Switching from Open Dental to Denticon

PickMyPMS Editorial · Last reviewed Oct 21, 2026

Quick answer

Leaving Open Dental is cheap on paper. We found no exit fee, the data sits in a MySQL database you control, and the contract goes month to month after the first 12 months. The cost sits on the arrival side.

Denticon starts at $795 a month, against Open Dental’s $149 a month for support after year one. Planet DDS does not publish its conversion fee, so the price of moving your data arrives as a quote. The move also swaps a server you run for a hosted system, which changes who handles backups, imaging and uptime.

Budget for the $795 starting price, the unpublished conversion quote, and the $995 per extract Denticon charges when you leave.

What it costs to leave Open Dental

Open Dental charges $199 a month per location for support during the first 12 months, covering up to 3 dentists, then $149 a month. Each additional dentist is $20 a month. Those figures are from Open Dental’s fee page, checked 2026-09-26.

Support fees carry a 90-day money-back guarantee. After the 12-month initial term the contract is month to month, and Open Dental lists published pricing and no long-term contract after year one as a strength. The fee page does not state a notice period for ending support. If you plan to overlap with the new system, ask Open Dental how many days of notice it needs.

If you bought add-ons, check each one separately. The eServices bundle is $165 a month per location. Texting access is $5 a month for an assigned number or $20 a month for a landline, plus $0.04 per message in the US.

Getting your data out of Open Dental

Open Dental’s manual says data sits in an open MySQL database the practice controls. No vendor has to agree to release the data, and no export fee applies.

It also puts the work on you. Someone has to take a clean backup, confirm it restores, and hand it to Planet DDS for the trial conversion. If an outside IT firm manages your server, tell them early.

Imaging is the part to check first. Open Dental does not describe where your X-rays live in the sources we use, so ask your IT provider whether images are stored in the database or in a separate folder on the server.

What it costs to arrive at Denticon

Planet DDS publishes a starting price of $795 a month. Packages, features and add-ons vary with practice size. Capterra lists $750 as a flat-rate starting price. That figure is third party and differs from the vendor’s, so we use $795.

Denticon’s Patient Communication package includes 6,000 text segments per office, and two-way texting includes 3,000. Segments above the package cost $0.0087 each. A text messaging compliance fee of $20 a month applies per account.

Open Dental’s text and online scheduling charges are add-ons. Denticon records texting, online scheduling, online forms and recall automation as included, so part of the price gap closes if you pay for those today.

The one-time cost is conversion. Planet DDS converts data per location from supported legacy systems, with a trial conversion and audits before go-live. Imaging conversions are included per location, per database. Fees are set in the order and are not published. We could not confirm from the vendor’s pages that Open Dental is on the supported list, so ask for that in writing before you sign.

What transfers and what to ask about

Planet DDS describes the process but not what comes across. Get written answers to these before you commit to a go-live date:

• Is Open Dental named as a supported legacy system, and which version?
• What does the conversion quote cover per location, and what costs extra?
• Which record types come across: patient demographics, ledgers, treatment plans, insurance, clinical notes and perio charting?
• How many trial conversions are included, and who signs off on the audits?
• Where do converted images land, and are they in XVWeb from day one?

Denticon has no native imaging in our data. It runs through Apteryx XVWeb, which Planet DDS owns. Imaging data converted during the first term cannot be exported before that term ends, so the choice you make at conversion carries to your exit.

If Planet DDS cannot answer one of these in writing, treat that record type as a risk and plan to check it by hand after the trial conversion.

Contract timing and the exit you are signing

Denticon’s initial term ends on the first anniversary of the billing start date. It then renews for one-year terms unless you give notice. Non-renewal needs at least 30 days’ notice before the term ends. Planet DDS may adjust prices for each renewal term with written notice.

Cancelling for convenience needs 60 days’ notice, and the fees for the rest of the current term become due immediately. If the move goes badly in month three, that clause sets the cost of reversing it.

At termination, the practice owns its data but must extract a copy itself. It can ask Planet DDS, up to 10 business days after termination, to post the data to a secure site that stays available for 30 days. XVWeb patient and imaging exports cost $995 per extract, and extra export work is billed at current rates.

Compare that with where you are now. Open Dental has no per-extract charge in our data, and you hold the database.

A workable sequence:

1. Ask Open Dental for its notice terms and confirm your add-on renewal dates.
2. Request the Denticon quote with conversion, imaging and any DSO or multi-location pricing itemized.
3. Take a backup and run the trial conversion while Open Dental is still live.
4. Audit the converted data, then set the go-live date.
5. Give Open Dental notice only after the audit passes.

Running both systems briefly means paying for both. Keep the overlap as short as your audit needs.

What changes day to day

Denticon runs in a browser on Windows. Planet DDS says it is not compatible with macOS. Open Dental also lists Windows as its only platform, so a Mac office has no gain here.

Denticon records perio charting, treatment presentation, eligibility checks, claims, reporting, multi-location reporting and API access as included. Open Dental records multi-location reporting as unclear, so a group practice may gain a reporting option it could not confirm before. Open Dental also records a mobile app and open database access as included, and Denticon has no record of either.

Reviewers on Capterra, whose figures are third-party estimates, rate Open Dental 4.6 out of 5 from 89 reviews and Denticon 4.5 out of 5 from 118 reviews. Both draw the dated interface complaint. Denticon reviewers also cite slow or unresolved support tickets and bugs shipped in updates. Open Dental reviewers cite a learning curve and paying for live support.

Integrations to carry over

Check each tool you use for the new side.

NexHealth lists both Open Dental and Denticon by Planet DDS among the systems it supports. It does not publish the connection method for either.

Open Dental’s manual names DentalXChange among its recommended clearinghouses, and the practice signs up with the clearinghouse first. Our data has no DentalXChange record for Denticon, so that link is unclear. Denticon records eligibility and claims as included, so ask Planet DDS which clearinghouse it uses.

Flex Dental states it is built for Open Dental and writes eligibility results back in real time. Open Dental publishes no partner directory. Denticon has no Flex Dental record, so assume you will need a replacement for that function until Planet DDS says otherwise.

Planet DDS lists API integrations with more than 50 third-party products.

A checklist before you sign

• Get Denticon’s quote in writing, with the conversion fee, imaging and any add-ons itemized beyond the $795 starting price.
• Confirm Open Dental is a supported conversion source.
• Ask Open Dental for its notice period, since the fee page states none.
• Confirm where your X-rays are stored and how they will convert.
• Note the 30-day non-renewal window and the 60-day cancellation clause in Denticon’s agreement.
• Budget for the $995 per extract that applies when you leave Denticon.
• List every tool that connects to Open Dental today and check each against Denticon.
• Check that your staff can work on Windows, since Denticon has no macOS support.

For a side-by-side of both products, read the Denticon vs Open Dental comparison. To test the numbers against your own provider and location count, use the cost calculator or take the Find my PMS quiz.