Feature Highlight

Feature Highlight: Speedy Charting!

Charting

Open Dental is full of efficiency-boosting features. In this post, we’re going to focus on the tools that can help you chart procedure code groupings in one quick step.

See our Webinar on Procedure Buttons, Quick Buttons, and Auto Codes.

Appointment Procs Quick Add / Single Click List

The Single Click list within the Edit Appointment Window is a great tool to quickly add procedures to an appointment.

By default, Open Dental includes a number of pre-entered options. To add more or make edits, go to Setup > Definitions > Appt Procs Quick Add.

Click Hide to hide an option from the list.
Use the Up and Down buttons to re-order the list.
Click Add to create a new option or double-click to edit.

Give the item a name and enter the procedure codes, separated by a comma. Then click OK to save.

TECH TIP: Procedures added from the Single-Click list should not be area-specific (such as a procedure that requires a tooth or quadrant).

Procedure Quick Buttons

Quick Buttons make charting from the Chart Module a breeze. Simply select a tooth from the tooth chart and quickly associate a procedure.

By default, Open Dental includes a handful of pre-entered options. To add more or make edits, go to Setup > Chart > Procedure Buttons. Then, ensure the Quick Buttons category is selected.

Double-click an existing button to make edits.
Double-click into the white space to add a new button.

Enter the Button Name, Procedure Code, and Surfaces (if needed). Then click OK to save.

Procedure Buttons

Procedure Buttons are the other option for charting from the Chart Module.

By default, Open Dental includes pre-entered options to choose from. To add more or make edits, go to Setup > Chart > Procedure Buttons. Then select a category other than Quick Buttons from the list.

Click Add to add a new button, or double-click an existing button to edit.

Enter the description, add the procedure codes or auto codes, associate an image, then click OK to save.

TECH TIP: Using Auto Codes in your Procedure Buttons will help with charting accuracy, as they will automatically assign the correct code if the incorrect code was originally chosen (i.e. auto codes will correct the charted procedure based on the number of surfaces, treatment area, etc.)

Recall Types

Recall Types allow you to quickly schedule a new appointment with the appropriate procedures associated with Recall Appointments.

See our Webinar on Recall Types and Custom Recalls.

Like the other options, Open Dental includes pre-entered Recall Types. But these can be added to or edited by going to Setup > Appointments > Recall Types.

Click Add, or double-click an existing Recall Type to edit.

For more details on managing Recall, see our Blog Post: Managing Recall For Better Patient and Practice Health.


It’s our goal to help you do all you need to do quickly and efficiently. Whether it’s pointing you to a helpful resource or troubleshooting an issue, our support team is here to help!

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