Migrate from The Dental System to Nutshell

The Dental System patient records map to Nutshell People (Contacts). The patient's name, email, phone, address, and date of birth transfer directly. Since Nutshell People require an AccountId for full functionality, a primary Account is created from the practice name or the patient's employer — or a default 'Individual' account is used when no company association exists.

Insurance carrier, policy number, group number, subscriber relationship, subscriber name, effective date, and termination date have no native Nutshell equivalent. We create custom Person fields (Insurance_Carrier__c, Policy_Number__c, Group_Number__c, Subscriber_Relationship__c) before migration so each contact carries their coverage details. During migration, insurance values populate these fields directly on the patient Contact, and any insurance record lacking a corresponding patient is flagged for manual review before the full run commits.

Appointments in The Dental System carry a date, time, duration, type, provider, and operatory. These map to Nutshell Events with the same start and end timestamps, subject from the appointment type (e.g., 'Comprehensive Exam', 'Root Canal'), and owner set to the Nutshell user matched by provider email. Nutshell Events require an ownerId — unmapped providers are flagged before migration so the practice can create their Nutshell user accounts in advance.

Treatment plans in The Dental System bundle multiple procedures with ADA codes, tooth numbers, surfaces, fees, and a status (proposed, accepted, completed). We split this into two migration targets: plan-level fields (plan name, status, total fee, provider notes) migrate as custom fields on the Contact; procedure-level line items (ADA code, description, tooth, surface, fee) migrate as a structured Note attached to the contact so the full treatment outline is preserved and readable in Nutshell.

Nutshell does not have a native Doctor or Provider object. The Dental System's provider records are resolved by email match against Nutshell users — if a provider has a Nutshell login, their contacts and events receive their userId as owner. If no match exists, records are assigned to a fallback owner (typically the admin) and flagged for post-migration reassignment.

The Dental System recall records (next appointment due date, recall type, provider assigned) map to Nutshell Tasks attached to the patient Contact. The task subject carries the recall type (e.g., '6-Month Hygiene Recall'), the due date maps from the recall date, and the assigned Nutshell user is resolved from the provider's email.

Many dental practices track where patients came from (referral, external campaign, walk-in, etc.). The Dental System stores this in a patient property or note. We create a Referral_Source__c custom pick-list field on the Nutshell Person object and map the existing values so the practice retains referral analytics in Nutshell reporting.

The Dental System may store periodontal chart data, medical history flags, and clinical treatment notes that are sensitive under HIPAA and inappropriate for a standard CRM field. These are exported as attachments and linked to the patient contact with a HIPAA_Compliance_Flag__c note. The practice admin reviews and decides whether to retain, remove, or move these to a compliant EHR system. This is disclosed upfront and is never migrated into a free-text CRM field without flagging.

The Dental System allows custom properties on patient records beyond the standard fields. Each custom property is evaluated by type — text, number, date, pick-list — and a corresponding Nutshell Person custom field is created before migration. Pick-list custom properties require value-by-value mapping when the options differ between systems.

For multi-location dental practices, The Dental System stores a clinic or practice record with name, address, and phone. These map to Nutshell Accounts (Companies) and become the primary account for all patients associated with that location. Each Account in Nutshell carries the practice name, phone, and full address, enabling patient-to-location grouping and location-based reporting across the practice's patient roster.