Module 8: Administration, Backups, and eServices

Every module so far has been about getting data into Open Dental correctly. This one is about keeping that data safe and keeping the system running. It is the least glamorous part of the course and the part with the most expensive failure modes. A practice can survive a bad month of collections. It has a much harder time surviving a ransomware attack with no clean backup, or a server failure where the "backup" turns out to be a drive nobody had checked in a year.

Someone in every practice has to own this. In small offices it is often the owner or office manager working with an outside IT provider. You do not need to be a database administrator, but you do need to know what is being backed up, where the copies live, when a restore was last tested, and what to do when eServices or the server stop working. This module gives you that working knowledge.

Key takeaways

Back up two things: the database (the mysql data folder on the server) and the A to Z images folder. Open Dental's manual says backups should be made at least daily, encrypted, and regularly restored to a separate machine to prove they work.
Follow the 3-2-1 principle: three copies, two kinds of storage, one copy off site, and at least one that ransomware on your network cannot reach. RAID is not a backup.
Open Dental's Supplemental Backups are a useful extra, not your backup plan. The manual says so directly, and they do not include images.
The eConnector and the Open Dental Service both run on the server. When eServices, payment plan charges, or automated aging stop, check those two services first.
Update deliberately: verified backup first, after hours, every workstation closed, one person running it, and a short test of critical workflows the next morning.

ChairsideSource is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Dental Software, Inc. Menu paths and feature names were checked against the public Open Dental online manual in 2026 and can differ by version, by whether you host your own server or use Open Dental Cloud, and by which features are enabled. This module is general education, not IT or legal advice. Have a qualified IT provider implement your backup and security setup, and confirm HIPAA obligations with your compliance advisor or attorney.

Owning the system: administration basics

Module 1 covered users, user groups, and permissions. As an administrator, three more controls belong on your list.

Security Admin is a short list. Only users with the Security Admin permission can open Setup > Security. Keep it to one or two people, each with their own login. Shared logins make the audit trail useless.
Global Security Settings. The Global Security Settings button in Security controls password requirements, automatic logoff after inactivity, and the global lock date. Set automatic logoff so an unattended front desk screen does not stay open to patient records.
Audit Trail. Tools > Audit Trail logs logins, logoffs, and permission-based actions, filterable by date, permission, user, and patient. The manual notes that black entries are trusted and red entries are not. Look at it on a schedule, not only after something goes wrong.

Keep a one-page system record somewhere safe and off the server: Open Dental version (Help > About), server name and location, where backups go, who your IT provider is, your clearinghouse, your card processor, and which eServices you pay for. When something breaks, that page saves an hour.

Backups: what, how often, and where

What has to be backed up

Open Dental's manual identifies two critical locations on the server:

The database, typically in the mysql\data folder. This is every patient, appointment, procedure, claim, and payment.
The A to Z folder, typically OpenDentImages. This holds scanned documents, imported files, and in many setups images. Losing it means losing signed consent forms, EOB scans, and records you are required to keep.

If your imaging software stores radiographs outside Open Dental, those files need their own backup too. So do office documents that are not in Open Dental at all. Ask your IT provider for a written list of every folder being backed up and compare it against where your data actually lives.

How often and how

The manual's baseline is at least daily, with additional backups during the day for more protection. It recommends that backups be encrypted, recommends hardware-encrypted drives or encryption such as BitLocker, and says to keep monthly copies on separate drives for long-term archives. It also states plainly that RAID is not a backup: a mirrored drive faithfully mirrors corruption, deletion, and encryption by ransomware.

The 3-2-1 principle applied to a dental office

3-2-1 is a widely used IT rule of thumb, not an Open Dental feature. Here is what it looks like in practice:

Copy	Where it lives	Protects against	How often
1. Production data	The Open Dental server	Nothing on its own	Live
2. Local backup	A separate device in the office (backup appliance or encrypted external drive), not a shared folder any workstation can write to	Server hardware failure, accidental deletion; fast restores	Daily at minimum, more often if possible
3. Off-site backup	An encrypted cloud backup service or rotated encrypted drives taken off site	Fire, flood, theft, office-wide ransomware	Daily
Extra: offline or immutable copy	A copy that cannot be changed from the office network for a set period	Ransomware that hunts and encrypts connected backups	At least weekly
Extra: Open Dental Supplemental Backup	Encrypted copy stored at Open Dental (US customers on support)	A last-resort database copy	Nightly

Expensive mistake: a backup target every computer can write to. If the backup drive is mapped as a network share on every workstation, ransomware that lands on one front desk computer can encrypt the backups along with the server. At least one copy must be unreachable from the office network, either off site with separate credentials or offline.

Open Dental's Backup Tool

In the Manage module, click Backup. The tool has Backup, Remove Old Data, and Supplemental Backups tabs.

Run it from the server that hosts the database. The manual warns that running it from a workstation can cause errors or copy the wrong data.
Run it when no one else is using Open Dental.
Confirm Backup database FROM this folder (often the mysql data folder) and set Backup TO this folder (for example an external drive).
Decide whether to check Exclude image folder from backup or restore. Only exclude images if they are backed up another way.
Click Save Defaults so the paths are remembered.

Know its limits. The manual says the tool does not encrypt, is not available to Open Dental Cloud users, and has restore limitations for InnoDB databases. For most offices it is a handy manual tool for a known-good copy before an update, not the backbone of the backup plan. That job belongs to a scheduled, encrypted, monitored backup system your IT provider manages.

Supplemental Backups

Supplemental Backups send an encrypted copy of the database to Open Dental nightly, generally overnight. The manual says Open Dental cannot read the encrypted files. Requirements and limits: the eConnector must be installed, you must be on support, storage at Open Dental is for US customers, images (the OpenDentImages folders) are not included, the backups are not verified, and they are not available for Open Dental Cloud databases. Turn it on from the Supplemental Backups tab of the Backup Tool by checking Supplemental Backups Enabled. Then keep your real backup plan anyway. The manual states the tool is not designed to replace your existing backup method.

Online backup services

If you use a cloud backup product, confirm with your IT provider that it handles an open MySQL database correctly and supports encryption, versioning, and incremental backups. Open Dental's own online backup guidance mentions reports of some backup services causing database problems, and warns that the first upload of a large image library can take days. It also describes restoring to a new location first, never straight over the live data. Anyone storing PHI for you should sign a business associate agreement.

Disaster recovery and restore testing

A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a backup. The manual recommends restoring backups to a secure computer that is not connected to the office network, precisely so a test restore cannot overwrite the live database.

Quarterly restore test

Pick a recent backup at random, not the one from last night.
Restore the database and A to Z folder to a separate, off-network machine with the same Open Dental version installed.
Open Dental starts and the database opens without errors.
Yesterday's appointments, payments, and claims are present.
Open a scanned document and an image for three random patients.
Record how long the restore took. That is your realistic downtime.
Write down the date, who tested, and what failed. Fix failures before next quarter.
Securely wipe the test machine or keep it locked down; it holds a full copy of PHI.

Expensive mistake: restoring over a live database. The manual is blunt: do not restore a backup over a live production database, because the data loss can be irreversible. It also warns against copying individual tables from one database into another. When a restore is genuinely needed, stop, confirm with your IT provider or Open Dental support, and make a fresh copy of the current data before anything is overwritten.

Write the runbook before you need it

Your disaster plan should answer: who declares an outage, who calls IT and Open Dental support, how the office runs for a day without the system (printed schedule for tomorrow, paper intake, a way to take payments), and how long you can be down before it becomes a patient care problem. The HIPAA Security Rule's contingency plan standard requires covered entities to have a data backup plan, a disaster recovery plan, and an emergency mode operation plan; see HHS's Security Rule guidance and our Compliance chapter, and confirm the specifics with your compliance advisor.

Print tomorrow's schedule, with phone numbers, at the end of each day, or have your IT provider set up an automated export to a secure location. On the morning the server will not start, a printed schedule is the difference between a hard day and a lost one.

Multiple locations and the Clinics feature

Clinics: one database, several locations

Open Dental's Clinics feature keeps data separated by location inside one database. It is turned on in Setup > Advanced Setup > Show Features by checking Clinics, and Open Dental asks for a password (published in the manual) specifically so nobody toggles it by accident. Clinics are then maintained in Lists > Clinics, and a Clinics menu appears in the main menu for switching between the clinics a user can access.

What clinic assignment affects: operatories (appointments in an operatory with a clinic take that clinic), patients (used when an operatory has no clinic), claims and billing, fee schedule overrides, deposits, statements, and nearly every report's clinic filter. Users can be restricted to specific clinics. Before turning Clinics on in an existing database, plan how every operatory, provider, and patient will be assigned; the manual points to Database Maintenance for finding patients with no clinic.

Expensive mistake: enabling Clinics mid-stream without a plan. Turning on Clinics in a busy database without assigning operatories and patients produces months of reports split between real clinics and "unassigned," statements with the wrong location, and eServices that need to be reviewed. The manual notes that toggling Clinics while using eServices requires restarting the eConnector and reviewing the Signup Portal. Plan it, schedule it, and have support on standby.

Connection and database strategies

Open Dental's multiple-location documentation describes these options:

Strategy	How it works	Trade-offs
Separate databases	Each location runs its own server and database	Simplest and most independent; combined reporting takes extra work
One central database, remote desktop	Remote offices run Open Dental on a central server via remote desktop technology	Performs well centrally and scales with server memory; some local hardware such as digital radiography may not work through it
One central database, direct or Middle Tier connection	Remote workstations connect to the central database over the network, directly or through Middle Tier	Fast on a local network, often sluggish over VPN; every office depends on the internet link
Replication	Each location has a database kept synchronized with the others by MySQL replication	Fast locally and survives internet outages; requires strong database administration and monitoring, and the manual notes it does not scale beyond roughly ten servers

Replication is configured in Setup > Advanced Setup > Replication, but the manual itself encourages exploring other strategies first and requires monitoring that alerts staff immediately when replication fails. Some features are not compatible with it. For a two-location group practice, the realistic choice is usually between separate databases and a central database accessed by remote desktop or Open Dental Cloud. Make that decision with your IT provider and Open Dental before signing a lease on the second location; our Real Estate and Facilities track covers the rest of that project.

eServices: what they are and how to run them

The eConnector comes first

Every eService hosted by Open Dental depends on the eConnector, a service installed once, preferably on the server. The manual says the computer running it must always be on and awake; if it sleeps or shuts down, eServices stop until it wakes up. Check it in eServices > eConnector Service, which shows its state (such as Working or Stopped) and a log of heartbeats and errors, with a Start button to restart it. You enroll in services through the Signup Portal from the eServices menu. eServices require an active support agreement.

The main eServices

eService	What it does	Setup notes
Patient Portal	Patients view statements and pay, see upcoming appointments, review treatment plans, send secure messages, and view shared images and PDFs	Included while on support; you choose which features to enable and which patients get access
Web Sched Recall	Patients due for recall book from a link in their reminder	eServices > Web Sched: define operatories, appointment types, and communication rules
Web Sched New Patient and Existing Patient	Patients book online from your website	Link placed on your website; appointments land in Open Dental
Web Sched ASAP	Offers an opening to patients on your ASAP list by text or email	Not automated: sent from the Appointments module by right-clicking an open slot; creates a blockout while offered
eReminders	Automated appointment reminders by text and/or email	Logged to commlog; text requires Integrated Texting
eConfirmations	Asks patients to confirm; confirmed appointments are marked confirmed automatically	Rules in the Automated Messaging area of eServices Setup
Integrated Texting	Two-way texting from inside Open Dental	Monthly per-location fee plus per outbound message charges
eClipboard	Patient check-in and forms on a tablet or phone	Can also collect payment plan signatures
Payment Portal, Web Forms, Secure Email	Online payment, online forms, encrypted email	Each set up separately

Open Dental also lists automated thank-you messages, general messages after appointments, mass email, and mobile and tablet apps. Services are priced individually or as a bundle; current prices are on Open Dental's fees page.

Setting up Web Sched Recall without surprises

Confirm your recall types, intervals, and appointment time patterns are right first (Module 3). Web Sched books whatever your setup says a recall looks like.
Open eServices > Web Sched and choose the operatories, appointment types, and message rules Web Sched Recall may use.
Make sure provider schedules exist far enough ahead in those operatories. No schedule means no open times.
Book a test appointment yourself using a staff member's test patient record and confirm it lands in the right operatory with the right length and provider.
Set up Web Sched notifications (the manual refers to Web Sched Notify Setup) so patients get a confirmation.
Watch the Web Sched Appointments report (Standard Reports, Lists) for the first month to see what patients actually book.

eReminders and eConfirmations

Rules live in the Automated Messaging area of eServices Setup (labeled differently in some older versions). Each rule sets how far ahead a message is sent and by what method. When several rules could apply, Open Dental uses the one closest to the appointment. Set exclusion days so messages do not go out on holidays or weekends you do not want, and use the Exclude Automated Msgs setting in a patient's Edit Patient Information window for anyone who has asked not to receive them. Confirmation statuses come from the Appt Confirmed definitions, so make sure those match the statuses your team uses in the Appointments module.

Expensive mistake: texting like it is private. Open Dental's own documentation cautions that text messages are not a secure way to send PHI. Keep texts to logistics (time, date, link) and move anything clinical or financial into the portal or secure email. Patient consent and opt-out rules for automated texts are governed by federal and state law; have your attorney review your consent language and process.

After enabling any eService, add one line to your daily opening routine: glance at eServices > eConnector Service. A stopped eConnector is the most common reason confirmations, reminders, and online bookings quietly stop, and patients do not call to tell you they did not get a text.

Updating Open Dental safely

Updates come from Help > Update. Only users with the Update Install permission can see and run them, and your location needs an active support registration key. The window shows your current version, when it was last updated, and up to three versions available to you, with release announcements to read before installing.

Pick the window. After hours, not the night before your busiest day, and not when the person who knows the system is on vacation.
Verify a backup. Make a fresh backup and confirm it completed. The manual notes some updates make their own preventive backup; do not rely on that.
Read the notes. Read the version announcements shown in the update window, and check whether your imaging bridge, clearinghouse, card processor, or other integrations need their own updates.
Close Open Dental everywhere. The manual requires it to be closed on all workstations during an update. Include the computers people forget: the sterilization room, the doctor's office, remote users.
Install. Click Install next to the chosen version, follow the setup wizard, then run Open Dental as administrator and confirm the database update when prompted.
Let workstations follow. Other computers update automatically the next time Open Dental is opened on them.
Test the next morning, before patients arrive: open the schedule, post a test payment and delete it, send a claim batch, open an image, and confirm the eConnector and Open Dental Service are running.

Unless support or a specific fix requires it, most offices are better served by an update cadence than by updating the day a new version appears: stay reasonably current, but let a release settle, and never let the office fall so far behind that updating becomes a project. Check which versions the update window offers and read the manual's notes for each before choosing.

The Open Dental Service and other background work

Much of what feels automatic in Open Dental depends on the Open Dental Service, which should be installed only on the server. In Windows Service Manager on that server, a healthy install shows as installed and running. Across this course, features that depend on it include:

Posting payment plan charges daily (Module 6). The manual says Payment Plans require it.
Automated daily aging, when an aging run time is set in preferences.
Repeating charges and recurring card charges.
Automatic retrieval of clearinghouse reports and ERAs on a schedule (Module 5).
The unfinalized insurance payment count in the Reports menu.
Email and certain third-party integrations.

If several of those stop at once, the service is almost always the reason. Put a weekly check on someone's list.

Troubleshooting: a first-response routine

Symptom	Check first
Patients stopped getting reminders or confirmations; no online bookings	eServices > eConnector Service status; is the server asleep or off?
Payment plan charges or repeating charges did not post	Open Dental Service running on the server
Aging looks stale on accounts and reports	Last aging date; run Tools > Aging; check the service and aging run time
Claims sent but no acknowledgments or ERAs	Get Reports in Send Claims; clearinghouse credentials and default clearinghouse
A workstation will not open after an update	Open it and accept the update prompt; confirm it points to the right server
Balances or claims look internally inconsistent	Database Maintenance, after hours, after a backup
Everything is slow on every computer	Someone running a heavy query or database maintenance during hours; network or server resources
Something was changed or deleted and nobody knows who	Tools > Audit Trail filtered by date, permission, and patient

Database Maintenance

Tools > Database Maintenance checks the database for improper settings, inconsistencies, and corruption. Check reports problems; Fix repairs those that do not need a human decision. Some errors still require manual fixes. The manual warns not to run it during office hours (it can slow the whole network), not to run it on more than one computer at once, and to use the Old tab only when support tells you to. Repair logs are saved in the A to Z folder's DBMLogs subfolder. Make a backup first; it is cheap insurance.

Before you call support

Your version number from Help > About.
The exact error text, or a screenshot.
What changed recently: an update, a new computer, a Windows update, a new integration.
Whether it affects one workstation or all of them.

An administrator's calendar

When	Task
Daily	Confirm last night's backups succeeded (local and off site); glance at eConnector status
Weekly	Confirm the Open Dental Service is running; review the Audit Trail for deleted payments and adjustments
Monthly	Set the global lock date after month-end close; archive a monthly backup copy; remove access for departed staff
Quarterly	Full restore test to an off-network machine; review who has Security Admin and User Query Admin
Per release cycle	Planned update with backup, after-hours install, and next-morning test
Annually	Review the disaster recovery runbook; confirm business associate agreements with backup and IT vendors; review eServices you pay for and actually use

Practice exercises

Module 8 exercises

Write down every place your Open Dental data is backed up, how often, whether it is encrypted, and when it was last restored. Fill any gap with your IT provider this month.
Map your current setup onto the 3-2-1 table and identify which copy ransomware on a workstation could reach.
Open the Backup Tool on the server and confirm the FROM and TO paths match reality.
Check whether Supplemental Backups are enabled, and make sure everyone understands they exclude images.
Run a restore test on an off-network machine using the checklist above and record how long it took.
Open eServices > eConnector Service and read the last week of the log.
Book a Web Sched test appointment with a staff member's test record and confirm operatory, length, and provider.
Confirm the Open Dental Service is running on the server and list which features in your office depend on it.
Draft a one-page disaster runbook: who to call, how to run a paper day, and your target time to be back up.
Check your version under Help > About and plan your next update window.

What's next: from software to operations

That completes Open Dental: The Complete Course. You now know how the data is structured, how patients, schedules, charts, insurance, and money move through it, how to read the reports that come out the other end, and how to keep the whole system safe. The software, though, only records how a practice runs. The next step is running it better.

Continue with the Practice Operations track. Start with Systems and Workflows to turn what you set up in Open Dental into written office routines, then Insurance and the Revenue Cycle and Financial Management for Practice Owners to turn the reports from Module 7 into decisions. The Compliance chapter picks up where this module's backup and HIPAA notes leave off. If you jumped in partway through the course, the full module list is on the Open Dental course page.

ChairsideSource is not affiliated with or endorsed by Open Dental Software, Inc. This is independent educational content. Menus and features change between versions: verify against the official Open Dental manual and contact Open Dental support before changing settings that affect live patient data. This guide is educational content and does not constitute legal, financial, tax, or clinical advice. Laws and regulations vary by state and change over time. Consult your own dental-specific attorney, CPA, and state dental board before acting.