Updated 6/14/2022

Your practice is always growing and changing – the same should be true of your practice management software. We work hard to continually improve and add new features to our software based on the input we get from you, our valued customers. As a customer on support, software updates are included at no additional cost, and can be done quickly and easily, when it’s convenient for your practice.

Want to know what version of Open Dental are you currently running?

Go to Help-Update. Click “Check for updates, and if there’s a new stable version available, you should consider updating! Want to see what’s new since you last updated? Check our Feature Highlights Posts we do after each version release – and if you really want the list of everything we’ve done, check out our Versions Page.

When you do your software updates is up to you. Here are a few recommendations:

Do software updates regularly!

When we find bugs, they are fixed quickly. An update with bug fixes may be available for your version – go to Help-Update and Check for software updates. If a “New build is available for your current version,” this means we’ve identified and fixed bugs in your current version.

Update when no one is using Open Dental

The update process stops MySQL, the engine that’s used to help Open Dental communicate with the workstations, so we recommend you update at a time when no other users need to use the software. If your staff has left but they’re showing up as logged in when you go to do the update, don’t worry, the update tool will automatically log them off before doing software updates.

Update from the Server

We recommend software updates are done from the server due to possible network permission issues.

Workstation updates

The next time users log in to their workstations, they will see that software updates have occurred, and files will be copied. They simply click OK, and their software is updated very quickly to get them up & running with the updated version.

Update to the Latest Stable version

We recommend updating to the Latest Stable version, not the Beta. The Stable version has gone through many iterations, and all identified bugs have been fixed. Not sure which version is right for you? Read our post: “Stable vs. Beta: What’s Right for Your Practice?”

Updating regularly will give you access to the latest features and will help you get the best performance. If you need assistance updating, we’re happy to help, just give us a call!