Communication is at the heart of any good relationship, and your relationship with your patients is no exception. With a 99% open rate (vs. 20% for emails and a 45% answer rate for phone calls), texting is by far the the most effective method of patient communication. In this post, we’ll discuss the different ways you can utilize texting in Open Dental.

Integrated Texting, Automated Messaging, and ODMobile incur additional fees. See eServices Fees for additional information.

Send a Single Text

The simplest texting option in Open Dental is to send a single text. This is a great method when communicating with a patient whose preferred contact method is via text. 

Simply click Text in the toolbar.

The Text Message window will open and the patient’s Wireless Phone Number is automatically populated.

TECH TIP: If you need to text an alternate phone number or a non-patient, choose Another Person to manually enter a phone number to text

Type your message, then click Send. Replies from the patient will come back into Open Dental and the Text button will update in orange to notify you. Click the dropdown, then Text Messages Received to view it.

Text Patients on a Specific Day

When bad weather strikes or an emergency occurs, quickly notify all patients for the day via text message. Options include texting the selected operatory only, patients in the current appointment view, or the clinic.

Right-click an open spot in the operatory, then select the method to use. 

If a patient cannot receive a text, a message will display with the patient’s name and reason. Otherwise, the following window will appear. Verify the patient list, enter the message, then send it.

Note: To exclude a patient, temporarily set their Text OK status in Edit Patient Information to ‘No’. 

Text via ODMobile

Users with ODMobile installed on their mobile devices can text patients via the App. This allows users to communicate with patients from home, without needing to give out their personal phone number. 

See ODMobile Messages for details. 

Billing Texts

When using Patient Portal, users can send a text message to patients with a link to the statement in Patient Portal. 

When generating a Statement, simply check the Send text message in the Statement window.

You can also set Billing Defaults to automatically send texts to patients who receive bills by certain modes.

Patients with a mobile number, who haven’t been marked not to receive texts, will receive a text with a link to their statement.

Our Support Team is here to help you with any questions you may have or when you’re ready to sign up for Integrated Texting.