How to Start a Dental Practice
Start a Dental Practice on One Connected System.
Curve Dental® is cloud-based dental practice management software that brings scheduling, charting, imaging, billing and payments together, with no server to buy.
New practices get special pricing on implementation and license fees.
Your Roadmap to Opening Day
How Do You Start a Dental Practice?
Starting your own dental practice is an exciting milestone, but knowing where to begin can feel overwhelming. From building your business plan to choosing the right technology, there’s a lot to consider before opening day.
Follow the eight steps below in order to see what deserves attention early, what can move in parallel, and what needs to be in place before opening day.
Build Your Startup Team
Bring in experienced people early for the financial, legal, construction, equipment, and operational decisions beyond clinical care.
- Dental CPA
- Dental lender
- Dental contractor
- Equipment specialist
Create a Business Plan That Earns Confidence
Turn your practice idea into a working roadmap you can explain to lenders and advisors.
- Vision
- Market analysis
- Operations
- Financial projections
- Patient acquisition
Finance It With a Lender Who Understands Dentistry
Build-out, technology, permits, insurance, and working capital can all factor into your funding needs. See what goes into dental startup costs.
- Check your credit early
- Compare loan terms
- Protect your cash reserve
- Budget snapshot
Understand How Dental Insurance Works
You don't have to become a billing expert, but you should understand the path from checking benefits to getting paid.
- Verify eligibility
- Submit the claim
- Post the payment
- Follow up on A/R
Clear Legal, Licensing and Compliance Early
Requirements vary by state and practice. Start early and use qualified advisors for legal, tax, and compliance decisions.
- Licensure and NPI
- DEA and prescribing
- Workplace safety
- Permits and inspections
Choose Systems That Scale With You and Your Team
Evaluate a system by using it the way your team will: walk through everyday tasks during demos.
- Test the real workflow
- Check data ownership
- Training and contract terms
Get Your Practice Ready for Day One
Assign who owns each step, then run a mock patient through the whole process before patients walk through the door.
- Front desk
- Patient visit
- Behind the scenes
- Run a mock patient
Build Your Patient Base Before Opening Day
Introduce your practice to the community early so prospective patients have time to find you and get in touch.
- Secure your domain
- Pre-launch landing page
- Google Business Profile
- Online appointment requests
Technology for Your New Practice
What software does a new dental practice need?
A new dental practice needs software for scheduling, charting and imaging, insurance claims and eligibility, payments, patient communication, and reporting. Curve puts them in one cloud-based system, with no server to buy. When you compare systems, test your real daily workflow, check who owns your data, and ask about training and contract terms.
APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING
Build a schedule your whole team can run.
Curve puts appointments, patient information, and open-time outreach in one place. Your team can drag and drop appointments, block out time, and view the schedule by operatory or provider.
What you can do
- Drag and drop appointments, and block out unavailable dates and times.
- Set up color-coded layouts, appointment types, and time increments to fit your practice.
- Let new and returning patients book online, with permissions you control.
- View and control your schedule on the go with the Curve Mobile app.
Inside Curve: Scheduling and Smart Fill. Smart Fill finds the best patients to contact for last-minute openings so you can send a customized group message in just a few clicks.
PATIENT COMMUNICATION
Stay in touch before and after every visit.
Curve GRO sends appointment reminders by text or email and lets patients text your team back, always from your office phone number. It is built into Curve, so there is no extra software to sync.
What you can do
- Send personalized appointment and recare reminders by text or email.
- Let patients start text conversations with your team, including image sharing.
- Request online reviews on Google, Facebook, or Yelp.
Inside Curve: Curve GRO. Curve GRO is included in your new Curve subscription.
MOBILE APP
Run the practice from your pocket.
Included with Curve GRO, the Curve Mobile app lets you securely view and control your schedule and access important patient information from wherever you are.
What you can do
- View and control your schedule on the go.
- See patient images, notes, appointments, and alerts.
- Text patients from your practice's phone number and receive patient photos.
Inside Curve: Curve Mobile. Curve Mobile is included with Curve GRO.
CHARTING AND IMAGING
Chart, image, and plan in the same system.
Paint restorations directly on the tooth and see a patient's full history, including conditions, restorations, and imaging, from one charting page. Imaging is built into Curve, with no third-party tools.
What you can do
- Switch between Planning and History modes to chart upcoming or completed procedures.
- Overlay X-rays on the restorative chart with a sliding opacity control.
- Save your preferred image adjustments and apply them in one click.
Inside Curve: Charting, Perio Charting, and Imaging. Images are backed up to the cloud in real time, and data storage and cybersecurity are included in your monthly subscription.
TREATMENT PLANNING
Present plans patients can understand and sign.
Build and customize treatment plans with real-time insurance insights, then present them with an insurance discount estimate shown on PPO plans.
What you can do
- Create multiple plans for each patient, and duplicate a plan when only minor changes are needed.
- Show an insurance discount estimate on PPO plans so patients see the estimated write-off.
- Collect signatures on the patient's preferred device or an in-office tablet.
Inside Curve: Treatment Planning. A signed plan is saved to the patient's file automatically, updates the status to Accepted, and notifies your team through the Smart Action List, including after hours.
AMBIENT AI
Let AI draft your notes while you care for the patient.
Curve Care+ includes Notes+, Charting+, and Perio+. Notes+ captures the clinical conversation in real time and generates templated or SOAP notes from voice, while Charting+ and Perio+ fill in your charts by voice.
What you can do
- Generate templated or SOAP notes automatically from voice with Notes+.
- Populate the odontogram and capture conditions and tooth status by voice with Charting+.
- Capture pocket depths and conditions like bleeding and calculus by voice, with no assistant required, using Perio+.
Inside Curve: Curve Care+. Every note and chart entry is reviewable and editable before it's saved. Curve Care+ is a monthly add-on to your Curve subscription.
CLAIMS AND BILLING
Submit claims and track payments inside Curve.
Submit and track claims at every stage, from clearinghouse to insurance processing to posting the remittance. Curve automatically receives and interprets ERAs, and you can attach claim documents directly within Curve.
What you can do
- Submit and track eClaims in a few clicks.
- Automatically receive and interpret ERAs.
- Get automatic notifications when a claim needs an attachment.
Inside Curve: Insurance and Patient Billing. Appointment tags pre-group common procedures so claims are billed correctly.
INSURANCE ELIGIBILITY
Know a patient's coverage before they arrive.
Eligibility+ is AI-powered insurance verification that pulls real-time, code-level coverage straight from payer portals, with no calls and no logins, right inside your Curve workflow.
What you can do
- Check insurance automatically, without calls or portal logins.
- See granular, code-level benefit information before the patient arrives.
- Review mismatches that SmartSync flags between the payer portal and Curve.
Inside Curve: Eligibility+. Eligibility+ is a paid add-on with tiered pricing based on monthly usage, and it works with select payers. Every Curve subscription includes unlimited basic insurance eligibility checks at no additional cost. Eligibility+ is currently available in the U.S. only.
PAYMENT PROCESSING
Get paid faster, from the same system.
Curve Pay processes patient payments inside Curve, with next-day payouts, flat-rate pricing, and payments that post automatically to your records.
What you can do
- Accept credit, debit, HSA/FSA, and digital wallet payments.
- Send text and email payment links, and keep cards on file.
- Offer Buy Now, Pay Later financing through Affirm and Klarna.
Inside Curve: Curve Pay. Curve Pay is currently available in the U.S. only. Canada is coming soon.
MEMBERSHIP PLANS
Offer your own membership plan.
Curve Memberships lets you build plans from your existing fee schedule or a template, then supports enrollment, recurring billing, and renewals inside Curve.
What you can do
- Build your own plans and pricing, including family discounts and optional add-ons.
- Give patients a branded enrollment page.
- Bill members monthly or annually, with automatic renewals and payments posted to the ledger in real time.
Inside Curve: Curve Memberships. A dedicated Curve success coach helps with setup, pricing suggestions, and launch marketing. Curve Memberships is currently available in the U.S. only.
REPORTING AND ANALYTICS
See how your practice is performing.
Curve Business Analytics refreshes every day and shows six key indicators: AR, Collections, Production, New Patients, Recare, and Treatment Plan Value.
What you can do
- Check goal progress mid-month, such as your production target.
- Start with pre-populated reports.
- Create and save custom reports for daily use.
Inside Curve: Curve Business Analytics. No data expertise or advanced technical skills are required.
CLOUD, IMPLEMENTATION, AND SUPPORT
Get set up and trained by the Curve team.
Curve is cloud-based, so you only need the latest version of Google Chrome on a Windows or Mac computer and an internet connection, with no servers or backup systems to manage. Curve's implementation team works with you on setup while your team learns the software.
What you can do
- Train 100% online with a live trainer, starting with an eight-session Boot Camp.
- Work with an Implementation Project Manager, Data Migration Specialist, and Product Trainer.
- Get 24/7/365 support for the life of your Curve subscription.
- Get instant answers and training guidance right inside Curve with Ask CurveAI.
Inside Curve: Implementation and Training. After go-live, your Account Manager checks in for the first 90 days, with three additional live training sessions, before you move to the Customer Service team.
Eligibility+, Curve Care+, Curve Pay, and Curve Memberships are add-ons to a Curve subscription. Curve Pay, Eligibility+, and Curve Memberships are currently available in the U.S. only; Curve Pay is coming to Canada soon.
Cloud vs. Server
What changes when you skip the server
How running your practice on Curve’s cloud platform compares with a traditional server-based system.
| Topic | Server-based software | Curve Dental (cloud) |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | On-site servers that your practice manages. | No server to buy or install. You need a web browser and an internet connection. |
| Backups and security | Managed by your practice. | Managed by Curve in an AWS-hosted environment, with continuous cloud backup. |
| Updates | Manual or scheduled updates. | Automatic, continuous updates. |
| Access | In the office, unless remote access is set up. | From anywhere with an internet connection, in Chrome on a supported Windows or Mac computer or in the mobile app. |
| IT involvement | Often needs ongoing IT involvement. | No IT setup required. |
What practices that left their servers say
Rated 4.6 out of 5 from 267 reviews on G2
Moved off a server
“Not being tied to a server any longer and being able to work from anywhere with ease.”
Moved off a server
“Coming from a server-based practice management software, it’s been much easier to manage our schedule in the cloud.”
Office start-up
“No server required has been nice for our office start-up. Like that I can access from home.”
A Practice That Started on Curve
What one new practice kept in its budget.
Dr. Ann DeFeo opened her solo pediatric practice, Pediatric Specialists of Needham, in 2019 on Curve. Here’s what changed for her costs.
$20K
Saved upfront
She saved $20,000 in upfront server costs.
$500
Saved every month
She continues to save $500 a month in IT costs. IT support, backups and cybersecurity are included in her subscription.
“Really easy.”
In her words
“Curve has been really easy.” One employee with no prior dental experience made an immediate impact, thanks to Curve’s training and support.
Results are from one pediatric practice that opened in 2019. Your costs will depend on your practice. Read Dr. DeFeo’s story.
Keep exploring
Comparing options? Start with what new practices weigh, then see how Curve stacks up.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
See how Curve fits your opening plan.
In a one-on-one demo, we’ll walk through your workflow (scheduling, charting, imaging, billing and payments) and answer your questions about setup, training and new-practice pricing.
Book Your Demo →Common Questions
Questions new practice owners ask us
Do I need to buy a server?
No. Curve is cloud-based, so you only need a web browser and an internet connection, with no servers or backup systems to manage. Curve recommends the latest version of Google Chrome, and it runs on Windows and Mac computers. Curve manages everything in real time.
What do I need to run Curve?
Curve runs in the latest version of Google Chrome on Windows 10 or 11 or on macOS. Curve lists 8 GB of RAM as the minimum and 16 GB as recommended. For an average practice of 1 to 10 users, it lists a minimum of 10 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload. See the full system requirements.
What does Curve cost for a new practice?
Curve provides special pricing on implementation and license fees for startups, to help you hit the ground running. To see what that looks like for your practice, visit the pricing page or book a demo and ask about startup pricing.
Will my team get trained?
Yes. Training is 100% online with a live trainer, starting with an eight-session Boot Camp. After go-live, your Account Manager checks in for the first 90 days, with three additional live training sessions, before you move to the Customer Service team. From day one, you also have knowledge hub user guides and video tutorials, free webinars, and Ask CurveAI for quick how-to answers. See how training works.
Who do I call when I need help?
Curve provides 24/7/365 support for the life of your subscription. You can call Curve at 888-910-4376, or use Ask CurveAI inside Curve for instant answers and guidance anytime. After go-live, your Account Manager supports you for the first 90 days, and you can use knowledge hub user guides and video tutorials from day one to find answers on your own. See what implementation includes.
Is Curve available in Canada?
Yes. Curve serves practices in Canada, with a development team in Calgary and customer care from its Provo, Utah office. Curve's infrastructure and data center comply with the laws required for Canadian businesses. See our Canada page. Some products are currently available in the U.S. only: Curve Pay, Eligibility+, and Curve Memberships. Curve Pay is coming to Canada soon.
When should I choose my practice software?
Early. The practice management software you choose first becomes the operational foundation of your practice, and switching later is disruptive. Add it to your opening plan early, then ask to drive the demo yourself and walk through the everyday tasks your team will do.