When you are transitioning from a paper chart to a digital record, you want the patient tooth chart to accurately represent the patient’s mouth. This is the case for documenting existing restorations, missing teeth, and areas of concern. These areas of concern, or as some people call “watches,” are especially important because you want to make sure you can easily read them, and that they give a clear picture of what you are watching.
A “watch” in Dentrix terminology is considered a Condition and will mark the tooth with a W, circle the tooth, or could put a big box around it. Many of the doctors I work with ask me if there is a way to do a “surface watch” so they can see the exact surfaces they are watching. My response is “Yes, you can.” You can have two different types of watches — you could have a tooth or area watch and you can also have a surface watch. This way, it will paint differently on the tooth chart.
In the Procedure Code Setup, you can create new Condition codes ones or edit existing ones. In the Office Manager, go to Maintenance > Practice Setup > Procedure Code Setup. Scroll down to the Conditions category, highlight the Watch code, and click Edit. In the lower middle of the window, there is a drop-down menu for Paint Type. This is where you can select how you want the condition to display in the Chart. With the Watch Tooth condition, you can decide to put a W on the tooth chart or have it circle the tooth. It’s your choice.
What if you want to create a surface watch so it will show the surfaces of the tooth you are watching? That is easy! Back in Procedure Code Setup window, select New Code and fill in the appropriate items in the Procedure Code Editor window.
Here are the important things to fill in when you are creating new Condition Code:
- Description – Surface Watch
- ADA Code – This can be anything you want. All conditions have numbers assigned, so you could use 15116, which would be the next unassigned condition number in the Dentrix default list
- Abbreviated Description – SurfW or something like that would work
- Treatment Flags – Select Condition and Show in Chart
- Procedure Category – Conditions
- Treatment Area – Surface
- Paint Type – Surface Restoration (solid, hatched or outline – you pick!)
Be sure to Save and Close.
Now open your Chart and refresh your chart. You can now add your new condition code to your Procedure Buttons and you will find it in the list of Conditions in the Procedure Code List.
Additional Information
Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer