Connect Open Dental to WhatsApp and AI Chat
Patients message your practice on WhatsApp to book a cleaning, confirm tomorrow’s visit or move an appointment. Your schedule and patient records are already in Open Dental. AeroChat answers those messages and works from Open Dental directly: it reads open slots, creates or moves the appointment and marks it confirmed, so the chat and the front desk work from the same schedule.
This page covers what you can automate, how the connection works and what stays in Open Dental. Each use case links to a page with a description you can paste into AeroChat.
What you can do with Open Dental and AeroChat
- Book dental appointments from WhatsApp. Match the visit to the right length and provider, offer three open slots and create the appointment.
- Confirm appointments from patient replies. When a patient answers “yes I’ll be there”, AeroChat marks the appointment confirmed in Open Dental.
- Reschedule or cancel within your policy. Find the appointment, offer new times with the same provider and update the schedule.
- Add new patients before their first visit. Collect the name, date of birth and phone number and create the patient record with the appointment.
- Hand symptom messages to your team. Pain, swelling and bleeding always go to a person, with the patient’s next appointment attached.
How the connection works
AeroChat connects through Open Dental’s API (Open Dental API setup documentation). Through it, AeroChat searches patients, reads open appointment slots by provider and length, creates appointments and new patient records, marks appointments confirmed, and moves or breaks appointments.
Open Dental’s API uses two keys: a developer key for the integration and a customer key for your office. Your office adds the customer key in Open Dental under Setup, Advanced Setup, API, ticks Enabled, and keeps the eConnector running so the API can reach your database. Message us before you start and we’ll confirm the steps for your office. You describe the workflow in plain English, AeroChat builds it and asks for the keys by name. You enter them in the AeroChat dashboard. They never pass through the conversation.
Workflows to copy
Copy this into AeroChat
When a patient asks to book, find out what the visit is for and their preferred day and time. Use our appointment types list for the length and the provider. Find the patient in Open Dental by name and date of birth, or create a new patient record. Check Open Dental for open slots of the right length with a matching provider and offer up to three. When they choose, create the appointment and confirm the date, time, provider and our address. If they mention pain, swelling, bleeding or a broken tooth, do not book. Hand the conversation to our team straight away.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a patient replies to an appointment reminder, find their next appointment in Open Dental by phone number and date of birth. If they confirm, mark the appointment confirmed. If they cannot come, offer up to three open slots with the same provider and move the appointment when they choose. Never give clinical advice.
Who uses it
Dental practices that run their schedule and patient records in Open Dental. See the dental clinic recipes for appointment booking, appointment reminder replies and rescheduling and cancellation.
What stays in Open Dental
Open Dental stays the record of every patient, appointment, chart, treatment plan and claim. Clinical notes and billing never leave it. AeroChat handles the conversation: it asks the questions, reads the schedule and writes the appointment. It does not read or change clinical records, and it never gives clinical advice.
Questions
Does AeroChat work with Open Dental?
Yes. It connects through Open Dental’s API with a customer key your office adds in Open Dental’s API setup.
Can patients book appointments through WhatsApp?
Yes. AeroChat reads open slots from Open Dental, offers times and creates the appointment. It also works on Instagram, Messenger and web chat.
Do I need a developer?
No. You describe the workflow in plain English and AeroChat builds it. Your office turns on the API in Open Dental and enters the keys in the dashboard.
Which plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan. Choose by message volume: Starter covers 500 AI responses a month and 3 seats, Growth 2,000 and 10 seats, and Advanced 5,000 and 25 seats. You need Growth or above to send payment links for deposits.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
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