Migrate from Open Dental to Salesforce Sales Cloud

Open Dental Patient maps to Salesforce Contact. The PatNum is stored as Source_System_ID__c on the Contact for traceability and delta‑run de‑duplication. Family members without guarantor status are created as separate Contacts linked via AccountId, preserving the family hierarchy and enabling reporting across the Account.

Open Dental's guarantor concept (the financially responsible party) maps to Salesforce Account. For family groups, the guarantor is the parent Account and family members are Contacts linked to that Account. Multi-person families use Account hierarchies to preserve the financial responsibility chain.

Salesforce has no native scheduling object. FlitStack creates a custom Dental_Appointment__c object with lookups to Contact (patient) and Provider__c (custom), plus Operatory__c, Status__c, AptDateTime__c, TimeEnded__c, Length__c, and AppointmentType__c fields. Open Dental's AptNum is preserved as Source_AptNum__c. The custom object also includes a Clinic__c lookup for multi-location practices and an Appointment_Notes__c text area for provider instructions.

Open Dental's insurance plan model has no Salesforce equivalent. We create a custom Insurance_Plan__c object with SubscriberID__c, Relationship__c, EffectiveDate__c, GroupNum__c, CopayAmount__c, CoveragePercentage__c, and FeeSchedule__c fields, linked to Contact via Contact__c lookup. Primary plan is also stored as Insurance_Plan_Primary__c pick-list on Contact.

Open Dental provider names are free text. FlitStack matches providers by email to Salesforce User records. For providers without email in Open Dental, we create a custom Provider__c object to store ProvNum, Name, Specialty, NPI__c, and License__c, then use a Provider__c lookup on Dental_Appointment__c and Dental_Procedure__c.

Open Dental tracks incoming and outgoing referrals with referral source, date, and status. Salesforce has no native referral object. We create a custom Referral__c object linked to Contact (patient), with RefSource__c, RefDate__c, RefStatus__c, and RefProvider__c fields. Referring dentist contact details stored as RefName__c and RefPhone__c.

Open Dental procedure codes (ADA D####), tooth information, surfaces, and clinical notes have no Salesforce equivalent. We create a custom Dental_Procedure__c object with Code__c, Description__c, Tooth__c, Surfaces__c, ProcStatus__c, ProvNum__c, AptNum__c (lookup), ProcFee__c, and Notes__c fields, linked to Contact (patient). Planned vs. completed procedures mapped via ProcStatus__c pick-list.

Open Dental prescriptions with medication name, dosage, frequency, and pharmacy routing have no Salesforce equivalent. We create a custom Prescription__c object linked to Contact, with Medication__c, Dosage__c, Frequency__c, Pharmacy__c, RxDate__c, and ProvNum__c lookup fields. Controlled substance fields preserved as PrescriptionNotes__c.

Open Dental lab cases with lab name, prescription date, due date, tracking status, and instructions require a custom Salesforce object. We create Lab_Case__c with LabName__c, PrescriptionDate__c, DueDate__c, Status__c, Instructions__c, and AptNum__c lookup. Lab contact information stored as LabName__c and LabPhone__c text fields.

Open Dental documents and scanned files are re-uploaded to Salesforce Files (ContentDocument) or Attachments linked to the patient Contact. File size limits apply — Salesforce default is 25MB per file. Inline images in notes are extracted and re-hosted as Salesforce Files.

Open Dental payment history and payment plans with amounts, dates, and methods do not map to standard Salesforce fields. We create a custom Payment__c object linked to Contact with PaymentDate__c, Amount__c, PayMethod__c, PayPlanNum__c, and Adjustment__c fields. Full accounting capabilities require Salesforce Revenue Cloud post-migration.

Open Dental PatFields (custom fields in patient info, account, and chart modules) support text, pick-list, date, checkbox, and currency field types. Each PatField migrates as a Salesforce custom field of the matching type on Contact, with FieldName__c preserved as the API name. Formula PatFields are noted for manual rebuild as Salesforce formula fields.