Have you ever gotten a warning, message, or popup in Open Dental and weren’t quite sure what it meant? Well, in our multi-part series “Understanding Open Dental”, we’ll review some of those messages so you know what they mean and how to handle them in the future.

In our very first post, we’re reviewing Security warnings. You may receive a security warning when trying to click a certain menu item, edit something, or any number of other things depending on your practice’s security setup and your specific user permissions.

Some things may be restricted based on a specific permission, while others may be restricted due to a date limitation. The warning you receive will reflect that.

Permission Warning

Different users have different security permissions, so as you use Open Dental, you may come across a Security Permission warning if you try to do something you do not have Security Permission for.

The warning will let you know the exact permission you are missing. In this case, when trying to edit an existing payment, the user does not have the Payment Edit permission. Another user who has that permission would be able to complete the task or as the message states, a user with the Security Admin permission can grant you the missing permission by updating user group permissions, so you can complete the task.

Date Limitation Warning

You may also receive a warning letting you know there is a date limitation for the task you are trying to complete. In this case, editing an adjustment. Only some Security Permissions allow date limitations. They are noted in our user manual.

The warning displayed shows the affected user permission, and that it is has a date limitation. Another user with permissions without the date limitation can complete the task if needed, or again, the security admin can remove the date limitation for that user group.

Global Lock Date Warning

Global Lock Dates affect all users without Security Admin permission and can optionally be applied to admin users. If something is not allowed due to a Global Lock Date, the following warning will appear.

The warning lets the user know that the item they are attempting to edit is locked after 5 days. If the lock does not include admins, the restricted function can be completed by a user with the Security Admin permission (if allowed), otherwise, the lock date must be lifted for the task to be completed. Permissions affected by Global Lock Dates are noted in our manual.

Now that you know more about security warnings, you will know why and what to do the next time one appears when using Open Dental! As always, if you ever have questions, reach out to our helpful Open Dental Support.