Best practice management software picks from our experts: Dental specialties edition

Choosing the best practice management software (PMS) isn’t as simple as Googling “What’s the best dental PMS?”, especially if you are a specialty dental service. But this means a lot of research, specific to your specialty. Don’t worry, we’ve made it easy to choose the best PMS.

Efficient practice management software can make all the difference in how your dental practice is run. If it’s a bad user experience, runs poorly, or is simply unreliable, your collections will suffer.

But there are many options, and if you’re a specialty practice, you have more specific needs than a general dentist. We spoke to four of our dental billing experts who each have their own experience working with oral surgery, endodontics, orthodontics, and periodontics practices. We asked them each what their favorite PMS was for their specialty.

This list is completely opinion-based and should not be taken as fact. Our experts have years of experience working in different PMS for our client-partners, and are simply sharing which software they found the most helpful, efficient, and user-friendly.

Key takeaways when choosing the right PMS:

• Be sure to do your own research and determine what exactly your needs are
• Don’t take user-friendly-ness for granted,your team is working in this software every day
• DCS can help you choose and transition to a new PMS

Best for Oral Surgery: WinOMS

WinOMS has a ton of different features that allow the practice and the staff to work efficiently and effectively. We asked our OMS Business Unit Manager, Angela Moorman-Rakestraw, what features of WinOMS stand out to her. Here’s what she said:

• Mail Merge, where you can create any type of treatment plan, letter, or financial agreement and customize them for each patient.
• Integration in the EMR for electronic anesthesia records, including automated recording with CriticCare patient monitors.
• Office RCM management features in Contact/Office Experts. This is one of Angela’s favorite features because it allows for efficient RCM management and documentation linked to each patient account.
• The Encounter Module lets you track a patient throughout the office workflow and will time lapse each period the patient encounters (ex: xray, consult, surgery, recovery ,etc.);
• Customization options with EMR templates with a dictation feature.

We asked Angela how these features benefit oral surgery practice specifically. She shared:

“Not only are these tools and platforms time efficient for the staff, but also eliminates the need for “old school”, handwritten consult notes, op reports, anesthesia records, etc. This creates a smoother workflow within the practice which allows for increased productivity each day and this, in turn, leads to increased collections.

With the EMR features this PMS provides, it also allows cleaner, legible notes to be sent with each surgical claim for cleaner processing the first time.”

Why OMS practices specifically need this software: WinOMS allows for a great implant tracking system to include tracking size, placement dates and system used. There is also a recall feature to ensure patients are contacted and follow through occurs for each phase of the proposed treatment.

Best for Endodontics: TDO (The Digital Office)

TDO (The Digital Office) is one of the most widely used and advanced endo-specific systems available. We asked Senior Account Manager, Cortney Lusa, who has extensive experience in endodontic billing, what her favorite features of TDO are. Here’s what she said:

• TDO is built tooth-by-tooth, so all diagnostics, notes, and radiographs are tied directly to the treated tooth, which makes clinical documentation very clean.
• It’s easy for admin to find what they need, attach images to claims (huge for endo), and run clear aging reports that break down by period and show insurance vs. patient balances.
• It’s very user-friendly on both the clinical and billing side, which keeps A/R moving and cuts down on errors.

We asked Cortney how these features benefit endodontics practices specifically. She shared:

“TDO keeps clinical, imaging, referral communication, and billing all tied together in one clean, tooth-based workflow. Providers can document efficiently while the administrative team can quickly find notes, attach images to claims, and run AR reports without digging.

It cuts down on back-and-forth and keeps things moving. Financially, strong documentation plus easy attachments means cleaner claims, fewer denials, and faster reimbursement. The aging reports clearly separate insurance and patient balances, so follow-up is focused and those higher-dollar endo cases don’t sit in 60+ or 90+. “

Why Endodontics practices specifically need this software: TDO really aligns with how endodontics operates. The tooth-based structure just makes sense for the specialty and keeps everything clean and easy to find. It supports true specialty charting, plus auto-notes that save time without sacrificing documentation quality.

It’s also the most widely used PMS in endo, which means more third-party integration options and flexibility as a practice grows. On top of that, it’s very user-friendly and backed by strong support. It fits how endo works without making it complicated.

Best for Orthodontics: Cloud9

Cloud9 has great features that are user friendly for the staff. We asked Account Specialist, Erin Zauner, who has extensive experience in billing for orthodontics, what a few of her favorite Cloud9 features were:

• It’s cloud-based, so there’s easy access
• Offers a centralized, single-screen view of clinical and financial data.
• Includes specialized orthodontic tools for tracking treatment phases, and appliance management

We asked Erin how these features benefit orthodontics practice specifically. She shared:

“Cloud9 allows users to ‘edit’ claims so you can write in the remarks section and fix any other items prior to submitting the claim electronically. This is all within the patient chart, so it’s easy access to any and all patient information needed.”

Why Orthodontics practices specifically need this software: Cloud9 has great tracking for new patients and includes an all inclusive patient chart.

Best for Periodontics: OpenDental

OpenDental offers the versatility of being able to customize it to fit your referral patterns and unique patient base. We asked Private Practice Business Unit Manager, Alexander Sorbello, who has worked closely with periodontics practices, what his favorite features of OpenDental were:

• Choice of both server-based and cloud-based options, giving practices flexibility based on their operational preferences.
• Built-in referral tracking and customizable query reporting capabilities allow you to tailor the software to meet the specific needs of your practice.
• Integrated communication system allows you to easily communicate with referring offices while attaching important documentation such as X-rays and periodontal charting, helping streamline business to business communication.

We asked Alexander how these features benefit periodontics practices specifically. He shared:

“For a periodontal practice, Open Dental really supports both the clinical and financial side of the business. The built in referral tracking makes it easy to monitor and nurture referring providers, which ultimately helps drive more surgical and higher value cases.

The perio charting and customizable templates also make a big difference when it comes to case acceptance and documentation to support insurance claims. One of the biggest advantages is how flexible the system is.

Its integration opportunities are essentially endless, making it ideal for supportive add ons that can be tailored to each provider’s specific needs.

The ledgers are very easy to read, which allows for seamless patient billing, and having all modules accessible within one window makes it simple to move between clinical notes, imaging, scheduling, and financials without slowing down the workflow. The ability to customize the system to meet your needs is unmatched.”

Why Periodontics practices specifically need this software: For a periodontal specialty, the stand out needs are strong referral communication, customizable clinical workflows, and efficient perio charting that can be completed quickly either verbally or manually.

Open Dental supports this while also providing detailed attachment and imaging integration for surgical and implant cases, standardized templates for consistent documentation, and clear ledgers for seamless billing, making it well suited for the complexity and documentation demands of a busy periodontics practice.

Choose the best PMS for your specialty: DCS can help

To recap, here are our experts’ favorite dental practice management software systems for each speciality:

• Best for Oral Surgery: WinOMS
• Best for Endodontics: TDO (The Digital Office)
• Best for Orthodontics: Cloud9
• Best for Periodontics: OpenDental

Specialty dental practices have unique needs, and the right PMS should be able to support those specialized workflows.

DCS works with all dental specialties, and can help provide insight on different PMS if you’re looking to make a switch. If you partner with us, we’ll work in this software with you, so we want to be sure you choose the right one.

Choosing a software can be overwhelming. Let DCS help: Book a free 30-minute consultation today.