What Every Open Dental User Should Know
The Beginner’s Guide to Open Dental: What Every New User Should Know
If you’re new to Open Dental, it can feel like walking into a room full of buttons, tabs, and screens that all look equally important. Don’t panic — every seasoned user started exactly where you are.
This guide breaks down the software in a way your whole team can understand: what matters, how the layout works, and which modules you’ll rely on every single day. No jargon. No overwhelm. Just clarity.
1. Start With the Layout (It Makes Everything Else Easier)
Open Dental is built in layers, and once you understand those layers, the whole system starts to make sense.
The Module Icons: Your Daily Navigation
On the left side, you’ll see the modules you’ll use constantly:
Appointments
Family
Account
Treatment Plan
Chart
Imaging
Manage
Think of these as the chapters of your software.
The Title Bar: Your Safety Net
At the top of every screen, you’ll always see the patient’s name. This small detail prevents wrong notes, wrong payments, and wrong charts... Something every office has experienced at least once.
The Main Menu: Your Control Center
Here’s where you access Reports, Settings, Help, Log Off, and clinic selection.
This is the administrative backbone of the software.
The Main Toolbar: Actions You’ll Use Constantly
These buttons never change:
Select Patient
Commlogs
Forms
Email
Tasks
The Module Toolbar: The Tools for Each Area
This toolbar does change depending on which module you're in.
It’s where the real work happens: scheduling, charting, billing, and claims.
2. The 7 Modules You’ll Use the Most (And Why They Matter)
Appointments Module: Where Your Day Lives
Use it for scheduling, recall, confirmations, and managing the unscheduled list.
If your schedule feels chaotic, start here.
Family Module: Your Patient Hub
Update demographics, insurance, and relationships.
Clean claims and clean accounts begin here.
Account Module: The Financial Engine
Payments, adjustments, claims, statements — it all happens here.
If you do RCM, this is home base.
Treatment Plan Module: Where Case Acceptance Happens
Treatment priorities, estimates, pre-auths, signatures.
A clean treatment plan sets up a confident “yes.”
Chart Module: The Clinical Workspace
Charting, notes, medical history, prescriptions, ortho chart.
The back office lives here.
Imaging Module: Your Digital Filing Cabinet
Radiographs, scans, photos, documents.
Everything that used to live in a paper chart now lives here.
Manage Module: The Business Side of Open Dental
Clocking in/out, sending claims, receiving ERAs, deposits, database backups.
If you run operations, this is your command center.
3. How to Learn Open Dental Without Feeling Overwhelmed
Open Dental has endless features — but you don’t need to learn them all at once.
The Manual (Yes, Really)
Using the question mark icon opens the exact manual page for whatever screen you’re on. It’s the fastest way to learn as you go.
YouTube Tutorials
Start with the Front Desk and Office Manager playlists.
They follow real workflows, not hypothetical training.
Community Support
The OD Facebook group and Open Dental Forum are incredibly helpful.
If you’re confused, someone else has already solved it.
Training & Support
Open Dental support is excellent — and it’s not just for troubleshooting.
Use them for setup, customization, cleanup, and training.
4. Adopt the “New User Mindset”
You don’t have to master everything at once.
Here’s what we teach every beginner:
Learn one module at a time.
Build one workflow at a time.
Don’t customize everything on day one.
Most early problems come from:
Inconsistent settings
Unclear financial policies
Wrong security permissions
Old workflows copied from former software
Start simple. Get stable. Then optimize.
When You’re Ready for the Next Step…
That’s where SKF comes in.
If your practice is ready to:
Clean up workflows
Build consistent systems
Reduce team overwhelm
Make Open Dental work for you
…then it’s time for a Comprehensive Software Exam.
It’s the fastest, clearest way to identify what’s holding your practice back — and where to begin.
