Satisfied from the start
Pros
Intuitive. It has eliminated wasted time and money on training.
Cons
While being next generation technology and cloud based it has been very slow to publish APIs and become operable with so many other businesses that can enhance dental practice management.
Dentrix Ascend Review
Dentrix Ascend helps us to schedule patients, assist with insurance, and allow us to have paperless office, which is the bulk of what we need in the office.
Pros
I like that I can access this software from any location and even on my phone. It allows me to be able to assist patient's and access the schedule when I'm not in the office.
Cons
I don't like the way the Day sheet report prints out. I don't like how if a dollar amount is over $1000 it doesn't show the full number on the report when it's printed out. I also don't like that I can't tag payments with multiple tags. For example, If I enter a credit card payment I can only tag they credit card type but can't add like a tag for the doctor that provided the service for whom that payment is going towards. I also don't like that we can't customize text or send manual text messages to patients. I'm still getting use to using the software but the power reporting I find it not very user friendly.
New to Ascend
Nothing is really solved utilizing Ascend. Our experience is that it is getting the job done, however, it was a step back from our previous software, as far as, capability and features.
Pros
I like the ease of importing documents; the fact that it is web based, accessible anywhere; ease of attachments for insurnace claims
Cons
For every one click for an action in our previous software, there are 4 or 5 at least, in one case 10 clicks to perform an action. Bulk ins payments and printing are examples.
Reporting is complicated and time consuming. Not simple and effecient at all.
There is not a central noting location and all cannot be viewed simply nor at the same time.
Best management decision we have made in info. systems
We don't have to have multiple servers in each location.
Pros
Easy to navigate, fast response and download time, very straight-forward.
Cons
Subscription cost has gone up. Sometimes on Chromebooks, charts do not load correctly.
Dental Office
Getting Better daily with updates
Pros
I like that you can break down codes and see where the balances are coming from>
Cons
Not real user friendly can not enter payments if they are not exact to estimates
Dentrix pro's and con's
Overall Dentrix works amazing, as long as every staff member is trained properly on the software. The system functions well for storing patient information and having it so easily accessible to any staff member. The appointment book/scheduler is easy to maneuver and is customizable to the needs of the day. This system is a must have in our office! It's helps us run our day smoothly.
Pros
There can be so much information stored in the program, which is great if you know where to find it. The extra notes sections and flags are always so great to have and anyone can access them from any computer. The appointment book/scheduler is the perfect way for each member of staff to keep track of the day. I love being able to see when patients arrive, if they have been confirmed, if they are running late by just one quick glance at the schedule.
Cons
Sometimes when a patient chart is open from multiple monitors in the office, there will be a lag in updating the info. Sometimes notes or treatment will be added twice in this case.
So many features
I find many more customizable options with Dentrix Ascend than with my prior software. I also love the video tutorials. Weekly tutorials are also a big help to understand changes BEFORE they are implemented.
Pros
I really like the abundance of features this software offers as well as the ease of use. Customer service is always quick to answer and walks you through your issues until you understand it.
Cons
I was not happy with the initial 20 hours of training. I feel it went at too fast of a pace and tried to cover too much in a short period of time. Not much time for questions.... Our rep did her best to get all answered for us, but there was a lot I had to learn on my own via video tutorials and customer service calls.
User Friendly
We are a multi office practice and the ease of having access to all patient charts at all locations is phenomenal.
Pros
Ascend is very user friendly. Anyone can pick it up easily. It has excellent features for reporting as well as managing patient schedules and re-care.
Cons
You are not able to send e statements to patients, doctors aren't able to pull up images on the chart at the same time as the chart to see clinical notes and imaging/
Ascend is ascending in quality but not quite there yet
It is centralized and a business manager or director can see the entire scope of the patient's status from account aging, to insurance claims status, to clinical particulars.
Pros
includes text reminders, ability to see claims status and follow-ups with insurance, ledger activity and balance is staggered nicely, imaging function and treatment planning is awesome (can obtain bird's eye view from dental chart)
Cons
have experienced glitches and entire days where the software has been completely disabled; not everything saves instantly (has nothing to do with internet speed but speaks to the nature of cloud-based software and, by nature, the downfall of having an offsite server).
How did we ever get along without Ascend?
This software is modern, intuitive, and ten thousand leaps forward from other software that was developed in the 90’s. The fact that it is growing and improving every few months, based on what clients want is amazing. I can’t say enough good things about this program.
Pros
Easy to navigate.
You can get anywhere you need to go in the program from every screen, and each person can find the path that works best for them.
Makes tasks such as submitting insurance claims, signing charts, and treatment planning easy.
Cons
It is still growing, so some functions such as medical billing isn’t available yet, but Ascend is growing so quickly these things are being added.
Software has a lot of potential, but needs interface and functionality improvements
Overall this program has a lot of potential to be great, but for the cost things should be running much more efficiently than they do. The interface could use some serious re-modeling and consideration for a fast moving practice that needs to reference notes, images, chart in one place instead of clicking around constantly to get information
Pros
Bouncing between separate offices is easy to work with, managing appointments, and using the ledger works great. Keeping track of family members, adding watched surfaces, and adding procedures is great to work with. X-ray features have improved over time
Cons
The overall interface of the clinical notes, charting and imaging is not user friendly. I've commented countless times about referencing the clinical notes with a patient in the chair is hard to use and hard to look back on old notes clicks around and x-ing out of boxes. The old dentrix note setup below the chart was much easier to use and made it much easier to refer to the chart in front of you. The image quality on xrays are ok, dexis is better than schick. Schick images are so bad I hardly consider them diagnostic. Dentrix and Schick both point the finger at each other and Dentrix answer is to use a twain device which looks like an interface from Windows '98 and is not user friendly or conducive to a fast working office.
Billing
I believe our office has benefited from it a lot. We use it daily and it help keep things organized.
Pros
I like how easy it is to find things. Everything I do can be easy and quick. Very Easy to explain to someone how to use it.
Cons
I do find that sometimes its hard to track who put in what when auditing but that's very minimal.
Great product!
Good
Pros
That it is cloud based. Can access from home.
Cons
Still need to add some features that regular dentrix has
Great Program!!!
They are so helpful when we call and have questions on doing certain things.
Pros
We used Easy Dental before switching to this program and we love it!! So much easier to use!
Cons
Just getting to learn it at first since this is completely different then the program we came from but once we learned it and having multiple ways of getting to what you need is wonderful!
Excellent and thorough breakdown!
Pros
The speakers always carefully breakdown step by step process of how to use each feature.
Cons
nothing, so far everything seems very easy to use and understand
Used it for a year or so now, love it
Pros
Cloud based. AMAZING customer service. Clean looking.
Cons
pretty large learning curve but works efficiently. Not perfect but they are always improving.
customer support
Has been great for our office!
Pros
The customer support is great and prompt . Webinars are informative
Cons
I love everything about the software .
Excellent program
Pros
Cloud based software that is user friendly
Cons
No time clock
No auto text in Spanish/multiple languages
Amazing!
Very helpful Customer service persons! Helped me install the intro oral cameras 🙌🏻
Pros
Finally ! No server, no networking, very intuitive!
Just getting over the transferring of x-ray into the new software and loving it !
Cons
Unable to transfer x-rays and scanned documents

Cloud based dental software
Pros
The best thing is that this is a cloud based software. Charting is easy and saves time.
Cons
I dislike that the ucr is the fee shown in the ledger. They're are also simple features that are not available, such as making a claim EPSDT.
Dentrix Ascend
Started my brand new practice & have not looked back.
Pros
Ease of use and cloud based - I am able to manage clinical and administrative in one place.
Cons
It's a work in progress- The software has potential and requires patience
Great Dental Office Tool
Any transition is hard but the fact that Dentrix Ascend is so user friendly made the transition easier. I'm glad we are Ascend users. Dentrix Ascend Support is TOP NOTCH. They are AMAZING and always quickly help me resolve my issue.
Pros
Easy navigation of the software makes learning how to use Ascend less frustrating.
Cons
I would like to have a monthly view. Also, when moving/rescheduling an appt., I would like to have somewhere to "put" the appt. instead of dragging it around. Not sure if that made sense.
Dentrix is a great product that changed my practice....
Dentrix is a great product that allows me to view all of a patients files and see the xray images. We have used a number of software types before but they were too complicated and not as robust as Dentrix. I can see the number of patients each day and the number of patients for the week as well as insurance submissions and claims. Great product ....Bella Normatov, DDS
Pros
Ease of use and easy to teach a staff member
Cons
sometimes slow but usually our server...would be good to know what are the best server and computer requirements.
We came back to Ascend after 3 years
we were loosing out with paying doctors on production and doing tons of adjustments- The Line item accountant solved our issue - we had to change the way we pay our doctors
was having a tough time following offices on VPN and now have to see all offices in one area is just great !
Pros
The ease of seeing all offices for our centralization
line item accounting
love the dash board
Cons
the clinical notes and xrays and tx plan is not the same as dentrix
Our first year has been pretty smooth.
Pros
I love being able to log on from my 2 locations and being able to see the schedule from both offices
Cons
I would like to see improvements in the schedule view; better ledger breakdowns, statements. We're waiting for electronic health history forms
We have always been happy with Dentrix Ascend. Our IT needs and budget are a fraction of what they otherwise would be. We can always access and stay up to date with no additional cost or waste of time. Ascend continues to get better and better.