ChatGPT and Claude for dentists: 5 office tasks and the rules dentists set

Practice

Anonymous dentists (Reddit)

Size

Not stated (many practices)

Location

Not stated (online forums)

Tool

ChatGPT and Claude

Cost

Not disclosed

Source

Practitioner report

Did it work? Results

• In a February 2025 r/Dentistry thread on how ChatGPT changed people's practice, the top-scored practical reply (28 points in the archive snapshot) was writing patient dismissal letters. A second dentist said they do the same and asked whether that might be the only real use.
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• In the same thread, one dentist said they use ChatGPT to make notes and replies to problem patients sound more professional, and for appeal letters. They treat it as a first draft and warned against including PHI. Others use it for patient letters and emails, including a recommendation letter for an RDA applying to hygiene school.
  Source
• A dentist in a January 2025 thread described the same use: it makes notes about awkward situations sound more professional and writes first drafts of emails, with no PHI entered.
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• One commenter called ChatGPT great for consent forms, templates and post-op instructions. A reply said the practice's malpractice carrier should already provide resources like these.
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• One commenter said they used ChatGPT to analyze their P&L and come up with a strategy for profitability. Two people asked for details, but none appear in the archived thread.
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• The most-upvoted comment in the January 2025 thread (50 points) came from a dentist who asked ChatGPT exactly what to write on a crown claim to get it approved. According to the dentist, ChatGPT replied that doing so would be unethical.
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• Two comments (14 and 7 points) warned against using ChatGPT to check drug interactions. One called it unsafe; the other pointed to professional resources such as UpToDate.
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• In June 2026 a dentist evaluating practices said they had been using AI more because their CPA's bills are high. They still use their CPA but find chat quicker and cheaper for low-level assessments. Commenters warned that uploading the data could breach an NDA unless the user has a business license with the AI company, and said to redact everything. One noted that Claude can drift over a long chat and work from assumptions the user can't see. That commenter suggested narrow prompts, such as what the procedure mix says about the practice's treatment philosophy, instead of asking whether it is a good practice to buy.
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• In the same thread, a commenter whose firm reviews practice deals (and offers prospective clients a no-cost look) said they have talked with clients who were materially misled by AI.
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• In October 2026 a poster in r/Dentistry reported that Claude wrote Python add-ons for Blender. They turn a shell into a base model, design basic aligners, automate baseplate design and design custom impression trays. The denture-duplicating add-on wasn't particularly good. Another commenter uses AI for RPD design: they enter the missing teeth and adjust the ideal design it returns as needed.
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• Sidebar: a June 2026 r/Dentists post described a home-built MCP bridge between Open Dental and Claude, offered for marketing ROI, dashboards and schedule questions. Commenters raised HIPAA and BAA objections, and one suggested starting with schedule and production dashboards rather than notes or patient messages. Another said Open Dental support told them there were no current plans to integrate with Claude or ChatGPT. The builder later said the guide would not be shared publicly.
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• Sidebar: Dentalpreneur Podcast show notes say Dr. Bill Keith explained how a 20-op practice outside Kansas City uses AI, and mention his background in accounting and finance. The talk covered SQL queries, Open Dental integration, real-time marketing automation, building a custom AI receptionist and analyzing big data with ChatGPT.
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• Sidebar: the part 2 show notes say Dr. Keith uses ChatGPT, Canva and a custom voice assistant named Abby, analyzes data from Open Dental, writes SQL queries in seconds, and has AI bots summarize 200-page legal contracts.
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• The ADA's patient-dismissal guidance says to develop a template letter. The letter should state the cause objectively, tell the patient to find another provider, and say how many days the practice will remain available for emergencies. The guidance also says to consult state law and the state dental practice act, never dismiss for a legally impermissible discriminatory reason, and document all patient communications.
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• CDA guidance from August 2025, written by its HIPAA compliance partner Abyde, says dentists should never put patient data into the free public ChatGPT. Whichever version is used, it says to de-identify data and enter only the minimum necessary. Any vendor that can access PHI must sign a BAA, and a clinician should review every AI output.
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• Anthropic's BAA page covers its HIPAA-ready commercial services, such as the first-party API and Enterprise plans where the Primary Owner activates HIPAA compliance and accepts the BAA. It lists local MCP servers among features that are not covered, and sends consumer plans to a separate article.
  Source

Who tried it, and why

Many anonymous dentists and practice owners (Reddit threads). Not stated; individual dentists, owners and one practice buyer. Not stated; online forums (r/Dentistry, r/Dentists).

Writing and admin work falls on the dentist or office manager. That includes letters ending a patient relationship, replies to angry patients, insurance appeals, consent and post-op templates, and reading a P&L or a broker's packet for a practice that's for sale. A dental student asked r/Dentistry in February 2025 how ChatGPT had changed people's practice. Many of the replies said it hadn't changed anything, since the chairside work is manual and note templates already exist. The same few office tasks kept coming up anyway, there and in later threads, along with rules other dentists insisted on.

What did they set up?

• Task 1: patient dismissal letters. This was the top-scored practical reply in the February 2025 r/Dentistry thread. One dentist said they use it to write dismissal letters, and a second replied that they do too.
• Task 2: tone fixes. Dentists in two separate threads (January and February 2025) use it to make chart-note wording and replies to difficult patients sound more professional. They also use it for first drafts of routine emails and letters, including letters of recommendation for staff (one for an RDA applying to hygiene school, one for an employee who left).
• Task 3: insurance appeal letters. One dentist uses ChatGPT for appeal letters, treats the output as a first draft, and warns against entering any protected health information.
• Task 4: templates. One commenter called it great for consent forms, post-op instructions and other office templates.
• Task 5: numbers. One commenter used ChatGPT to analyze their practice P&L and come up with a profitability strategy. In June 2026 a dentist evaluating practices to buy said they use AI chat tools (the thread title names Chat and Claude) for low-level assessments because their CPA's bills are high. They still use the CPA.
• Outside the office (October 2026): a poster in r/Dentistry had Claude write Python add-ons for Blender. The add-ons turn a shell into a base model, design simple aligners, automate baseplates, design custom impression trays and duplicate dentures. The denture add-on, by the poster's account, wasn't particularly good. Another commenter uses AI to work out RPD designs from the missing teeth.
• The community's rules: keep PHI out of the chat. Treat output as a first draft. Look up drug interactions in a clinical reference such as UpToDate, not ChatGPT. Don't ask it how to word a claim so it gets paid; one dentist said ChatGPT called that unethical. With deal data, check the NDA, redact everything and ask narrow questions.
• Sidebar, advanced and risky (connecting your PMS), part 1: in June 2026 a dentist's husband posted in r/Dentists that he had built a local MCP server bridging Open Dental and Claude. His examples were mapping marketing data to ROI, building recommendations and dashboards for his wife, and asking Claude about the schedule. Commenters objected on HIPAA grounds, saying it isn't compliant without a BAA with Anthropic or fully stripped PHI. He later said the guide he had offered would not be shared publicly.
• Sidebar, part 2: in two May 2025 Dentalpreneur Podcast episodes, Dr. Bill Keith described how a 20-op practice outside Kansas City uses AI. The show notes mention ChatGPT, Canva and a custom voice assistant named Abby. They also mention writing SQL queries in seconds and analyzing data from Open Dental, but don't say which tool writes the SQL. We have only the show notes and did not listen to the episodes.

Tools used

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Blender (with Python add-ons written by Claude)
• Open Dental (sidebar: custom MCP bridge to Claude)

What did it cost?

Not disclosed. Everyone described using general chatbot accounts and nobody gave a price, except the Open Dental bridge builder, who put his Claude cost at under $20 a month. Nobody said they were on a plan covered by a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA). Commenters in two threads did say a business account or a BAA would be needed before sharing sensitive data.

“I wouldn't trust ChatGPT to give you drug interactions, that's wildly unsafe.”

What didn't go well?

• Many dentists see little use for it. Several replies in the February 2025 thread said they don't use it at all, because the job is mostly manual. Others said good note templates or auto-notes already cover documentation.
• One dentist said ChatGPT refused to help word a crown claim so it would get approved, and called that unethical. That was the top comment in its thread.
• The student who started the thread, and another student, said they use ChatGPT for drug interactions. Practicing dentists called that unsafe and pointed to UpToDate.
• AI-drafted consent forms and post-op instructions were challenged: one reply said the malpractice carrier should supply vetted versions.
• For practice-purchase reviews, commenters raised NDA exposure. They also warned that Claude can drift over long chats or work from assumptions the user can't see. An adviser said clients had been materially misled by AI.
• The Blender denture-duplication add-on did not work well. Someone asked whether AI implant identification was accurate, and nobody answered.
• The Open Dental to Claude bridge drew HIPAA and BAA objections that the thread never resolved. After the builder withdrew the guide, requests for it kept coming through October 2026 with no further reply from him in the archive.
• Nobody reported hours saved or any measurable result. These are anecdotes, often one-liners.

What should your office take from this?

• Start with non-clinical writing. Dismissal letters, tense replies, recommendation letters and routine emails are the uses dentists themselves endorse.
• Keep PHI out of the chat. Draft with placeholders, then add names and details in your PMS or letterhead.
• Treat every output as a first draft. Before sending a dismissal letter, check the ADA points (an objective reason, an emergency-availability period, no discriminatory grounds) and your state's rules.
• Don't use a general chatbot for drug interactions. Use a clinical reference such as UpToDate.
• Use AI to organize a documented appeal, not to ask what wording gets a claim paid.
• For P&Ls and practice-sale packets, check the NDA first, redact, ask narrow questions, and keep your CPA.
• Connecting your PMS (an MCP bridge, or pulling query results into a chatbot) is a different risk class from drafting letters. CDA guidance and the objections in the thread both point to a BAA before any patient data is involved, and Anthropic lists local MCP servers among the features its BAA doesn't cover. Get a compliance review before trying it.

Try it yourself

You are helping a US dental office draft a reusable patient dismissal letter TEMPLATE. Do not ask me for, and do not include, any real patient name, date of birth, account number, balance, appointment history or treatment details. Use bracketed placeholders only.

Write a short, courteous, impersonal letter (under 200 words) using these placeholders: [DATE], [PATIENT NAME], [PATIENT ADDRESS], [PRACTICE NAME], [DENTIST NAME], [PRACTICE PHONE], [EFFECTIVE DATE], [NUMBER OF DAYS].

The letter must:
1. Give the reason in one neutral, factual sentence, chosen from [REASON: repeated missed appointments / unpaid balance after repeated notices / conduct toward staff / breakdown of the dentist-patient relationship]. No blame, no adjectives, no clinical details.
2. Say clearly that the patient should find another dentist, and offer help with a referral [OPTIONAL: local dental society contact].
3. Say we will remain available for emergency care for [NUMBER OF DAYS] days from [EFFECTIVE DATE].
4. Explain how to have a copy of their records sent to the new dentist: [RECORDS REQUEST PROCESS].
5. Encourage the patient to continue any needed care with the new dentist, without describing that care.
6. End politely with a signature block for [DENTIST NAME].

After the letter, give me a separate checklist of what I must confirm before using it: our state's required emergency-availability period, that the reason is not discriminatory, whether the patient is mid-treatment or has an urgent problem, how we will send it and prove delivery, what we will note in the chart, and whether our malpractice carrier or attorney should review the template. Do not give legal advice; flag anything I should check with them.

Sources

• How has ChatGPT changed the way you practice dentistry?
  Reddit, r/Dentistry · 2025-02-08
• Anyone using any Ai notes software in dentistry and how have you found it ?
  Reddit, r/Dentistry · 2025-01-04
• Using Chat/Claude/AI to help evaluate practice?
  Reddit, r/Dentistry · 2026-06-28
• Finally found a real use for ai
  Reddit, r/Dentistry · 2026-10-15
• Having Opendental in claude
  Reddit, r/Dentists · 2026-06-11
• 2242: AI Applications in the Dental Office Pt. 1 (show notes)
  The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes · 2025-05-08
• 2243: AI Applications in the Dental Office Pt. 2 (show notes)
  The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes · 2025-05-09
• Patient dismissal
  American Dental Association · Undated (accessed 2026-10-20)
• AI in dentistry: What are the HIPAA violation risks?
  California Dental Association (Endorsed Services, Abyde) · 2025-08-27
• Business Associate Agreements (BAA) for Commercial Customers
  Anthropic (Claude Help Center) · Updated week of 2026-10-20 (accessed 2026-10-20)

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