Web Version 

Open Dental does not currently have a version that will run in a web browser.  See the Remote Access page for information on how to access your office from a public computer.  See the Multiple Locations page for information about how to connect multiple offices.

On 1/24/2012, we began a new attempt to build a web version.  As of 2/11/2012, it's progressing well.  There's no guarantee that we will succeed, but if we do, then the web version will be released in approximately one or two months.  We will post results and a demo here as soon as we have something to show.

Technical Details

We've decided that it will not be a multi-tenant database. In other words, each customer will be in a separate database instead of mixed in the same database with other customers. We've also decided that we will use the same exact schema as our main Open Dental product. This means that not only will we be able to offer a hosted version, but users will also eventually be able to have the full version of Open Dental at the office, and the web version while away from the office. It will work on all browsers, operating systems, and devices. This will include Windows, Linux, Mac, iPad, Android, and smart phones.

We chose SmartClient, a deep and stable Ajax framework which has been in existence for over a decade, and which has wide adoption in enterprises.  Recent improvements made it ideal for our situation. The user interface is being be written in Java using SmartGWT, then compiled into JavaScript by GWT in order to run in the browser.  The JavaScript generates all html and css in the browser as needed, so that our programmers do not actually write any html.  The clients will connect to a custom asp.net server program in the background to retrieve data as needed.

Programmers who will be working on the web version should see the Eclipse page for setup instructions.