- Plan on about three months from signing to a stable go-live for a single location. The conversion itself takes days; preparation, testing and training take the rest.
- Demographics, appointments, ledgers and insurance plans usually convert. Clinical notes, perio charts, images and recall settings often convert partly or not at all, so get the field-by-field list in writing.
- Published conversion fees run about $1,195 to $1,450 per database, with imaging migration quoted separately. Some cloud vendors include conversion or charge an implementation fee instead.
- Always run a free test conversion and check 25 real patients against the old system before you set the go-live date.
- Only 0 of 45 vendors document what happens to your data when you leave. Put export format, cost and timeline in the contract.
Practices put off switching practice management software for years because the risk feels larger than the pain of staying. Most of that risk is controllable. Conversions go wrong for a small number of predictable reasons: nobody checked which data would move, the test conversion was skipped, imaging was an afterthought, or go-live landed on a full schedule. This guide covers what converts, what it costs, a realistic timeline and a checklist you can hand to your office manager.
When switching is worth it
- The product is being retired. We track 2 practice management systems that are discontinued or no longer developed, including WinOMS, Easy Dental. Each profile lists the closest active alternatives.
- You are adding locations. Server software needs a VPN or replication to share a schedule; cloud systems report across locations natively.
- The server is due for replacement. A hardware refresh is the natural moment to compare the cost of a new server with a cloud subscription.
- Tools you want do not connect. Check the AI, texting and insurance tools you plan to use in the compatibility finder.
- Support or pricing has deteriorated. Compare your current bill against published prices.
If your only complaint is that the software feels dated, price the retraining first. A switch costs every team member several slow weeks; it should buy you something concrete.
What data converts, and what usually does not
| Data | Typical result | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Patient demographics and families | Converts | Guarantor and family links, preferred provider, patient status (active/inactive). |
| Appointments | Converts | Future appointments land in the right operatory and provider column; appointment types map to the new ones. |
| Insurance plans and employers | Converts | Duplicates. Most offices have the same plan entered several ways; clean up before conversion. |
| Ledger and balances | Converts | Whether full transaction history moves or only an opening balance; aging totals must match the old system to the cent. |
| Treatment plans and completed work | Converts | Procedure codes, tooth and surface, provider and date. |
| Open claims | Partly | Often easier to work outstanding claims to zero in the old system than to convert them. |
| Clinical notes | Partly | May arrive as plain text or an attached document, without templates or signatures. |
| Perio charting | Partly | Ask specifically. Historic probing depths are frequently not converted. |
| Recall and continuing care | Partly | Due dates usually move; interval rules need rebuilding. |
| Images and X-rays | Separate project | Quoted and converted separately; test that images attach to the right patient and tooth. |
| Scanned documents and forms | Separate project | Consents, EOBs and letters stored in the document module. |
| Fee schedules, templates, user accounts | Rebuild | Set up fresh in the new system. Use this as a chance to retire old fee schedules. |
| Reports and dashboards | Rebuild | List the five reports you rely on and confirm the new system produces them. |
The exact result depends on the pair of systems. Ask the new vendor for its conversion specification for your current software and version, not a general statement that “we convert from everything”.
What migration costs
| Item | Published examples |
|---|---|
| Database conversion | Open Dental: $1,450 typical per database, plus $400 for each additional clinic in the same database, with a free test conversion. Practice-Web: $1,195. |
| Image conversion | Open Dental: about $850 for scanned documents and patient pictures, about $900 for X-rays. |
| Move to a hosted cloud | Open Dental Cloud: $400 one-time migration per signup. |
| Implementation fee | CareStack: “may charge an implementation fee in certain cases”, depending on migration complexity and training needs. |
| Training | $75–$80 an hour remote where published; on-site days are several thousand dollars. |
| Overlap | One to three months of paying for both systems, plus read-only access to the old one afterwards. |
| Lost production | Not a fee, but the largest cost. Budget a lighter schedule for the first one to two weeks. |
Vendors that publish nothing will quote these items on request. Ask for them as separate lines; see how to read a dental software quote.
A realistic 12-week timeline
| Weeks | Phase | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Plan | Sign, name a project lead, agree the conversion specification, inventory every integration and device. |
| 3–4 | Clean up | Merge duplicate patients and insurance plans, inactivate old providers and fee schedules, work down open claims and credits. |
| 5–6 | Test conversion | Vendor converts a copy of your data. You verify sample patients and totals and send corrections. |
| 7–8 | Set up | Users and permissions, operatories, schedules, fee schedules, templates, imaging bridge, clearinghouse and payment enrollments. |
| 9–10 | Train | Role-based training on a practice copy of your own data. Rehearse a full patient visit end to end. |
| 10 | Go live | Final conversion over a weekend; reduced schedule in the first week; vendor support on call. |
| 11–12 | Stabilize | Reconcile day sheets and deposits daily, fix mappings, keep the old system read-only. |
Start enrollments early. Electronic claims, ERA and EFT enrollments with payers and the clearinghouse can take weeks to approve. Begin them in weeks 1–2, not the week before go-live, or you will be mailing paper claims.
Step-by-step checklist
- Inventory everything that touches the PMS. Imaging software, sensors, pano/CBCT, intraoral scanner, patient communication, online booking, payments terminal, clearinghouse, eRx, analytics, phones. For each: does it connect to the new system, and does it write back?
- Get the conversion specification in writing. A field-by-field list for your source system and version, with what is and is not converted.
- Take and test a full backup. Restore it somewhere to prove it works. Keep it for your record-retention period.
- Clean the data. Every duplicate and orphan you remove now is one you do not pay to convert and then fix.
- Run the test conversion and verify 25 patients. Choose awkward ones: a large family, a patient with two insurance plans, an orthodontic contract, a credit balance, an account in collections. Compare demographics, balance, next appointment, treatment plan and images.
- Match the totals. Accounts receivable, aging buckets, patient count and future appointment count in old versus new.
- Build the set-up. Security roles, schedule templates, fee schedules, clinical note templates, recall rules, statements.
- Train by role, on your own data. Front desk, assistants, hygienists, dentists and billing each need their own session and a one-page cheat sheet.
- Freeze and convert. Stop entering data in the old system at close of business, send the final backup, convert over the weekend.
- Reconcile daily for two weeks. Day sheet, deposits, claims sent and accepted. Log every issue in one shared list.
Moving from a server to the cloud
A server-to-cloud move adds three items to the list above.
- Internet resilience. A cloud PMS stops when the connection does. Add a second connection or cellular failover before go-live, and test it.
- Imaging. Acquisition devices still sit on the local network. Confirm how the cloud system captures from your sensors and where images are stored, and whether you keep or replace your imaging software.
- What happens to the old server. Keep it, or an archived copy of the database, for read-only access. Do not decommission it until the retention question is settled and the disk is wiped properly.
Highest-scoring cloud systems in our database:
| System | Index | Entry price | Integrations | Migration service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CareStack | 8.3 | $829/mo | 13 | ask vendor |
| Dentrix Ascend | 8.1 | quote | 25 | ask vendor |
| Curve Dental | 7.6 | quote | 27 | ask vendor |
| Denticon | 7.3 | $795/mo | 28 | ask vendor |
| Oryx | 6.7 | $650/mo per location | 5 | ask vendor |
| Archy | 6.7 | $899/mo per location | — | ask vendor |
| iDentalSoft | 6.5 | $395/mo | — | Free (documented) |
| tab32 | 6.4 | $125/mo per location | 1 | Offered |
Full ranking: cloud dental practice management software. Background: cloud vs server.
Groups and DSOs
Multi-location conversions fail on standardization, not technology. Before you convert anything:
- Standardize first. One procedure code list, one set of appointment types, one fee schedule structure, one provider ID scheme across locations.
- Decide the database model. One shared patient database or one per location. It determines whether a patient seen at two offices has one chart or two.
- Pilot one office. Convert a mid-sized, well-run location first and write the playbook from it.
- Convert in waves. Two to four locations at a time, with a gap to absorb lessons. Keep a central support line staffed by people who went through the pilot.
- Plan reporting. During the transition some offices are on the old system and some on the new; agree how consolidated reports will be produced in the meantime.
Volume pricing applies: Open Dental, for example, publishes conversion discounts of $100 to $300 per conversion from the fourth database onward.
Which vendors help with migration
Of 45 systems we track, 7 document a migration service. Free conversion is documented for Ortho2 Edge Cloud, iDentalSoft. A paid conversion service is documented for Open Dental, Practice-Web, Open Dental Cloud. For the rest, migration is handled by the implementation team and priced in the quote.
The most common routes have dedicated comparisons: Dentrix vs Open Dental, Eaglesoft vs Open Dental, Dentrix vs Eaglesoft, CareStack vs Curve Dental, Curve Dental vs Dentrix Ascend.
Exit terms to check, in both contracts
Your current vendor: notice period, auto-renewal date, what a read-only license costs, and whether support is needed to take a usable backup.
Your new vendor: this is the moment you have leverage. Get these in writing:
- A full export of your data on termination, in a documented format, including images.
- The fee for that export, if any, and how many days after termination it is available.
- Contract length, renewal terms and the price-increase cap.
- A signed business associate agreement.
- What happens to your data after the contract ends and when it is deleted.
Patient records must stay available for the retention period your state requires, and protected health information on old servers and backups remains your responsibility under HIPAA until it is securely destroyed.
Go-live week
- Schedule at 50–70% of normal for the first three days and avoid long complex procedures on day one.
- Have the vendor’s trainer or support on a live line during opening hours.
- Name one “super user” per role who takes questions before they reach the dentist.
- Print the day’s schedule from the old system as a fallback.
- End each day with a ten-minute huddle: what broke, who fixes it, by when.
- Send the first batch of claims on day one and confirm the clearinghouse accepted them.
Next steps: shortlist with best dental practice management software, then write down requirements with the PMS checklist.
FAQ
How long does it take to switch dental practice management software?
For one location, allow roughly 8 to 12 weeks from contract to stable operation: two to three weeks of preparation and data clean-up, two to four weeks for the test conversion and corrections, one to two weeks of training, the final conversion over a weekend, and two to four weeks of settling in. Multi-location groups usually convert in waves over several months.
What data can be transferred to new dental software?
Patient demographics, family links, appointments, insurance plans and employers, ledger balances and transaction history, treatment plans and completed procedures usually transfer. Clinical notes, perio charting, prescriptions, recall schedules, fee schedules, letter templates and images transfer less reliably and depend on the two systems involved. Ask the new vendor for a written conversion specification.
How much does dental data conversion cost?
Where vendors publish it, a standard conversion costs about $1,195 to $1,450 per database. Open Dental charges a typical $1,450, plus about $850 for scanned documents and $900 for X-rays; Practice-Web lists $1,195. Several cloud vendors quote conversion inside an implementation fee. Third-party conversion of imaging is usually separate.
Will my X-rays and images transfer?
Often yes, but it is a separate project from the database conversion. If you keep the same imaging software, you only need a bridge from the new PMS to it. If you are also changing imaging software, the images must be exported and re-linked to patients, which costs extra and should be tested with sample patients first.
Can I keep using my old dental software after switching?
Keep read-only access to the old system for as long as your record-retention rules require, or until you have verified that everything you need was converted. Ask the old vendor what a read-only or archive license costs, and keep a full backup you can restore.
Is it hard to switch from Dentrix or Eaglesoft?
They are the most common source systems, so most vendors have a tested conversion path from both. Open Dental lists Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Eaglesoft, PracticeWorks, SoftDent, MOGO and ABELDent among the systems it converts from. The harder part is usually retraining staff and replacing the add-ons that were tied to the old system.
What is the best time to switch dental software?
Pick a period with lighter schedules and no staff holidays, avoid year-end when insurance benefits reset and claims peak, and make the cut-over on a weekend with a reduced schedule for the first week.
Method & sources
Conversion fees and supported source systems are taken from vendor pages read on September 30, 2026. Migration support per product comes from our database. The timeline and checklist describe a typical single-location conversion; your vendor’s implementation plan takes precedence. We have not performed these conversions ourselves.
Product facts come from the Denture-ID database, where every field links to the vendor page or document it was taken from — open any product profile to see them. Rankings use the Data Index; vendors cannot pay to change a position. Found an error? Tell us.
- Open Dental: conversion services — fees, supported source systems, test conversion, image conversion
- Open Dental Cloud — cloud migration fee
- Practice-Web pricing — database conversion fee
- CareStack pricing — implementation fee policy
- HHS: HIPAA Security Rule guidance