Language barriers can be a challenge to overcome in a dental office. Effective communication is vital to make sure that your patient gets the care they need. Open Dental has features that help you easily communicate in the patient’s preferred language.

Languages in Open Dental

You can add any common languages to patient charts, so you know which patients need extra support for communication. This language dropdown, in the Patient Information area, is customizable, so you only have to view languages that are common to your practice and that you are able to translate to.

This also allows Open Dental to provide patient forms and various messages in the patient’s preferred language, without any extra work from your staff.

Recall Messages

Recall messages are essential to keep patient retention levels high. Whether you are using Web Sched Recall, emails, or postcards, make sure to set up language translations for these messages so patients can have the best chance at scheduling those cleanings.

Patient Forms

No matter the type of patient form you use, it’s important that patients can understand and fill out their medical history, registration, and consent forms. Sheets and eForms can both have language translations set up for them. Once you’ve set this up, you don’t need to worry about which forms to give patients. Open Dental will look for the patient’s preferred language and handle this for you!

Automated Messages

Ensuring patients do not forget upcoming appointments is important for patient retention. Patients may have an easier time reading and responding to messages that are in their preferred language. Simply set up translations for Automated Messages in Open Dental to ensure they receive the most efficient communication.

Feature Requests

Are there other places in Open Dental you’d like to see language translation options? Use the Feature Request system to let us know! Simply create or vote on an existing request to add it to the list. Features with more requests are more likely to be implemented, so use your dental community to your advantage!

As always, if you need any assistance setting up translations in Open Dental, reach out to Support. While we can’t translate the content for you, we can show you where to enter the information.