Select Patient

Use the Select Patient window to search and select patients in Open Dental.

In the Main Toolbar, click Select Patient.

Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P to open the Select Patient window.

Double-click on the patient to select. The patient record will open in whichever module the user began in. Alternatively, select the patient and click OK.

By default, only up to 40 patients list in the Select Patient grid at once. Names are sorted alphabetically by last name. The columns of information are customizable in Display Fields.

Keyboard: Click to use the built-in Windows keyboard. This button is not available for Open Dental Cloud users.

Search by: To filter the list, enter criteria in the Search by area. Users can search by one or many criteria and enter information by typing or using the on-screen keyboard.

Search: Click to update search results when Refresh while typing is not selected.

Note:
  • Only full string matches will display, with exact matches listing first. If a user searches for "cott", only results that start with "cott" will display (e.g., Cotter). Results that include "cott" mid-string will not (e.g., Scott).
  • When searching patients, use the up and down keys on the keyboard to quickly navigate to a patient. Use the Enter key to quickly select the highlighted patient.

Get All: List all patients (more than 40) that meet the search criteria and activate the vertical scrollbar. When this option is clicked, all patients that match the string of characters entered as search criteria (including mid-string characters) will show. Next Visit and/or Last Visit dates will not be visible when all patients are listed.

Refresh while typing: Determines whether the patient list automatically refreshes as users type. Enable or disable this checkbox entirely in Miscellaneous Setup.

Add New Family: Users must always search for at least patient last name to see if a patient record exists. If it doesn't, users can add a new patient record using one of the following options:

Note: Last Name, First Name, and Birthdate entered on select patient window automatically carry over when adding new patient(s).


Select Patient Dropdown

Another way to select a patient is by clicking the Select Patient dropdown in the Main Toolbar. The last five patients selected will show, as well as all family members associated with the current patient. Click on a name to select.

Other Options