each practice's relevant metrics in one convenient location, Dental Intelligence enables thousands of dentists to make actionable, data-driven decisions that help patients receive better care.

Pros:
  • Provides full visibility into your practice’s performance
  • Helps to identify opportunities for improvement in your practice
  • Enables your practice to make data-driven decisions
Cons:
  • Since the purpose of the software is to help you analyze your practice's data, the system is most appropriate for practices with a substantial patient base.
Simplifeye
Rating: 87
Starting Price: $349 per month

Simplifeye is a 24/7 live web chat service with a dedicated chat team trained to improve your website conversion rate.

Pros:
  • Simplifeye's webchat is powered by an expert chat team that responds to any inquiry on your website in less than 8 seconds
  • Simplifeye's tool converts 2-4% of website visitors into appointments, which translates to an average of 7-10 new appointments per month
  • Simplifeye’s analytics dashboard with detailed information about Simplifeye's activity and impact
Cons:
  • Product integrates with four top practice management systems, but if you don't use these you won't be able to schedule directly into your PMS
  • Simplifeye is laser-focused on web chat, scheduling, and telehealth, which means it does not have as broad of a range of features found in different type of tools
  • All web chats are managed by Simplifeye's team, which means you give up some control of customer engagement

Dental Software Prices

Dental software prices range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars per month. Most dental practices pay around $200 to $500 per location per month for their practice management software. Here's details that will help you compare prices for the most popular dental practice management software platforms.

Software VendorStarting Monthly PriceFree TrialSubscription Add-Ons
CareStack$650 per monthNo
  • None
Open Dental$159 per monthYes
  • $20 per dentist per month for 3+ dentists
  • eServices bundle is $135 per location per month
Denticon$280 per monthNo
  • Requires separate subscriptions with DoseSpot and Updox
Curve Dental$350 per monthNo
  • Patient engagement module is an additional $150 per month.
Dentrix Ascend$500 per monthNo
  • $995 initial setup fee
  • $200 per month for Dentrix Ascend’s built-in imaging, which is used by 90% of Dentrix Ascend customers
Dentrix$6,995 license + $139 per monthNo
  • Additional fees for bundles with extra functionality

Dental Software FAQs

Dental software is used by dental practices to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day operations. Dental software supports back office processes such as billing & invoicing, front office processes like patient engagement, and clinical processes such as treatment planning. The software can be hosted on-premise, or in the cloud.

Dental practices use several types of software on a daily basis. Here's the most popular types of dental software:

  • Practice management software
  • Patient engagement software
  • Reputation management software
  • Dental membership plan management software
  • Dental imaging software

Dental software costs $100s to $1000s of dollars per month depending on the size of your practice. For a single location, practice management systems start at about $200 per month. Patient engagement systems cost $300-400 per month per location. Reputation management systems start at $299 per month.

The best dental software depends on your practice and preferences. Many dental practices prefer well-known, tested solutions like Dentrix and Eaglesoft. Newer, innovative practices might have a preference for cloud-based systems like Denticon or open systems like Open Dental. The patient engagement market is similar – Solutionreach and Lighthouse 360 are well-established, popular solutions, while Doctible and NexHealth are newer, more modern systems.

The most popular dental software applications are BirdEye, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Podium, and Solutionreach. Each of these software applications has over 10,000 customers.

On-premise dental software is software that is hosted locally at a dental practice. Practices typically host on-premise software using a server or server room. In many cases, they choose to hire an IT consultant to manage on-premise software. Some experts believe on-premise software is safer and more reliable than cloud-based software, although this is debatable. On-premise software is also more challenging to update than cloud-based software.

Web-based dental software is software that is hosted in a centrally managed database and accessed using the Internet. It is also known as cloud-based software. Web-based software is easier to manage and update than on-premise software. Starting with Salesforce, there has been a macro shift in the software industry towards web-based, subscription software.

Dental Industry Research & Advice

Best Dental Podcasts 2021

By Bruce Hogan |

If you're interested in taking your practice to the next level, it's an excellent idea to listen to podcasts to hear pearls of wisdom from...Read More >

Curve Dental vs. Open Dental

By Lloyd Park |

Is Curve Dental or Open Dental the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best...Read More >

Weave Alternatives & Competitors

By Bruce Hogan |

Are you considering purchasing Weave for your dental practice? Before making the purchase, it's best to learn about Weave's top competitors...Read More >

Podium vs. Weave

By Bruce Hogan |

Is Podium or Weave the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best software tool to...Read More >

Customer Interviews

We conducted in-depth interviews with dentists to understand why and how they chose their software systems, and to learn how software has benefited their practice.