Switching from Dentrix to Open Dental

PickMyPMS Editorial · Last reviewed Sep 28, 2026

Quick answer

Dentrix keeps its prices behind a quote request. Open Dental publishes its fee schedule: $199 a month per location for the first year, $149 after that, covering up to three dentists, with each additional dentist at $20 a month. Moving your data over costs $1,450 per database on Open Dental’s published conversion schedule, plus $900 for X-rays and $850 for documents if you want those moved too.

The Dentrix license itself is close to a sunk cost. Henry Schein One will not let you resell it on its own; transferring it requires a full practice sale, a transfer fee and written permission from the company. If you are not selling the practice, that license spend does not come back. Open Dental’s published price list has no license fee line, only the monthly support subscription.

What it costs to leave Dentrix

Henry Schein One does not publish a price list for Dentrix. Third-party estimates, none of which cite a source, put a one-time software license at $5,000 to $10,000 and a support plan at $100 to $300 a month. A separate third-party listing puts a starting price around $500 a month, and mentions $179.95 per incident for support bought without a plan.

The one confirmed, vendor-published recurring cost is eClaims, an add-on with a $15 monthly minimum that starts in the first full month after 60 days from signing; the per-claim rate itself is set on your order form.

We found no published policy on exporting data out of desktop Dentrix. The database sits on your office server, so you are not locked out of the hardware, but Henry Schein One does not say anywhere public what format the data can be pulled into, or whether it will help you get it out. Ask for that in writing before you commit to a move date.

There is also no confirmed exit fee for leaving Dentrix itself. The cost of leaving is mostly the license you cannot recover, plus whatever remains on any eServices contract you are still inside.

What it costs to arrive at Open Dental

Open Dental is one of the few practice management systems in this market with a public price list. Support costs $199 a month per location for the first 12 months, covering up to three dentists, then drops to $149 a month. Support fees carry a 90-day money-back guarantee. Each dentist beyond the first three costs $20 a month.

Moving to a hosted setup, Open Dental Cloud (currently in limited release), costs $430 a month for one provider and $150 a month for each additional provider, with a one-time $400 migration fee, according to Open Dental’s own pricing page. That removes the need to run your own server, the way Dentrix requires.

The published conversion fee is $1,450 per database. Adding X-rays costs $900 more, documents cost $850 more, and each additional clinic adds $400. None of those figures are specific to converting from Dentrix; they are Open Dental’s general published rates for bringing a practice’s data in from another system.

An eServices bundle costs $165 a month per location as an add-on; ask which services it includes. Texting is priced separately at $5 a month for an assigned number or $20 a month for a landline number, plus $0.04 per message sent in the US.

What transfers and what to ask about

Open Dental’s conversion page lists a flat fee schedule but does not name Dentrix or spell out which record types come across for that price. Before you sign anything, get written answers on:

• Whether the $1,450 base conversion fee includes patient demographics, the ledger, treatment plans and insurance setup, or whether some of those cost extra.
• Whether X-ray images convert cleanly at the $900 add-on price, or whether some file formats from Dentrix Imaging need a separate step.
• Whether clinical notes and perio charting carry over, since neither company’s public pages state this either way.
• What training is included for your front desk and clinical staff, since a new system changes daily workflows even when the data moves cleanly.
• Whether your current Dentrix eClaims setup, or any other eServices you use, needs to be separately cancelled once Open Dental’s claims tools are active.

If Open Dental cannot answer one of these in writing, treat that record type as a risk item and plan to verify it manually after the conversion runs, rather than assuming it is included.

Timeline and contract timing

Dentrix eServices, including eClaims, run on 12-month terms that renew automatically unless you give written notice of non-renewal at least 60 days before the term ends. Henry Schein One’s terms state that leaving early can mean paying for the rest of the term, with no refund of fees already paid. Mark that renewal date on your calendar with real lead time, not 60 days exactly, in case the conversion runs long.

Open Dental’s initial term is 12 months, after which it moves to month to month, and support fees carry a 90-day money-back guarantee. That gives you a window to back out of Open Dental itself if the conversion or the new workflow does not work out, though it does not cover anything you have already paid Henry Schein One or a third party for the Dentrix side.

A realistic sequence is to request your Dentrix data export and an Open Dental conversion quote at the same time, run both systems in parallel for a short verification period once the conversion completes, and only then send Henry Schein One your non-renewal notice for any eServices you are cancelling. Running both systems briefly means paying for both, so keep that overlap as short as your verification needs.

A checklist before you sign

• Get a written quote from Open Dental covering the $1,450 base conversion fee, and confirm separately whether X-rays ($900) and documents ($850) apply to your practice.
• Confirm how many dentists you have. The first three are included in the $149 to $199 monthly fee; each additional dentist is $20 a month.
• Decide between a self-hosted setup, which still needs a server the way Dentrix does, and Open Dental Cloud at $430 a month for one provider plus $150 per additional provider and a $400 migration fee.
• Ask Henry Schein One, in writing, what format your Dentrix database can be exported in, and whether any assistance is offered. There is no published policy to point to.
• Check every Dentrix eServices renewal date and send non-renewal notice at least 60 days ahead, with margin for delays in the conversion.
• Confirm that your Dentrix license situation is closed out. A license cannot be resold on its own; it only transfers with a full practice sale, a transfer fee and Henry Schein One’s written permission.
• Ask whether Open Dental’s support pricing has changed since this page was checked; the monthly rate rose from $179 to $199 on February 2, 2026, so it can move again.

For a side-by-side of both products’ full profiles, or to see how the numbers change with your own provider and location count, use the cost calculator or take the Find my PMS quiz.