DentalCloudFor dental practices
Move your clinical photos off the practice server
A practical plan for getting patient photos off the server or NAS in the back office and into secure cloud storage, without losing a single image on the way.
Free for up to 10 patients. No card needed.
Six steps to migrate from a server to the cloud
- 1
Take stock of what is on the server
List what the server actually holds: clinical photos, your practice management database, X-ray and CBCT images, scanned documents. Only the photos move to DentalCloud. Note roughly how many patients and gigabytes of photos you have.
- 2
Decide what moves first
Start with active patients: anyone in treatment or due back in the next year. Older photos can follow in batches, or stay archived on the server until it is retired.
- 3
Back up the server before you start
Make a fresh, tested backup of the server first. A migration should never be the only copy of anything.
- 4
Upload patient by patient
Create each patient in DentalCloud and upload their photos into the right case. Location and camera data is stripped on the way in, and each photo lands in the patient's timeline by date.
- 5
Change how new photos are taken
From the switch-over date, new photos go straight into DentalCloud from the phone or surgery PC, not onto the server or a camera card. This is the step that stops the server filling up again.
- 6
Check, then retire the old folders
Spot-check a sample of patients against the server. Once you are satisfied, archive the old photo folders, and keep the archive for as long as your record-keeping rules require.
What a practice server really costs
The hardware is the smallest part. Add these up for your own practice before you compare them with a monthly plan.
| Cost | On a practice server | On DentalCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Server or NAS, drives, and a replacement every few years | Nothing to buy |
| Backup | Backup software, external drives or an off-site service | Stored off-site by default |
| Support | An IT company's time for updates, faults and remote access | Updates and maintenance are ours |
| Remote access | VPN or remote desktop licences and set-up | Any browser, no VPN |
| Power and space | Electricity, cooling and a secure cupboard | None |
| Downtime | Lost clinic time when the server or a drive fails | No server in the building to fail |
For the wider trade-offs, read cloud storage vs a local server for dental practices, and see cloud backup for clinical photos if the server is your only copy.
Common questions
Can we switch the practice server off completely?
Only if photos are all it holds. DentalCloud stores clinical photographs. If the server also runs your practice management or X-ray software, keep it for those for now.
How long does a migration take?
It depends on how many patients and photos you have. Most practices move active patients first, which gets daily work onto DentalCloud quickly, and bring older photos over in batches.
Do we need an IT company to do this?
No. DentalCloud runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install on the server or surgery PCs. You may still want your IT company to take the backup before you start.
What does it cost?
Free for up to 10 patients and 1 GB, so you can trial the move with real patients. Paid plans start at €15 a month per dentist, with 50 GB on Standard and 100 GB on Premium.