Charting Oral Health Indicators in Dentrix: A Simple Guide to Get Started
If you’ve heard about the integrated health records project between Henry Schein One and the FDI, then you already know that Charting Oral Health Indicators in Dentrix is about to become more essential than ever. As someone who has been deeply involved with this initiative and especially since my interview with Dr. Ryan Hungate I’ve been eager to help dental teams prepare for the shift.
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We’re now diving into the second core indicator: caries and endodontic health. Implementation of these oral health metrics in Dentrix officially began in March during the IDS conference in Cologne, so while this is new to the public, it’s the perfect time to begin integrating these tools into your daily workflow.
Here are three ways you can start charting oral health indicators in Dentrix right now.
1. Use the Conditions Tab
One of the most foundational methods of documenting caries or oral pathology is through the Conditions feature in the Dentrix Chart. If you’re fresh out of dental school or work with someone who is, you’re probably already familiar with this approach.
Inside your Dentrix software, go to the Conditions category and select the code 15105, which identifies dental caries. This will display a color-coded indicator directly on the odontogram. When you move forward with treatment (a filling, crown, or root canal), you’ll need to remember to inactivate the condition manually once the procedure is complete.
Tip: Customize your color coding under Setup > Chart Display Setup to differentiate conditions (black), treatment plans (red), completed work (blue), and existing work (green).
If you’re using Dentrix Ascend, the platform automatically connects conditions with treatment planning, which makes post-treatment updates more seamless. However, in Dentrix Core, the manual inactivation of conditions is still required.
2. Add Detailed Procedure Notes
If you’re treatment planning a filling, you can document the diagnosis directly in the Procedure Note attached to the CDT code (e.g., D2392 for a two-surface composite). I love this option because it stays tied to the specific procedure, making it easy to reference during treatment plan presentations or insurance follow-ups.
This approach is especially helpful for treatment coordinators who handle unscheduled treatment calls. When a patient asks, “Why do I need this crown?” you can immediately see that there’s caries or a fracture listed in the note.
3. Leverage ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes
This is the most forward-thinking method and possibly the future of dental-medical integration. Dentrix now allows you to assign ICD-10 codes to treatment-planned procedures. When you click into a procedure, the Diagnosis dropdown shows a list of pre-mapped ICD-10 codes such as “dental caries unspecified” or “dental root caries.”
These diagnosis codes are critical for sharing data with physicians and for use in medical billing. Dentrix has even done the work for you by cross-mapping the most commonly used ICD-10 codes to dental procedures.
Bonus: Adding ICD-10 codes supports claim accuracy and boosts documentation credibility with third-party payers.
Final Thoughts
Charting Oral Health Indicators in Dentrix doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Whether you’re just getting started with conditions, upgrading your procedure notes, or diving into ICD-10 coding, the key is to pick a system that works for your team and start now.
As more practices adopt integrated health records, you’ll be ahead of the curve ready to share meaningful, actionable oral health data with patients, referrals, and physicians alike.
If this article helped, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with your team, your study club, or your favorite dental Facebook group. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the blog and leave a five-star review it helps more practices discover helpful content just like this.
Let’s raise the bar together for how we document and deliver care in our dental practices.
