Canada 

Open Dental is currently being used in Canada by a few offices.  The main feature holding us back in Canada is that we cannot send claims electronically through CDAnet.  We have always included the Canandian insurance form and some procedure codes.  In late 2006, we did a lot of work on Canadian features with then intention of getting certified.   But the certification process is very complex and expensive, and was more than we could do at the time. Our current strategy is to chip away at this complex problem.  Make improvements with each new version of OD.  But due to Canadian rules, the improvements won't be available to users until we are 100% complete, and there is no timeframe for completion.

Download the Canadian database and claimform here: Canada.zip (version 5.6.38, updated 9/14/08)

Tu Dong supplied us with another database, which he says has all procedure codes and standard fees.  It is available here: canada.rar (after downloading it, you can use a program which handles the rar format to decompress it)

1. Rightclick on the download link and select Save Target As... Save the file to a new folder on your C drive or on your desktop, and unzip it. It will contain a database folder as well as the claim form image.

2. Stop the MySQL service as follows: Right click MyComputer | Manage | Services and Applications | Services, then look for MySQL in the list. Highlight it, and stop the service.

3. Rename the old database at C:\mysql\data\opendental\. You could rename the opendental folder by appending something meaningful to the end. Like this: opendentaloldusa or opendental_2007_11_30. So now, you should not have a folder called opendental in C:\mysql\data\.

4. Copy the downloaded database folder into C:\mysql\data\, and rename it to opendental. So, now, if you open C:\mysql\data\opendental\, you should see about 200 files, starting with adjustment.frm, adjustment.MYD, etc.

5. Copy the claim form gif into C:\OpenDentalData\. So now, if you open C:\OpenDentalData\, you should see all the A-Z folders, the gif you just added, and possibly a few files and folders.

6. Restart the MySQL service.

7. Run Open Dental.

To see the Canadian features, you will need to set your computer to English Canadian or French Canadian from your Windows control panel before opening Open Dental. In the Insurance Carriers list, there is a checkbox at the lower right which lets you view only Canadian carriers. The list will be blank until you add some carriers and set them to be Canadian from the Carrier edit window.

Lab fees are treated just like ordinary procedures except for a few key differences. For the codes which you use for lab fees, go to the Procedure Code Edit window, and check the box that says "Is Lab Fee". To enter a lab fee for a patient, enter both the regular procedure and the "lab fee" procedure. So you will now have two procedures for the patient, both with their own fee, insurance estimate, etc. The last step is to link them together so that they always appear together and so that they can go out on the claim as one item. Link them from the Chart module. Highlight both procedures while holding down the Ctrl key. Then right click and select "Attach Lab Fee". You can also detach a lab fee from its procedure by right clicking on it in the Chart module.  At the moment, they will only show "together" in the Chart module.  In other modules, they will show as completely separate procedures.