Dentrix Ascend

What to ask for

Send this to the office. It is written for someone who works in Dentrix Ascend every day, so there is nothing for you to translate.

• Document Manager: select all of the patient’s documents and click Export, including anything tagged EOB or Tx Consent.
• Imaging: Share each exam and Export it as PNG, one file per image. Download any 3D volume as DICOM.
• Perio: Print Exam for each perio exam, or turn on Perio exams in the Patient Clinical Report.
• Patient Clinical Report for a custom date range covering every visit, with Procedures, Clinical notes, Conditions and Prescriptions on; then export the saved copy from Document Manager.
• Lab reports: whatever the office uploaded to Document Manager. Dentrix Ascend tracks lab cases on the appointment only, with no attached results.

Where it is in Dentrix Ascend

Each of these produces one part of the record. The office does not need to do all of them — only the ones you asked for above.

1. 1

   Documents (scans, letters, EOBs, forms, saved reports)

   Path

   Patient Search box → open the patient → Patient menu → General → Document Manager → select the check box of one or more documents → Export.

   Produces

   The stored file in its original type (.pdf, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif, .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx; 20 MB each). "Depending on your browser and configuration, the documents are downloaded to your computer, the browser provides you with the option of specifying where to download the documents, or the documents appear in your browser." Also filed here: ERA claim PDFs (tag EOB), signed treatment consents (tag Tx Consent), completed online forms, statements printed with Add to Patient Connection checked, and every Patient Clinical Report.

   Choose

   Export, not print. The vendor does not say how exported files are named, so ask the office to note each document’s date from the Document Manager list.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Exporting documents

2. 2

   Images and X-rays

   Path

   Patient menu → Clinical → Imaging → Show Image History (or Show Most Recent Images) → open the exam or image → Share (in Exam view, Share exam is also on the options menu) → in the "Exam or Image(s) to be shared" dialog set the options → Export.

   Produces

   .png files by default, .jpg if "Export as JPG (Otherwise PNG)" is checked. Several images are "saved as individual images in one compressed folder". File names are built from the patient’s name, the acquisition date and the tooth numbers, and the date and tooth numbers also appear as captions on the exported images. A CAD/CAM scan downloads as a .ply file. Print in the same dialog makes one PDF of the images instead.

   Choose

   Leave "Export as JPG" unchecked. Choose "Entire exam in separate image(s)". Clear "Include image enhancements" and "Include annotations and measurements" for the plain image; export a second set with them on if the clinician wants the markings shown.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Exporting images

3. 3

   3D volumes (CBCT)

   Path

   Patient menu → Clinical → Imaging → open the 3D volume → Share (or Share exam) → in the Share Volume dialog select Download → Share.

   Produces

   One .dcm (DICOM) file. "To download the 3D volume as one .dcm file, select the Download option."

   Choose

   Download. The other choice, Send to application, only targets specific 3D programs.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Exporting 3D volumes

4. 4

   Periodontal chart

   Path

   Patient menu → Clinical → Perio → select an exam → Manage menu → Print Exam. "A preview of the report appears as a .pdf that you can print." Repeat per exam. Or: Patient menu → Clinical → Print Clinical Report → set the Date Range → turn the Perio exams switch on and select the exams → Print.

   Produces

   A PDF per exam. The Patient Clinical Report route also adds a copy to Document Manager. No CSV or XML perio export appears anywhere in Dentrix Ascend’s help.

   Choose

   PDF is the only format. Use the Patient Clinical Report route when the office wants the copy filed in Document Manager as well.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Printing perio exams

5. 5

   Treatment history, clinical notes, conditions and prescriptions (Patient Clinical Report)

   Path

   Patient menu → Clinical → Print Clinical Report → click in the Search here box → Date Range → Custom Range covering the patient’s whole history → turn on Procedures (treatment planned, completed and existing procedures, notes and the dental chart), Clinical notes, Conditions, Prescriptions, Treatment plan, Perio exams and, if wanted, Patient Images → Print.

   Produces

   A .pdf that "appears in a new browser tab or window"; "a copy of the document is added to the patient’s Document Manager". Each section starts on a new page, with signature lines at the end. "Active medical alerts and medications are always included on the report." The print is written to the audit log. The vendor does not state what the header shows.

   Choose

   One report with every switch on and a full-history Custom Range, then export the saved copy from Document Manager. Leave Patient Images off if the file gets large; images export separately as PNG.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Patient Clinical Report

6. 6

   Treatment plan

   Path

   Patient menu → Clinical → Treatment Planner → under Active, select the case → Preview → Print. (With Preview Options → New Preview switched on, the Print button is in the upper right.)

   Produces

   A PDF. "When you print a treatment plan, it is created as a PDF file. You can also save this file if you’d like to email it." Whether a copy is filed in Document Manager is not stated.

   Dentrix Ascend help: Presenting treatment plans

What the office has to ask Henry Schein One for

These cannot be exported from the software itself. If you need them, say so early — the vendor is a second queue.

• Clinical notes, perio exams or treatment history as data (XML or CSV). The software offers the Patient Clinical Report PDF; no other export appears in its help.
• DICOM or original-quality files for 2D X-rays. The Share dialog exports PNG or JPG only; a DICOM download is documented for 3D volumes alone.
• A copy of the whole practice’s records. No self-service function is documented beyond tabular Power Reports (PDF, XLSX or CSV).

You may be able to get some of it yourself

Dentrix Ascend’s patient pages are for forms: you complete questionnaires and consents, can upload an ID and insurance card, and can view an e-statement online; the vendor documents no patient download of clinical records or images.