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How to Set Up Voice Perio Charting in Open Dental
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Ezra Angelo
- • July 17, 2026
Open Dental has two distinct voice perio charting pathways: a native built-in voice charting feature included in the software at no additional cost, and Bola AI Voice Assist, which integrates directly into the Open Dental perio chart through a formal partnership between Open Dental and Bola AI. Understanding which pathway is right for a practice depends on the level of natural language flexibility needed and whether the practice wants a fully integrated AI solution or the simpler native option.
Ekim IT Solutions is a certified Open Dental vendor partner and the dental-exclusive IT provider configuring voice perio charting in Open Dental for practices across Maine, New England, Tampa Bay, and nationally.
Here is how Ekim IT Solutions sets up each voice perio charting pathway in Open Dental.
Open Dental’s native voice charting is a legitimate, functional tool that many practices use successfully. Bola AI’s integration with Open Dental is deeper, handling natural speech corrections and a wider range of callout styles. The choice is not which one is better in isolation, but which matches the practice’s hygiene workflow and budget.
Option 1: Open Dental Native Voice Perio Charting
Open Dental includes built-in voice perio charting accessed from a microphone icon within the Perio Chart window. The hygienist clicks the microphone icon to begin recording, calls out measurements, and clicks again to end. Open Dental’s documentation recommends headsets with good noise cancellation and notes specific headsets they have tested successfully, including options compatible with the Windows speech recognition engine that powers the native feature. Open Dental also supports third-party voice programs including Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Florida Probe Bridge Dental, and R.A.T. as alternative approaches.
Option 2: Bola AI Voice Assist for Open Dental
Bola AI has a native integration with Open Dental developed in a formal partnership, where Bola Voice Assist launches directly within the Open Dental Perio Chart. This integration allows the AI to filter out background noise and non-clinical speech, accommodates variable accents and phrasing, and writes structured perio data including six-point depths, bleeding, recession, mobility, and furcation directly into the Open Dental chart in real time. This is a deeper integration than the native Open Dental voice feature and provides the natural language correction capabilities that the native feature does not.
IT Setup for Open Dental Native Voice Charting
Check each step Ekim IT Solutions has completed for your native voice charting setup.
Compatible noise-cancelling headset installed and Windows Sound settings configured for the operatory workstation
Open Dental microphone test run to confirm audio input is recognized before go-live
Test perio chart completed with real measurement callouts to confirm recognition accuracy before clinical use
IT Setup for Bola AI Voice Assist in Open Dental
Bola AI Voice Assist for Open Dental requires a Bola AI account and the Bola software installation on each operatory workstation where it will be used. After installation, Bola Voice Assist is accessible directly within the Open Dental Perio Chart interface. The integration must be configured to connect to the correct Open Dental database, and the BAA with Bola AI must be signed before any patient data is processed. Ekim IT Solutions handles the full Bola AI installation and Open Dental integration configuration for every practice we deploy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ekim IT Solutions is a certified Open Dental vendor partner configuring voice perio charting in Open Dental for practices across Maine, New England, Tampa Bay, and nationally. We can tell you which pathway fits your team’s workflow and natural language needs.
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- • July 17, 2026
