The Imaging Module holds an assortment of images and documents, and is a great tool when going paperless! In this post, we’ll review what’s in the Imaging Module, and how you can customize it to work for your practice.

The Imaging Module:

• Stores Patient Pictures
• Retains copies of saved Treatment Plans and completed Patient Forms
• Imports images from your imaging software (such as X-rays)
• Scans and stores insurance information and patient IDs.

Adding and Editing Folders

The folders that store your images are called Categories in Open Dental.
A list of Categories displays on the left. This helps you keep documents and images organized.

Image Categories can be added or edited by going to Setup, Definitions, Image Categories. Categories can also be re-ordered, or edited for usage.

Adding Images

To use the imaging module, you need to add images. There a number of ways to add an image or document.

Scan: Scan a single or multi-page document. Some scanners can scan directly into Open Dental. See Scanning Setup for how to select a default scanner.

Import: Import a file from your workstation. File types can include .png, .gif, and .jpg. PDF’s can be imported and viewed from the Imaging Module, though typically require an Adobe installation. Other file types, such as Word, can be imported but must be double-clicked to open (and there will not be a preview).

Paste: If you’ve copied an image to your clipboard, you can paste it directly into Open Dental.

TECH TIP: Select an image category (a folder) before you click to scan, import, or paste, and the image will be added to the selected category.

Category Details

If an image was placed into the wrong category, simply drag-and-drop it to the correct folder.

For details on the image, right-click it and select Info.

From here, you can view the file location, the date & time it was added to the Imaging Module and the type. You can also manually enter associated tooth numbers and an optional description.

The OpenDentImages Folder

The OpenDentImages folder, sometimes called the A-Z folder, is where all of the images in the Imaging Module are stored.

The OpenDentImages folder resides on your server and should backed-up regularly. It is shared between the workstations on your network so that all users can access the images.

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What have you found useful with the Imaging Module? Leave a comment to let us know. If you need any help with this or anything else in the software, feel free to give us a call!