United Kingdom · shortlist · updated 2026-08-01
The best dental software, by what you’re actually trying to do
“Best dental software” has no single answer, and any site that gives you one is guessing. A solo practice optimising for cost and a twelve-location DSO optimising for control are not shopping in the same market. Here are our picks by situation — with the reason, and the catch.
- 1
Best for price transparency
Dentally
The only system in UK dentistry that publishes a price — £125/month Starter for a single surgery, rising by surgery count across three tiers, all excluding VAT. NHS integration is included on every tier. Nobody else here will tell you a number.
The catch: Publishes a pricing page with three named tiers and no prices on it — you cannot compare it on cost without a sales call.
- 2
Best for hiring and integrations
EXACT
The largest installed base in UK dentistry. Staff arrive knowing it, almost every UK dental product connects to it, and its NHS claiming is thoroughly worn in.
The catch: No published pricing.
- 3
Best for Carestream imaging practices
R4
If you already own Carestream imaging — and a great many UK practices do — R4 is the system it was designed to sit beside.
The catch: No published pricing.
- 4
Best independent cloud
Aerona
Genuinely cloud-native rather than a desktop product moved to a server, built in Northern Ireland and handling both UK and Irish claiming.
The catch: No published pricing.
- 5
Best independent British vendor
Systems for Dentists
Independent and British-owned, so support is not routed through a multinational — which is the specific complaint most often made about the incumbents.
The catch: No published pricing.
- 6
Best for growing groups
CareStack
An American all-in-one that took the trouble to get NHS-certified. Broad native feature set, and it publishes tier pricing in its home market even though not here.
The catch: "Starting at" means the real quote is negotiated; budget above the published figure.
- 7
Best for large groups and corporates
Denticon
Built for many locations from the start, with centralised reporting that retrofitted systems cannot match. Overkill for a single practice.
The catch: No published pricing, and enterprise contracts are the norm.
- 8
Best no-frills NHS option
DentalPlus
A conventional British system aimed squarely at NHS and mixed practices, without a platform strategy attached.
The catch: No published pricing.
Still deciding?
The two questions that narrow this fastest: do you want to own a server, and do you need one price you can see before you talk to anyone? Only 1 of 12 vendors answer the second one.