Languages 

There are limited translations available for download for the following three cultures:
es-MX Spanish-Mexico
it-IT Italian-Italy
de-DE
For example, in order to download the Spanish translation, set your computer to Spanish-Mexico in your Control Panel. Then, follow the instructions below.  After successfully downloading the Spanish-Mexico translations, you can switch your regional settings back to your own Spanish speaking country, and the download will still be available.

Language support has been built into Open Dental from day one, and it gets better with each version. The code is all written to automatically adapt to the user's computer settings. The translations are specific to the culture (country), not just the language. So, for instance, there are many different Spanish translations available, depending on which country you are in. If a translation has not been made for your country, it will use any translation for the same language from a different country.

A translation tool is part of the Open Dental program itself. If you want to translate, you should first install Open Dental, probably the trial version, and then go to the Main Menu | Tools | Language Translation. That menu item will not be visible unless your computer is set to use a foreign language in the Control Panel of Windows.

All translations are organized by category, usually the name of the window they are displayed in. You need to become familiar with the program to understand the various categories and windows. The more you use the program, the more phrases will be available for translation and the more categories will show, since the program dynamically adds the English phrases as they are used. Double click on a category to edit translations:

This window shows all the available translations, although more will probably be added as you work with the program. Double click on an item to edit:

You will not be able to add English comments, since that is only for our use. You can change the translation or the comment for your language. The 'Other Translation' will show any other available translations for your language. For instance, if you are translating for Spanish Peru, you might see existing translations for Spanish Mexico or Spanish Puerto Rico. This should make your job easier.

If a phrase needs to be left blank (for instance, Social Security Number), insert a space in the table. A space is very different from an empty field. A space will make the word show up empty; an empty field will retain the English version.

Arabic

More Information

See the Foreign Countries page for contact information.

Future improvements to language features:

Languange translation upload and download needs to be centrally managed by us as a web service. The current method is clumsy and laborious.  We need to be able to let multiple translators work on a single language without conflict.