Connect Open Dental to WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and AI Chat
Yes. AeroChat books directly into Open Dental. It reads live open slots and writes the appointment into your schedule through Open Dental’s API, on WhatsApp, Instagram, web chat and every other channel your patients use.
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.
- Answer “when is my next appointment?” AeroChat finds the patient in Open Dental after checking who they are and replies with the date, time and provider.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Patient: Hi, I’m due for a cleaning. Do you have anything next Wednesday morning? (example)
AeroChat: Yes. Wednesday has 8:30am or 10:00am with our hygienist Anna. Which works for you?
Patient: 10am please.
AeroChat: Done. You’re booked for a cleaning with Anna on Wednesday at 10:00am.
In Open Dental: a new appointment of the right length appears in Anna’s column for Wednesday 10:00am, under the patient’s record.
Patient: Yes I’ll be there tomorrow. (example)
AeroChat: Thank you. Your appointment tomorrow at 10:00am is confirmed. See you then.
In Open Dental: the appointment is marked confirmed, so the front desk sees it without a phone call.
Patient: Something came up, can I move tomorrow’s cleaning to next week? (example)
AeroChat: No problem. Anna has Monday 2:00pm or Thursday 9:00am. Which would you like?
Patient: Thursday.
AeroChat: All moved. Thursday 9:00am with Anna.
In Open Dental: the appointment moves to Thursday 9:00am. The old slot opens up for another patient.
Works on every chat channel
Your patients message you wherever they already are. The same Open Dental connection and the same workflows run on every channel AeroChat supports, and Open Dental stays the record whichever one they use.
| Channel | What your patients can do |
|---|---|
| Message your WhatsApp Business number to book a cleaning, confirm a visit or move an appointment. Voice notes are transcribed, so a spoken request works too. | |
| Send the same requests by direct message. A comment on your post can get an automatic reply that moves the conversation to a DM. | |
| Facebook Messenger | Send the same requests to your Facebook Page. Comments on your Page posts can get an automatic reply too. |
| TikTok | Send the same requests by TikTok direct message or TikTok Shop buyer chat. Both arrive in the same TikTok inbox. |
| Telegram | Send the same requests to your business on Telegram. |
| Web chat | Do the same from the chat on your website, without leaving the page. |
| Write to your Gmail or Office 365 address and get the same answer the chat gives. |
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.
- What AeroChat reads from Open Dental: patients, open appointment slots by provider and length, and existing appointments.
- What AeroChat writes to Open Dental: new appointments, new patient records, confirmations, moved appointments and broken 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 your own words, 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
Six ready-made workflows for Open Dental. Copy one into AeroChat, connect Open Dental, and it runs on every channel.
1. Book a dental appointment from WhatsApp
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.
2. Confirm an appointment from a reminder reply
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.
3. Reschedule or cancel an appointment
Copy this into AeroChat
When a patient asks to move or cancel an appointment, find them in Open Dental by name and date of birth and confirm which appointment they mean. Tell them what our cancellation policy means for this appointment, for example 24 hours’ notice (example). To move it, offer up to three open slots of the same length with the same provider and move the appointment when they choose. To cancel, break the appointment in Open Dental, confirm it, and offer to book a new time. Never leave the old appointment in place when you move one.
4. Add a new patient before their first visit
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone books for the first time, check Open Dental by name and date of birth to make sure they are not already a patient. If they are new, ask for their first name, last name, date of birth and phone number, and create the patient record in Open Dental. Then book their first appointment and confirm the date, time, provider and our address. Never ask for medical history in the chat.
5. Hand symptom messages to your team
Copy this into AeroChat
When a patient mentions pain, swelling, bleeding or a broken tooth, do not give advice and do not book. Ask for their name and date of birth and a short description of the problem. Find their next appointment in Open Dental if they have one. Hand the conversation to our team straight away with those details, and tell the patient a team member will reply shortly. If it sounds urgent outside our opening hours, give them our emergency number, for example your clinic’s emergency number.
6. Answer “when is my next appointment?”
Copy this into AeroChat
When a patient asks when their next appointment is, check their name and date of birth and find them in Open Dental. Reply with the date, time and provider of their next appointment. If you cannot find them, ask for the name the booking is under. Never share another patient’s details.
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.
WhatsApp workflows that use Open Dental
These end-to-end WhatsApp workflows run with Open Dental behind them. See them all in the WhatsApp workflows library.
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 your own words 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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