Feb 24, 2026 · 8 min read
Moving a dental practice onto new software is less about the software itself and more about sequencing — what to migrate first, who to train first, and what to leave running in parallel until everyone trusts the new system. This guide lays out a practical first-30-days plan based on how practices have rolled out DentXE successfully.
Week 1: migrate and verify, don't switch yet
Start by migrating existing patient records — treatment history, scheduling data, contact and insurance details — into DentXE while your existing system keeps running in parallel. Don't cut over yet. Spend this week having front-desk staff and one clinician spot-check migrated records against the source data for accuracy, especially treatment history for long-standing patients.
- Migrate patient records, treatment history and scheduling data
- Spot-check a sample of records against the previous system
- Set up clinic structure first if you are a multi-clinic group — locations, then staff
- Keep the old system live and read-only as a fallback reference
Week 2: set up roles and permissions properly
Resist the temptation to give everyone the same access just to move faster. Take the time in week two to set up role-based permissions correctly: dentists and hygienists get clinical context, front-desk and billing staff get scheduling and administrative data, and — critically for multi-clinic groups — confirm that staff at one clinic cannot see another clinic's records unless their role genuinely requires it.
Week 3: run live, in parallel, with one chair or one clinic
Pick one chair, or one clinic if you're a multi-location group, to go fully live on DentXE while the rest of the practice still runs on the old process. This limits the blast radius of any workflow surprises and gives your team a real reference point to compare against when the rest of the practice follows.
Week 4: full cutover and retire the old system
By week four, most practices are ready to bring every chair or clinic fully onto DentXE and retire the old tools. Keep a read-only export of historical data from your previous system for reference, but there's rarely a need to keep it running once the team has a full month of confidence behind them.
“Running one clinic live for a week before switching everyone over caught two workflow habits we needed to adjust — much better to find that early.”
Clinic administrator, multi-chair practice