Your dental practice management software is at the centre of your daily operations. Scheduling, patient records, billing, treatment information, reporting and other workflows all depend on it working properly.
Two commonly used platforms are Eaglesoft and Open Dental.
While the software itself is different, both depend on the IT environment around them. Your network, workstations, server or hosting environment, backups, security and connectivity all play a role in keeping your dental practice running.
That’s why choosing the right dental IT support matters just as much as choosing the right practice management software.
Eaglesoft vs. Open Dental: What Is the Difference?
Eaglesoft and Open Dental are both dental practice management systems, but they offer different deployment and hosting options. That difference can have a direct impact on your IT setup.
Eaglesoft is traditionally installed on a local, on-premises server that your practice owns and maintains, although cloud-hosted versions are also available. Open Dental offers more flexibility: it can run as a self-hosted, on-premises installation or as a cloud-hosted platform where your data is managed by a third-party hosting provider.
That distinction matters because it determines who is responsible for different parts of your IT environment.
With an on-premises setup, server maintenance, local backups and network security are largely managed within your practice’s IT environment. A hosted setup shifts some of that responsibility to the hosting provider, but not all of it. Your local network, firewall and connection between your office and the hosted environment still need to be properly secured and managed.
The right choice between the two depends on your practice’s needs, existing systems and workflow. From an IT perspective, however, the important question isn’t simply which platform is better.
It’s whether your IT environment is properly configured to support the hosting model and software your practice depends on.
Your Network Matters
Dental practice management software needs reliable connectivity between the systems and devices your team uses.
A poorly configured or unreliable network can result in:
- Slow application performance
- Connection problems
- Workstation interruptions
- Problems accessing patient records
- Disruptions between different systems
A strong network infrastructure gives your team a more reliable environment to work in.
This is one reason dental office computer support should include more than troubleshooting individual computers.
Your IT provider should understand how workstations, servers, network equipment and dental software work together.
Workstations Need to Be Managed Too
Your front desk, treatment rooms and administrative areas may all depend on computers running dental applications.
If one workstation is outdated, incorrectly configured or experiencing hardware problems, it can affect staff productivity and patient workflows.
Proactive dental IT services can help identify issues with:
- Aging computers
- Operating systems
- Network connections
- User access
- Software compatibility
- Hardware performance
Instead of waiting for a workstation to fail during a busy day, proactive monitoring can help identify potential problems earlier.
What About Digital Imaging?
Dental practices rarely rely on practice management software alone.
Your IT environment may also need to support digital X-rays, intraoral cameras, CBCT systems, imaging software and other connected technology. Tier3MD’s dental IT services include digital imaging support alongside practice management software support.
This means your IT provider needs to consider how these systems interact with the rest of your network.
A software issue isn’t always a software problem. It could be a workstation, network, storage or connectivity issue.
Backups Are Part of Your IT Setup
Your practice management system contains information your dental office relies on every day.
A backup strategy should therefore be part of your overall IT planning.
Your IT provider should know:
- What data needs to be backed up
- Where backups are stored
- How often backups run
- Whether backups are monitored
- How data would be restored after an incident
A backup that has never been tested is not enough.
This is particularly important when your practice depends on its systems to operate throughout the day.
Related resource: Why Every Dental Practice Needs a Disaster Recovery Plan
Security Still Matters
Whether your practice uses Eaglesoft, Open Dental or another dental platform, the surrounding IT environment needs to be protected.
That includes your:
- Network
- Firewall
- Workstations
- User accounts
- Remote access
- Backups
- Connected devices
Using dental software doesn’t automatically make the underlying network secure.
Your IT provider should regularly review security controls and identify potential weaknesses.
Related resource: Using Open Dental? Why a Firewall Still Matters
Why Dental-Specific IT Support Matters
A general IT provider may be able to fix a computer or reset a password.
But dental practices often need more specialised knowledge.
Your dental IT support company should understand the relationship between:
- Practice management software
- Digital imaging
- Network infrastructure
- Workstations
- Backups
- Cybersecurity
- Patient data
Tier3MD provides dental IT solutions for practices using platforms including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental and other common dental systems.
The goal isn’t simply to keep computers working.
It’s to keep the technology supporting your practice working together.
Choosing the Right IT Partner for Your Dental Practice
Whether your practice uses Eaglesoft, Open Dental or another platform, your IT environment needs to support the way your team works.
Look for a provider that can help with more than individual technical problems.
Your managed IT services for dental offices should include proactive monitoring, cybersecurity, network support, backup and recovery, hardware management and responsive technical support.
With the right dental IT consulting, you can also plan technology upgrades and changes before they become urgent problems.
Keep Your Dental IT Running Reliably
Your practice management software is only one part of your technology environment.
Eaglesoft or Open Dental may be at the centre of your workflow, but reliable networks, secure systems, properly managed workstations, backups and digital imaging all contribute to keeping your practice running.
If your dental practice needs specialised dental IT support, Tier3MD can help.
