Integrating Dental Modules into EHR Systems: New Projects in Focus
Electronic health records (EHR) have become the backbone of modern hospitals, but dentistry has often lagged behind — managed in separate applications or, in some cases, on paper. That gap is now closing. A growing number of open-source and community-driven projects are introducing dental modules directly into hospital EHR systems, creating a unified record for both medical and oral care.
HospitalRun Dental
HospitalRun has always been designed for low-resource environments, with an offline-first approach that works in rural hospitals and outreach clinics. Its dental module follows the same principles: lightweight dental charting, treatment notes, and prescription tracking, all synced to the same patient record. For NGOs and regional hospitals, this means oral health data no longer needs to sit outside the central system.
OpenVista Dental
Built on the long-standing VistA platform, OpenVista has been widely used in public healthcare systems. The introduction of dental-specific workflows — charting, procedures, prescriptions — allows hospitals to manage dental visits with the same infrastructure they already use for medical care. Although technically demanding (it still relies on the MUMPS database), the integration gives administrators a cost-free alternative to separate proprietary dental software.
OpenHospital Dental
Another example comes from the OpenHospital project, which targets mission hospitals and teaching clinics. Its dental module integrates seamlessly with medical records, making it easier for staff to keep one continuous patient history. For training institutions, this integration is particularly useful: students can learn how oral and general health data intersect in a real-world hospital IT system.
Why integration matters
Running dentistry and medicine in separate silos creates obvious risks — duplicate records, lost information, and fragmented care. By integrating dental modules into hospital-wide EHRs, organizations can:
– maintain a single patient record for all types of care;
– reduce costs by avoiding separate vendor systems;
– prepare students and residents for unified digital workflows;
– simplify IT administration through one infrastructure instead of many.
Open-source projects such as HospitalRun, OpenVista, and OpenHospital are proving that dental integration is not just possible, but practical. They may lack the polish of commercial suites, but they offer transparency, adaptability, and sustainability — qualities that are especially valuable in teaching hospitals, NGOs, and public health networks.
