What happens to my data when I change dental IT companies?
In most practices, your data does not go anywhere - it stays in your own systems. Your practice-management database (Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft) and your images live on your server or in your hosted instance, not inside the IT company. Switching providers usually means changing who manages that data, not moving it. The real risk is not the data itself; it is losing the access to it - credentials, configs, and backups the old provider held and never documented.
Where your data actually lives
- Practice-management database. Dentrix and Eaglesoft keep your records in their database engines on your server; Open Dental uses a MySQL/MariaDB database. That database is yours and typically stays put through a provider change.
- Images. X-rays and intraoral images live in your imaging software's storage (for example, an Open Dental A-to-Z folder or your imaging app's library) - again, on your systems.
- Email, documents, and accounts. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, scanned documents, and vendor accounts (domain, ISP) are yours; the IT company administers them on your behalf.
So what is actually at risk?
The risk in a switch is rarely data deletion. It is the things wrapped around the data:
- Access credentials the old provider holds and has not handed over.
- Undocumented configuration - how the network, backups, and integrations were set up.
- Backups the old provider controls. If your backup runs through their account or their portal, you need access - and a tested restore - before they leave.
- Cloud/hosted data. If your PMS is vendor-hosted, "your data" includes an export path; confirm you can get a full, usable copy.
How to protect your data through a switch
Three moves cover most of the risk: get administrative access to your own systems documented in writing, get a verified backup restore before the old provider loses access, and keep the old provider in place during a short overlap so nothing is irreversible until the new setup is confirmed. (See the transition checklist and do my dental backups actually work?)
Why transparency matters here
A provider you cannot see is a provider you have to trust on faith about where your data is and how it is protected. A glass-box approach - where you can see the systems, the backups, and the access - means a future switch is never a leap into the unknown, because you already hold the map. (See Glass-box RMM.)