Dental Treatment Plan Software in 2026: PMS Planners, Case Presentation and AI Estimates

Treatment plan software does three jobs: it turns a diagnosis into a priced list of procedures, it helps the patient understand and choose, and it records what they agreed to. The first and third jobs live in your practice management system (PMS). The middle one, case presentation, is where most of the separate products sit. This guide covers both, using vendor documentation and product pages checked in October 2026.

Do you need separate dental treatment plan software?

Usually not for building and signing plans, because every major PMS does that. Separate tools earn their place at the chair, where the patient has to understand and agree.

If plans get built but stall at presentation, look at case presentation and cost estimate tools. If plans are inconsistent or hard to find later, fix the setup in your PMS first: saved plans, statuses and signed PDFs.

How do the major PMS treatment planners compare?

Open Dental, Dentrix and CareStack all support alternate plans, phases and signatures; they differ in how plans are saved, tracked and sent to the patient.

From vendor manuals, help content and product pages, checked October 27, 2026.

Open Dental

Open Dental’s saved treatment plans are built to track accepted treatment. When you highlight the accepted procedures and click Save TP, the plan keeps the fees as of that date, and later fee updates don’t change it. Open Dental uses saved plans to track acceptance rates, and each one records the presenter and the user who saved it. Once a plan is signed it can’t be edited unless the signature is cleared, and a preference saves every signed plan as a PDF in the Imaging Module. On ODTouch, the tablet add-on ($85 per month for up to 4 devices), staff can create saved plans and patients can sign them chairside.

Dentrix

The Dentrix Treatment Planner handles options through alternate cases. You create an alternate case linked to the original, move the procedures that differ into it, and name it (for example, “Bridge”). After the presentation you set each case to proposed, accepted, referred or rejected, so the chart shows which option the patient chose.

CareStack

CareStack’s planner builds plans in phases with a set time for each, by drag and drop, and lets you assign a treatment coordinator to each plan. Statuses separate alternative plans and insurance information so patients can compare options. Finished plans are printed or sent to the Patient Portal for e-signature.

Which tools help patients accept treatment plans?

Two kinds: AI that marks up the x-ray during the exam, and patient education libraries that explain the procedure in animation and follow up after the visit.

AI-annotated x-rays. Pearl and Overjet analyze radiographs with FDA-cleared AI and outline findings on the image the patient sees. Both sell this partly as a case acceptance tool: Overjet’s site says its AI visualizations “improve patient understanding,” and Pearl publishes DSO case studies on clearer presentations. The findings support the dentist’s diagnosis and don’t replace it. For clearance scope and prices, see the FDA clearance tracker and the AI x-ray pricing guide. Open Dental offers FDA-cleared AI analysis through Better Diagnostics at a published $149 per location per month.

Patient education and case presenters.

• Consult-PRO is web-based patient education software with 3D procedure animations, case presentation materials, digital forms and informed consent. It started in Toronto in 1999, offers a free trial and says it is used in 127 countries.
• Chairsyde combines a Case Presenter animation library, AI Voice Notes for consultation records, and a Patient Pack that sends a patient letter, video treatment plan and consent form after the visit. Its note templates reference UK (FGDP) record-keeping standards, so US practices should confirm the documentation fits their requirements.

Neither publishes a current price on its site.

How do you show patients what treatment will cost?

Use your PMS’s insurance estimate, and check it against the plan’s frequency limits, waiting periods and downgrades before the patient sees it.

PMS estimates are only as good as the coverage tables behind them. Overjet sells an AI insurance coordinator, which it calls Ivy, that verifies insurance before patients arrive, applies plan rules such as frequency limits, waiting periods, exclusions and downgrades, and estimates the patient’s share for the visit and the full treatment plan. Dentrix Ascend’s Eligibility Pro writes eligibility results into coverage tables, which the plan’s estimate draws on. More AI tools for the front office are in our best AI tools for dental practices guide.

What should a dental treatment plan include?

A plan the patient can sign should show what is being done, in what order, what it costs, what insurance is expected to pay, and what the alternatives are. Most PMS print templates cover these fields once they are set up.

1. Patient name, date and the treating dentist.
2. Diagnosis and findings, ideally with the annotated x-ray or photo.
3. Procedures with CDT code, tooth and surface.
4. Phases or visit order, with what is urgent and what can wait.
5. Fee for each procedure and the total.
6. Estimated insurance payment and patient portion, with the benefit year noted.
7. Alternatives, including no treatment, with their cost and risks.
8. Financing or payment terms, if offered.
9. Presenter, patient signature and date, saved as a PDF.

Saving the signed version keeps a record of the fees you quoted, which matters if fees change before treatment starts. Open Dental’s saved plans do this by locking fees at the save date.

How do you choose?

Fix the PMS workflow first, then add one presentation tool where plans stall.

• If acceptance rates aren’t being tracked at all, start using saved plans and case statuses in the PMS you already pay for.
• If patients don’t understand the diagnosis, test an AI x-ray tool or an education library on a month of consults.
• If patients balk at cost, work on estimate accuracy and payment options before buying more visuals.
• If you’re choosing a new PMS anyway, compare treatment planners in the demo using two of your real cases. The best dental practice management software guide lists the systems worth quoting.

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