From Fragmentation to Integration: How Plum Dental Group Strategically Transitioned from Dentrix to CareStack

Overview

Plum Dental is a dental partnership organization (DPO) owned by its founder and partner dentists. With over 30 locations in Rhode Island and Connecticut and over 120 providers and 200 staff members, the group provides comprehensive and compassionate general, specialty, and cosmetic dental care to over 80,000 patients annually.

However, as they expanded, they had to deal with complex server management and a lack of data visibility across their locations from their legacy practice management system - Dentrix. These gaps became increasingly apparent and compelled the leadership team to recognize the need for a modern, scalable platform that could help Plum Dental achieve enterprise-wide transformation.

Challenges with Dentrix: Outgrowing Legacy PM Systems

With large-scale operations, a dental organization’s growth strategy hinges on equipping its providers with tools that eliminate administrative burden and unify workflows across locations.

Plum Dental’s previous practice management software, Dentrix, was initially sufficient for small-scale operations. But as the DSO (dental service organization) expanded, the following limitations became unsustainable:

Outdated Infrastructure

Localized servers at every location resulted in higher IT overhead, increased downtime risk, and poor system reliability. Routine tasks like backups, updates, and troubleshooting consumed valuable resources, which limited scalability.

Lack of Data Visibility

Leadership lacked real-time access to performance data across offices, with a lack of centralized reporting, hindering strategic decision-making.

Workflow and Communication Gaps

With no unified platform, staff communication and patient engagement were disjointed, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies in everyday procedures.

Security and Compliance Risks

On-premise systems posed compliance vulnerabilities. Managing HIPAA standards across multiple local environments posed a significant challenge.

The CareStack Selection Journey

As a modern, multi-location DSO, Plum Dental’s growing footprint could no longer be supported by Dentrix.

After extensive exploration and careful consideration of all options, Plum Dental identified CareStack's all-in-one dental practice management software as a viable solution, which they expect will not only standardize and improve their operations but also serve as a catalyst for their upcoming growth phase.

The implementation of a cloud-based platform eliminated the need for on-premise server maintenance, reducing IT complexity and risk. It provided the team with real-time data visibility across all locations, enabling informed enterprise-level decision-making with robust reporting tools to support strategy and performance monitoring.

CareStack also streamlined the onboarding process for added locations and supported scalable growth for Plum Dental, offering structured training, sandbox environments, and dedicated implementation support.

Implementation & Onboarding

CareStack’s dental software enabled Plum Dental to combine tasks across offices, streamline communication with users and patients, and employ robust analytics for practice management.

Some key steps that ensured a seamless transition from Dentrix to CareStack were:

User Training and Onboarding with CareStack University

CareStack provides comprehensive, role-based training programs for clinical, front-office, and administrative staff. These included live virtual sessions, recorded modules, and interactive sandbox environments tailored to each user group.

Streamlining the Conversion Process

CareStack’s training team partnered closely with Plum Dental to ensure a smooth and efficient onboarding experience. Key elements of the approach included:

• Project Leadership: A core “A-Team” of internal champions was identified to drive adoption and lead the transition across practices.
• Data Cleanup: Legacy data, such as outdated fee schedules and inactive plans, was reviewed and removed to ensure a clean migration.
• Data Validation: The team at Plum Dental validated the migrated data within a secure test environment, ensuring accuracy before go-live.
• Workflow Optimization: Best practices were implemented across recalls, scheduling, and other core functions to standardize operations.
• Brand Integration: Custom forms, logos, and digital assets were configured within CareStack to maintain a consistent patient-facing brand experience.

This collaborative, structured approach helped build internal confidence, minimize disruption, enhance patient engagement, and accelerate adoption across all locations.

Ensuring a Successful Transition

The team was provided hands-on support during day-one cutover to ensure a smooth onboarding at each Plum Dental location. A 60-day post-go-live Customer Success Program ensured continuity, while ongoing chat, voice, and on-demand learning resources supported users as new locations went live.

Post-Implementation Impact

Following the transition to CareStack, Plum Dental Group experienced significant improvements across financial performance, operational efficiency, and enterprise alignment—unlocking measurable value that extended far beyond system consolidation.

Financial Performance

Plum Dental experienced a 40% reduction in accounts receivable days (from 20 to 12) while broken appointment rates dropped below 10%, with some locations reaching as low as 2%—far outperforming the 18% national average.

Operational and RCM Efficiency

Centralized task management and streamlined communication improved coordination across offices. A single billing team now manages all locations, leading to faster insurance payouts, optimized collections, and real-time revenue tracking.

IT and Cost Savings

Eliminating Dentrix’s server infrastructure reduced IT costs and support needs, while CareStack’s cloud model improved reliability and scalability.

Patient Experience

Automated reminders, unified scheduling, and digital forms enhanced patient engagement and reduced no-shows.

Enterprise Alignment & Long-Term Value Addition

Centralized Reporting

Real-time, enterprise-level dashboards enabled leadership to monitor KPIs across all practices.

Enhanced Security & Compliance

Cloud-based architecture ensured HIPAA compliance and data security across all locations.

Multi-Location Management

One platform now supports scheduling, billing, and patient communication across all practices.

Sustained Growth

CareStack’s all-in-one solution continues to support Plum Dental’s expansion goals, enabling enterprise-level control with minimal operational friction.

Results that speak Enterprise

As validated by the Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Report (2023), CareStack customers are experiencing the kind of transformation most DSOs only dream about.

307%

Return on Investment Payback < 6 Months

$1.3M

Increase in Profits from fuller Patient Schedules

$280K

Saved by Consolidating Systems

$162K

Saved through Efficiency Gains and improved RCM

40%

Increase in Production over Three Years

35%

Reduction in Days Sales Outstanding

Source: A commissioned Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Straumann, October 2023. Results are based on a composite organization representative of interviewed customers, assumed to have 10 locations, over three years.

Ready to Scale Smarter?

CareStack powers modern dental organizations with an all-in-one platform that simplifies operations, drives growth, and future-proofs your practice.

Request a Demo to explore the possibilities today.