Home » OpenDentistry Project

OpenDentistry Project

Google Rating 5.0

Based on 23k Reviews

OpenDentistry Project — Open-Source Dental Practice Management OpenDentistry Project is an open-source initiative focused specifically on dental practice management. Unlike general EMR platforms that add dental modules later, OpenDentistry was designed with dentistry in mind from the beginning. It covers the everyday needs of dental clinics — patient records, scheduling, billing, and treatment charting — and remains lightweight enough to be used in smaller offices as well as in academic environm

Share buttons

OpenDentistry Project — Open-Source Dental Practice Management

OpenDentistry Project is an open-source initiative focused specifically on dental practice management. Unlike general EMR platforms that add dental modules later, OpenDentistry was designed with dentistry in mind from the beginning. It covers the everyday needs of dental clinics — patient records, scheduling, billing, and treatment charting — and remains lightweight enough to be used in smaller offices as well as in academic environments where budgets are tight.

Technical Profile

Area	Details
Platforms	Cross-platform, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux
Architecture	Open-source stack with a desktop client and database backend
Core functions	Patient registration, appointments, billing, treatment notes, charting
Dental features	Integrated charting, treatment planning, history of procedures
Deployment	Local installation; can be configured for network use in small clinics
Performance	Lightweight; suitable for standard desktops without special hardware
License	GPL open-source
Audience	Dental practices, teaching clinics, academic training programs

Comparison Snapshot

Tool	What Stands Out	Best Fit
OpenDentistry Project	Built for dentistry from the ground up	Dental clinics, universities, small practices
Chikitsa	General practice management with dental add-ons	Small general or dental offices
FreeMED	Broader EMR with configurable modules	Multi-specialty clinics
Bahmni	Full hospital system, multi-department	Large institutions, hospitals

Installation Notes

– Desktop installation: works on Windows, Linux, or macOS; requires a database backend (MySQL or PostgreSQL).
– Network setup: can be configured for multi-user access in small clinics.
– First run: administrators set up users, roles, and configure dental chart templates.

How It’s Used

– Dental offices: manage daily schedules, keep records, and handle billing.
– University training clinics: record student treatments and patient history.
– Community practices: run it as a free alternative to commercial software.
– Academic research projects: adapt it for collecting structured treatment data.

Deployment Notes

– Works well for small to mid-sized clinics without advanced IT infrastructure.
– Backup and role-based security need to be configured manually.
– Supports custom templates for treatment and charting to adapt to local practices.

Limitations

– Lacks advanced hospital-level integration (labs, pharmacy).
– Interface is functional but less polished than commercial systems.
– Community support is smaller compared to large projects like Bahmni.

Other programs

GIMP (Medical Plugins)

GIMP — Medical Plugins for Dental Imaging GIMP is best known as a free and open-source image editor, often compared to Photoshop. With medical plugins, however, it can be adapted for use in healthcare, including dental imaging. Dentists and researchers sometimes use GIMP to enhance X-rays, annotate CBCT slices, or prepare images for teaching and reporting. Because it is lightweight and runs on almost any workstation, GIMP with plugins is often found in universities and clinics as a cost-free sol

CloudCompare

CloudCompare — Point Cloud and Mesh Analysis in Dental Workflows CloudCompare is an open-source 3D point cloud and mesh processing tool. While it was originally created for geospatial data and engineering, it has also found a place in dental research and labs. Its strength lies in comparing 3D datasets — for example, checking changes in dental scans over time, aligning different scans of the same patient, or analyzing precision of 3D printed models against original CBCT or intraoral data. Unlike

MeshLab

MeshLab — Everyday Tool for Cleaning Dental 3D Scans MeshLab is one of those small but essential programs you often see in digital dentistry labs. It’s open-source, free, and focused on a single task: fixing and preparing 3D meshes. Scanners don’t always produce perfect files — sometimes there are holes, rough edges, or extra noise in the geometry. MeshLab lets technicians smooth, repair, and simplify those files so they’re ready for CAD software or 3D printing. It doesn’t try to be a full CAD s

Blender (Dental add-ons)

Blender — 3D Modeling with Dental Add-ons Blender is best known in the world of animation and 3D design, but with the right add-ons it has also found its way into dental workflows. Thanks to plugins like Blender for Dental and other community tools, labs and clinics can use it to model prosthetics, aligners, and surgical guides. Its strong point is visualization — Blender handles meshes and rendering at a level beyond most dental-specific CAD tools. Because it’s free and open-source, it is widel

FreeCAD (Dental Workbench)

FreeCAD — Dental Workbench in Everyday Use FreeCAD by itself is a general CAD program, but with the Dental Workbench add-on it turns into something much closer to dental CAD/CAM. The main idea is simple: load a scan from an intraoral scanner or CBCT, align it, model a crown or surgical guide, and export the result to STL for printing. It doesn’t try to compete head-to-head with commercial software like Exocad, but in universities and smaller labs it has its niche. Many teams use it as a teaching

LibreCAD (Dental use)

Краткое описание программы LibreCAD (Dental use)