Dentally, EXACT, CareStack and SfD compared for UK dental practices

Get the names right first

EXACT is the practice management software offered by Software of Excellence. Systems for Dentists, commonly styled SfD, is separate. Software of Excellence and SfD should not be treated as interchangeable names. This article compares Dentally, EXACT, CareStack and SfD, rather than counting EXACT and Software of Excellence as two different PMS options.

Sources: Software of Excellence product overview · Systems for Dentists features

The useful differences in the public information

Dentally

Dentally describes a browser-based cloud PMS. Its UK material also presents Dentally Vision for imaging and Dentally Portal for patient-facing functions. Its NHS and HSC page explicitly covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with country-specific examples rather than a single generic NHS label.

For your shortlist: if browser access and work across locations matter, ask to see those tasks on the devices and connections your team will use. Have the supplier identify the plan, imaging components and portal functions included in your quote. For NHS or HSC work, run a demonstration for your own country and contract requirements.

Ask before signing: what happens to the day's clinical work if connectivity is lost, and which imaging devices need additional software or configuration? Test the actual fallback connection rather than assuming a cloud service makes every part of the practice independent of local IT.

Sources: Dentally cloud software · Dentally NHS and HSC workflows

EXACT from Software of Excellence

Software of Excellence presents EXACT as its PMS, alongside enhanced solutions including Examine Pro, Patient Portal, online booking, Automated Recall Manager, Care Manager and MyPractice Cloud analytics. The important buying distinction is between the core system and the complete package proposed for your practice.

For your shortlist: ask the supplier to map your current workflows against the exact version, deployment and modules being offered. An existing EXACT practice should also compare the cost and disruption of improving its current configuration with replacing it entirely.

Ask before signing: which functions are included, which carry separate charges, and who is responsible for server or hosting support, upgrades, backups and recovery in the proposed setup? The presence of a product called MyPractice Cloud does not, by itself, establish how the core PMS is hosted.

Sources: Software of Excellence UK product overview

CareStack

CareStack's UK information describes a cloud-based PMS and combined NHS and private workflows, including a diary and an NHS Centre. Its UK FAQ distinguishes direct online booking from appointment requests that still need staff action. That is a useful detail to take into a demo: an online booking label alone does not explain what happens to the diary.

For your shortlist: if you want to bring more daily functions into one platform, ask the team to demonstrate a complete clinical and financial journey. Record which parts are native, which need configuration and which depend on another product or service.

Ask before signing: which country-specific NHS workflows are supported in your proposed configuration? Show what happens when an appointment request is accepted, refused or changed. Obtain a written list of included modules and any separate payment, messaging, imaging or telephony charges.

Sources: CareStack NHS and private practices · CareStack UK FAQ

Systems for Dentists or SfD

SfD's feature page describes clinical charting, notes, appointments, correspondence, reporting and patient portal functions. Its listed NHS workflows cover England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. Northern Ireland is not named in that list; that is a question to resolve, not proof that support is unavailable. Its solutions page advertises both cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployment.

For your shortlist: if the deployment model is important, ask for the same practice specification under each supported option. Make the responsibility split explicit: who manages the infrastructure, software updates, backup checks and recovery?

Ask before signing: demonstrate the relevant national claiming workflow and the clinical records your practice needs. Establish the exact edition, hosting package, portal scope and any optional services. Cloud-hosted and browser-native should not be assumed to describe the same technical setup.

Sources: SfD features · SfD deployment options

What NHS certification tells you

The NHSBSA certified-systems list dated 9 July 2026 includes CareStack, Dentally, Exact and Systems for Dentists. Certification applies to the named system’s claims-formatting, validation and transmission functionality, not approval of the software or supplier as a whole.

Use that as a specific check, not blanket approval of the whole product. It does not settle every national workflow, your security arrangements, clinical suitability or the quality of a migration. Ask the supplier to demonstrate the current claims process that applies to your practice, including how rejected or amended claims are handled.

Sources: NHSBSA certified dental practice management software systems

Make the demonstration a rehearsal for your working day

Give every shortlisted supplier the same practice brief: country, surgery count, locations, NHS and private mix, imaging equipment and three problems you need to solve. Use fictional patient records for demonstrations. The following are assessment prompts, not claims that every product supports each function.

1. Complete a clinical record. Create a treatment plan, record an amendment, add a note and retrieve the history. Let a clinician assess readability and the audit trail, rather than judging only the appointment screen.
2. Run a diary change. Move a multi-visit appointment and check clinician, surgery and duration constraints. Confirm what happens to any associated patient notification and unfinished treatment.
3. Process the relevant account or claim. For NHS or HSC work, demonstrate the applicable submission and correction process. For private work, follow a payment, refund and account balance into reporting. In a mixed practice, check how the two are distinguished.
4. Retrieve an image. Use the actual make and model of imaging equipment in your requirements. Establish whether images are stored, viewed or simply opened through a bridge, and who supports a failure.
5. Explain a management total. Ask the supplier to reconcile one report back to its underlying records. Check date ranges and whether the figure means planned treatment, completed treatment, invoiced fees or money collected.

Let the staff who will use the system complete the tasks after the demonstration. Record the version and configuration shown, any manual steps and unresolved questions. A polished presentation is useful; a repeatable staff workflow is stronger buying evidence.

Agree migration acceptance before the move

The migration plan deserves as much attention as the feature list. Ask both outgoing and incoming suppliers which data can be exported and imported, in what format, and at what cost. Agree a written list covering patient identifiers, clinical notes and their history, charts, images, documents, appointments, balances, treatment plans and relevant claims information. Do not assume that an export includes every attachment or preserves every relationship.

Before go-live, require a rehearsal with agreed checks. Use an approved secure test environment, restrict access, and agree retention and deletion of migration copies. Reconcile record counts and financial totals, then inspect a representative sample of complex records with the appropriate staff. Identify anything that will remain in a legacy system and how authorised staff will retrieve it. Establish how changes made after the rehearsal will reach the new system.

Your acceptance record can be short, but it should be specific:

Agree a cutover owner, staff training, support availability and a fallback plan before setting the final switch date. Ask what happens if the migration fails its agreed acceptance checks. These are purchasing recommendations, not promises about any supplier's implementation service.

Compare the whole proposed service

Request a written first-year total and the ongoing annual cost using the same surgery count, locations and expected usage. Separate subscriptions from setup, migration, training, hosting, hardware, imaging, patient portal functions, messaging and payment-processing charges. Record VAT treatment, contract length, price-change provisions, notice periods, data-export charges and any overlap with the old contract.

Check operational responsibilities too. Ask for support hours and escalation arrangements, access controls, audit logs, backup and recovery commitments, and evidence relevant to your data-protection assessment. A software feature or compliance claim does not, on its own, establish that your practice's configuration and use meet all its obligations.

This comparison does not publish a cheapest option because no matched current quotations have been assessed. A headline price for one surgery or a different package is not a like-for-like practice cost.

Where Oral Connect fits

Oral Connect is not a replacement for your dental PMS. Decide first how your clinical records, appointments and accounts will be managed, then assess whether additional communication and follow-up tools would help the team.

For that separate decision, see our guide to choosing a dental CRM: Choosing a dental CRM . It covers follow-up worklists and CRM evaluation in more detail. The fact that a PMS is named in this article is not a claim that it integrates with Oral Connect.

Your next step

Shortlist against your practice's must-have workflows, then ask each supplier to demonstrate the same tasks and provide the same commercial breakdown. Choose only after the team understands the daily workflow, the migration has clear acceptance criteria and the contract explains what happens when you eventually need to leave.