V3->V4: Changes and Features

When developing Version 4, we focused on maintaining the familiar layout that our users already know and use. All menus, panels, and sections remain in the same positions, so there is no need to learn the system from scratch.

Approximately 60% of the new system is based on Version 3, presented in a modern web-based environment, while the remaining 40% introduces new features and improvements powered by modern technologies. These enhancements are designed to improve your daily experience, increase flexibility, and make working with DentalPlus even more efficient.

DentalPlus V4: Appoitment Book

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Logging In

Let’s begin with logging in. Users can access the system using their email address and password. The home screen is the Appointment Book. As you can see the layout is very similar to previous version of DentalPlus , so there's no need to learn everything from scratch. The main areas of the system are in the same familiar locations.

• On the left is the Main Menu.
• In the centre is the Appointment Diary.
• The calendar for navigating dates,
• At the top you'll find the Toolbar, giving you quick access to useful features such as printing the day list, searching for appointments, and sending automatic communications. Appointment reminders are normally sent automatically between two and four days before the appointment. This period can be changed in the Admin section. If you're working on a smaller monitor, click Hide Timeline to create more space in the diary.

Understanding the Diary

Appointments are colour-coded and displayed in separate columns for each clinician. You can show or hide clinicians using the Clinicians panel. By default, the system displays working hours in white and non-working hours in grey. Colour-coded working blocks can be added and customised in the Admin section.

Booking an Appointment

To create a new appointment, simply right-click in the diary and select the required appointment type. You can adjust the appointment length by dragging the bottom edge of the appointment. To change the appointment status, right-click the appointment and choose the required status. Each status has its own workflow. For example, the Waiting Room status reminds staff to confirm the patient's communication preferences, while the Exited status can automatically trigger follow-up communications, such as asking the patient to leave a review.

Opening Appointment Details

Hover your mouse over an appointment to view key information. Click an appointment once to open the Appointment Details window. Here you can review and edit the appointment, view upcoming appointments, and check any laboratory work associated with the patient.

Moving and Rescheduling Appointments

There are several ways to reschedule appointments.

• You can drag and drop an appointment to another time on the same day.
• If you need to move the appointment to another day, select status Move to the Task List, navigate to the required date, and book it again by selecting the patient from the Task List.
• If there are no available appointments and the patient would like to be seen as soon as possible, add them to the Standby List. This helps you quickly fill cancelled appointments.

User Account

Click your profile icon in the top-right corner to access your account settings, open the Help Documentation, or contact the DentalPlus Support Team by email.

Internal Messenger

DentalPlus also includes an internal Messenger for communication between staff members. Open Messenger from the left-hand menu, select the person you'd like to contact, and type your message. Click Staff List to display all users in your practice.

DentalPlus V4: Patient Record: Details, Notes, Communications

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The Patient Record is the central hub of DentalPlus, providing access to all information related to an individual patient, including personal details, notes, appointments, communications, and documents.

Opening a Patient Record

There are several ways to access a patient record:

1. Using Search Use the Search bar at the top of the screen to quickly find a patient. Quick Search allows you to search by:

• Patient surname
• First name
• Patient ID
• Date of birth For additional search options, select Advanced Search. This allows you to search using multiple criteria to find the required patient.

2. From the Appointment Book. Click any appoitment and open the appointment details and hit Patient Record.
3. From the Main Menu. The main menu icon provides quick access to the most recently opened patient record.

Patient Details

The first tab in the Patient Record displays the patient's personal details and includes a toolbar with commonly used actions. If important medical conditions have been recorded, DentalPlus displays a warning notification to alert clinicians when accessing the patient record. From this section, you can:

• Print an appointment card
• Send a medical form for the patient to complete and sign
• Open the AI Patient Summary which analyses information stored in the patient record and creates a clear, organised overview to help clinicians quickly understand the patient's history before an appointment.

Family Group

The Family Group panel allows you to link related patient records together, making it easier to manage family members within DentalPlus. To add a family member:

• Click the Link icon and Search for an existing patient
• Click the Plus icon to create a new patient record.

Contact Preferences

The Contact Preferences section allows you to record how the patient prefers to receive communications, including: Appointment reminders, Recalls communications , Marketing communications These preferences are used when sending automated communications from DentalPlus.

Notes

The Notes section allows you to create and manage both Patient Notes and Clinical Notes. You can:

• Create new notes
• Edit or delete notes (subject to user permissions)
• View note history
• Print selected notes
• Filter notes by date or category

Creating a New Note

To create a note:

1. Select New Note.
2. Choose the type 'Clinical' or 'Patient'
3. Enter the required information manually or insert a template. DentalPlus supports two types of templates: Practice Templates – available to all users. Personal Templates – created by individual clinicians and visible only to them. All templates can be managed and customised in the Admin section.

Slash Notes

The Slash Notes feature helps speed up clinical note entry by allowing users to insert templates using shortcut codes. Each note template can be assigned a shortcut code. To use Slash Notes:

• Type / followed by the template code.
• Press Enter. Example: Typing /imp will automatically insert the predefined implant note template. This allows clinicians to quickly add commonly used notes during appointments.

Alert Notes

DentalPlus automatically displays patient alert notes when a patient record is opened or an appointment is booked. To create an alert note:

1. Select New Note.
2. Choose the type 'Patient'
3. Tick 'Alert note'
4. Enter the required information manually
5. Save the note.

Edit or delete notes

The ability to edit or delete notes is controlled by user permissions. If the Edit or Delete icons are not visible, your user role does not have permission to modify or remove notes.

DentalPlus keeps a complete history of changes made to notes. To review the changes, click the History icon next to the relevant note. This allows you to view previous versions and track updates made to the note.

Note Filter

Use the Note Filter to display: Clinical Notes only, Patient Notes only, Deleted notes, Notes added within a specific timeframe

Printing Notes

To print all notes:

• Select the arrow next to Print Notes.
• Choose: All – to print all notes.
• Click Print Notes.

To print a note or notes: Select specific notes and click print – to print only chosen entries.

On the Print screen, you can: Download the notes, Email the notes, Print the notes

Appointments

The Appointments section displays all appointments linked to the selected patient, including: future appointments, past appointments, cancelled appointments

For each appointment, you can:

• View appointment history
• Print appointment details
• Send reminders

Creating a New Appointment

To create an appointment:

• click New Appointment.
• Choose the: Date, Clinician, Appointment reason, Duration
• DentalPlus automatically displays available appointment times for the selected week.
• Save appointment

Booking Linked Appointments

Linked appointments can be created when a patient requires appointments with multiple clinicians, for example: dentist appointment followed by hygienist appointment

To create linked appointments:

• Select the first clinician and appointment time.
• Select the second clinician.
• Choose an available time.
• Save both appointments together.

Sending Appointment Reminders

To send reminders: Select one or more appointments and click Send Reminders. DentalPlus sends reminders using the patient's preferred communication method defined in Contact Preferences.

Patient Communications

The Patient Communications section stores all communication sent to the patient, including: Emails, SMS messages, Letters

Sending Emails or Sms

To send an email:

• Select New Email.
• Enter the message manually or select an email template.
• Add any required attachments.
• Select an email signature if required.
• Send the email.

Sent emails, SMS messages, and letters are automatically saved in the communication history and can be reviewed at any time.

DentalPlus also includes a built-in SMS service, allowing text messages to be sent directly to patients.

Files

The Files section acts as a secure document organiser for all patient-related files. This helps keep patient documentation securely stored and easily accessible from within the patient record. You can:

• Create folders
• Upload documents
• Copy and paste files
• Organise patient documents
• Remove files when required

DentalPlus V4: Patient Record: Medical Forms and Treatments

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Medical History

Open a patient record and navigate to Medical History. This tab stores all completed medical history forms together with a log of recorded actions.

Any questions answered "Yes" are clearly highlighted, making them easy to identify. If a patient's medical history requires attention, a warning icon will also appear in the Patient Record toolbar.

If the form has been digitally signed, you'll see the View Signature button. Click it to view the patient's signature together with the date and time it was captured.

You can print a medical history by clicking Print Medical History, or open the Full Form tab to view the complete questionnaire. If you need a paper copy select Print with No Answers.

Forms

The Forms section stores all consent forms, medical forms, and other documents completed by or for the patient. From here you can view existing forms, create new ones, update saved forms, or delete them if required.

The Form Requests tab is used to send forms to patients for electronic completion and signature. Together with the Patient Portal, it forms the foundation of DentalPlus' digital patient workflow.

Here's how it works.

1. Open the Form Requests tab and click New Request.
2. Select the required form and choose how you would like to send it.
3. The patient receives a secure, where they can complete and sign the form online.
4. Once submitted, the completed form is automatically added to the Forms section of the Patient Record.

To locate a form, simply expand the appropriate folder in the left-hand panel and select the document you want to view. If a submitted form requires clinician review, DentalPlus highlights this in both the Forms section and the Treatments screen, ensuring nothing is missed.

Treatments

Now let's move to the Treatments section supposing to carry out a routine examination for a new patient.

Observations

Start by selecting Observation tab in the left top area. This allows you to record the patient's current oral condition.

You can add observations by clicking directly on a tooth in the chart or by selecting items from the list on the left. To add a treatment, click the folder to expand the list, then double-click the required treatment.

All observations are displayed on the dental chart and listed in the Base table If you'd like to monitor a condition over time, such as a crack or early caries, right-click the observation and select Add to Monitor List. An eye icon appears on the chart, making monitored conditions easy to identify during future visits.

History

Double-click any tooth number to open its complete treatment history. The History panel on the right displays all previous treatments and clinical activity for the selected patient.

Creating a Treatment Plan

1. Switch to the Treatment tab to create a treatment plan.
2. Click New Plan to begin a new course of treatment.
3. Add treatment items to the plan. If a treatment has a chart display configuration, it will automatically appear on the dental chart.

Editing treatment items

To edit a treatment, left click the item to expand its details. Here you can: • change the treatment date • select the tooth and surfaces • edit the treatment fee • add clinical notes These options are available to users with the appropriate permissions. Click the treatment again to collapse the details. Right click the item to delete treatment from the plan.

Treatment Plan Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the screen provides quick access to common actions. From here you can: • create a new treatment plan • load previous plans • print the current plan • pass completed treatments to Reception for invoicing • send a treatment plan to the patient for electronic signature • change the tooth chart view • apply a discount to the entire treatment plan • mark the treatment plan as completed

If the treatment plan has already been signed by the patient, the signature together with the signing date is displayed.

The toolbar also indicates whether any patient forms require clinician review. Select Forms to Review to open and complete these forms from the clinician's perspective.

Useful Time-Saving Features

DentalPlus includes several features designed to speed up treatment planning.

Frequently used treatments can be added to Favourites by right-clicking a treatment item. You can also save a treatment plan as a template. Next time, you can add the entire plan with a single click instead of selecting each treatment individually. Treatment plans can also be linked to future appointments, giving the practice greater visibility of planned work and supporting income forecasting.

Multiple Appointments

A treatment plan can be divided across multiple appointments.

1. Right-click the No Booking row and select + Appointment.
2. A new appointment section is created at the bottom of the plan.
3. Select the appointment you want to work on and mark it as Active.
4. You can then drag and drop treatment items between appointments using the six-dot handle beside each treatment.

Treatment Options

Sometimes a patient may need to choose between alternative treatment plans, for example: extraction with antibiotics or root canal treatment plus a crown

1. To create alternative options, click the Plus button above the chart.
2. You can either copy the existing treatment plan or create a completely new option.
3. Once the patient makes a decision and treatment begins, DentalPlus automatically locks the unused treatment options to prevent procedures from multiple plans being completed accidentally.

Treatment Plan Completion

Once treatments are completed, opening a new treatment plan will automatically add completed treatments with chart display settings to the Base Chart table and display them on the dental chart.

Perio

The Perio module provides an efficient way to record and monitor a patient's periodontal condition over time. To create a new periodontal chart, select the required chart type from the left-hand panel, complete the assessment, and click Save Chart.

Previous charts are stored in the same section. Expand the folder using the arrow to review earlier assessments and compare results over time, making it easy to monitor changes in the patient's periodontal health.