Open Dental API
A documented REST API covers 100+ resource types, but production needs an Open Dental license, a signed BAA per practice, and negotiated pricing for write tiers. Read-only keys are throttled to one request per 5 seconds, and each office must run a local eConnector service.
Frequently asked questions
Open Dental scores F on the API Report Card. A documented REST API covers 100+ resource types, but production needs an Open Dental license, a signed BAA per practice, and negotiated pricing for write tiers. Read-only keys are throttled to one request per 5 seconds, and each office must run a local eConnector service.
Without a usable official API, teams fall back on manual exports, file drops, or one-off vendor integrations. The other option is an unofficial API layer like Supergood that automates the authenticated web app directly.
Open Dental is an open-source dental practice management software (PMS) used by general and specialty dental practices to run their entire clinical and business operation.
Vertical: Healthcare (dental practice management / dental EHR). Front desk staff use Open Dental to schedule appointments on a color-coded Appointments module, run insurance eligibility/benefits, send automated text reminders, collect copays, and post payments.
Open Dental is one of the top dental PMS vendors in the United States and one of the fastest-growing.
Yes, Open Dental is the single system of record for a dental practice.
Founded in 2003 by Dr. Jordan Sparks, a practicing dentist in Salem, Oregon, who started building the system from the back of his own dental practice, his staff doubled as office and support staff, taking developer calls between patients.
Read-only API developers (ApiReadAll only) are throttled to one request per 5 seconds per customer, and that interval includes execution time, making bulk reads painfully slow. Bursty workloads trigger 429 Too Many Requests responses with Retry-After headers; requests for the same CustomerKey are processed strictly sequentially. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include Dentrix (Henry Schein One), Eaglesoft (Patterson Dental), Curve Dental, Dentrix Ascend (Henry Schein One), tab32, Denticon (Planet DDS). Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.
Yes. Supergood maintains an unofficial Open Dental API and MCP server so AI agents and internal tools can read and write Open Dental data. See the Open Dental integration docs at supergood.ai/docs/open-dental-api.