Orbit for Open Dental
Orbit connects to Open Dental to retrieve current practice information and complete supported patient and scheduling workflows during a call.
Orbit operates within the provider, operatory, duration, and workflow settings approved for each deployment. Production read/write access follows a client-specific integration and security review.
Page updated July 2026
More than a calendar connection.
Orbit checks availability using the selected appointment rule, configured provider and operatory, required duration, and requested date range. Open Dental returns the slots available for that request.
A blank point on the calendar does not prove the appointment can be booked.
Orbit offers times returned by Open Dental for the configured request.
Orbit does not invent availability. It presents only slots returned through the configured Open Dental workflow.
Detailed availability specification coming laterSupported workflows
Existing-patient identification
Orbit can look up a patient by phone or by first name, last name, and birthdate for the active workflow.
SupportedNew-patient creation
Orbit can create a patient using first name, last name, birthdate, and caller phone before continuing a supported scheduling workflow.
SupportedFamily and group booking
Orbit can orchestrate a related group of up to ten appointments within one booking workflow.
SupportedLive availability
Orbit can request slots using the configured provider, configured operatory, required duration, and requested date range.
SupportedAppointment scheduling
Orbit can submit a supported appointment to Open Dental after the required patient and scheduling inputs have been collected.
SupportedPractice configuration
Production behavior is scoped to the provider, operatory, duration, and workflow settings approved for that deployment.
SupportedThe workflow starts with the correct patient context.
Orbit can search for an existing patient by phone or by first name, last name, and birthdate.
Ambiguous or unsuccessful searches are not represented as a verified match.
When the workflow permits it, Orbit can create a patient using first name, last name, birthdate, and caller phone.
Patient lookup results are scoped to the active workflow.
A requested time is not yet a confirmed appointment.
- 01A caller requests a time
- 02Orbit finds an available time
- 03Orbit submits the appointment
- 04Open Dental accepts the appointment
- 05Orbit confirms it to the caller
Orbit communicates a completed booking after Open Dental returns a successful booking response.
Orbit confirms the booking after Open Dental returns a successful booking response.
A failed or incomplete write is not presented as a completed booking.
If the response is unsuccessful or ambiguous, Orbit follows the practice's configured recovery or escalation behavior.
An unavailable system, failed write, or ambiguous response does not become a false confirmation. Orbit either continues with a permitted recovery path or follows the practice's configured escalation behavior.
A booking that looks confirmed but isn't creates a worse outcome than a slower one. The caller believes they hold an appointment that doesn't exist. This boundary exists to prevent that gap.
Scoped to one practice. Controlled end to end.
During an approved workflow, Orbit may request a predefined operation such as checking availability. Blackstar's systems layer authenticates the request, resolves the connection and configuration assigned to that practice, validates the operation, and returns results scoped to the active workflow.
- Orbit uses predefined operations.
- Requests pass through Blackstar's controlled systems layer.
- The request is authenticated before the operation proceeds.
- The correct client integration context is resolved server-side.
- Inputs are constrained to the supported operation.
- Results are scoped to the active workflow.
- No model-selected tenant or arbitrary PMS connection
Built around the practice's actual scheduling environment.
A one-provider practice and a large multi-provider practice are not treated as identical configurations.
- Providers
- Operatories
- Appointment durations
- Selected appointment rule
- New-patient versus existing-patient workflows
- Escalation conditions
- Supported hours and call-routing behavior
Current integration scope
Support for a workflow is determined by the current Orbit implementation and the practice's Open Dental configuration. This page does not imply support for every Open Dental function or every possible deployment.
Current limitations
- Currently designed for one practice location.
- Requires an existing Open Dental integration.
- Production read/write enablement requires client-specific integration and security review.
- Human escalation is used when required information cannot be verified.
Governed by the same controls as everything else Blackstar runs.
Open Dental workflows are governed by Blackstar's platform-wide security controls and healthcare-data practices. Detailed information about system access, data handling, and HIPAA-related safeguards is documented separately.
Review Blackstar security controlsSee how Orbit would work with your Open Dental environment.
Orbit is configured around the provider, operatory, duration, appointment rule, and call workflow approved for the deployment.