ChairFlow + Open Dental — How the Integration Works

Open Dental is the most integration-friendly PMS in dentistry. Its open API, transparent development process, and active community make it the ideal platform for automated cancellation recovery. ChairFlow was built on Open Dental first, and it remains our deepest integration.

Connection: 5-Minute Setup

ChairFlow connects to Open Dental via dual-key API authentication. You provide your practice key (from Open Dental's API setup) and pair it with ChairFlow's developer key. No middleware, no desktop agent, no sync tool to install. The connection is direct, encrypted, and HIPAA compliant.

Cancellation Detection: Real-Time

Once connected, ChairFlow monitors your Open Dental appointment statuses in real time. When an appointment changes to Broken or moves to the UnschedList, ChairFlow detects it within seconds. We also catch cancellations made through patient confirmation texts, the patient portal, and manual staff changes.

Waitlist Ranking: ML-Powered

When a slot opens, ChairFlow ranks your waitlisted patients using a scoring model that considers appointment type match, urgency, scheduling flexibility, travel distance, historical response patterns, and insurance eligibility. The top-ranked patient gets the first text. If they decline, we move down the list automatically.

Outreach: Conversational SMS

The outreach text is conversational, not a blast. Patients can ask questions ('What time exactly?' 'Which hygienist?') and the AI handles the conversation. Bilingual English and Spanish, automatically detected. If the patient confirms, the appointment writes back into Open Dental instantly.

Reporting: Weekly Digest

Every week, you get a digest email: cancellations detected, patients contacted, slots filled, revenue recovered. The data helps you identify patterns — which days have the most cancellations, which patients cancel most often, and how much revenue ChairFlow is recovering for your practice.