Works inside Open Dental.
Sera isn't another system to reconcile. Patients and appointments sync both ways; providers, operatories, insurance plans and procedure codes are read from Open Dental — so the bookings Sera makes show up exactly where your team already looks.
Two-way where it counts
Patients and appointments flow both ways, so Sera's bookings are real Open Dental bookings.
Books against your real schedule
Providers, operatories, and appointment types are pulled from Open Dental, so Sera only offers slots your practice can actually honour.
Audited activity
Sera records the actions it takes on your behalf, scoped to your practice.
Connect in three steps.
- 1Add your Open Dental API credentials in the Sera setup wizard.
- 2Sera verifies the connection and maps providers, operatories, and appointment types.
- 3Turn on sync — patients and appointments flow both ways, continuously.
What syncs today.
| Data | Direction |
|---|---|
| Patients | Sera → Open Dental and Open Dental → Sera |
| Appointments (book, reschedule, cancel) | Sera → Open Dental and Open Dental → Sera |
| Providers | Open Dental → Sera |
| Operatories | Open Dental → Sera |
| Insurance plans | Open Dental → Sera |
| Procedure codes | Open Dental → Sera |
| Eligibility results | Stored in Sera (not written to Open Dental) |
Sync runs on a continuous queue — changes typically land within a minute, with retries and a dead-letter trail if Open Dental is unreachable.
Common questions about Sera and Open Dental.
- Does Sera book appointments directly into Open Dental?
- Yes. When your practice is connected, Sera books, reschedules and cancels in Open Dental first, and Open Dental stays the master record. Patients and appointments flow in both directions.
- How do I connect Sera to Open Dental?
- Enter your Open Dental API credentials in the Sera setup wizard and run the connection test. Once it passes, Sera imports your data and the status moves from importing to connected.
- How quickly does data sync between Sera and Open Dental?
- Sync runs on a continuous queue, so changes typically land within a minute. Failures are retried automatically before the connection is flagged as degraded.
- What happens if Open Dental is unreachable?
- Sera keeps answering calls, but it will not tell a patient a booking was saved in Open Dental when it was not. Affected requests stay visible for your team to review once the connection recovers.
- Which fields become read-only in Sera?
- In Integrated mode Open Dental owns patients, appointments, providers, operatories, insurance plans and procedure codes, so those are read-only in Sera. Sera's own configuration — voice, FAQs, policies and escalation rules — stays fully editable.
Open Dental setup guides.
- How do I connect Open Dental?
- What data does Sera sync from Open Dental?
- Why is Open Dental not syncing?
- Why can't I edit this field in Sera?
Open Dental is a trademark of Open Dental Software, Inc. Sera is an independent integration.