Managed IT & Cybersecurity for Dental Practices in British Columbia
Your Cleardent server, your Planmeca sensors, your PIPA obligations. We keep the infrastructure behind them running so you can focus on patients, not passwords.
The IT problems dental practices actually face
Unpatched workstations sitting in operatories
The front desk workstation running Cleardent is the same one that has not been restarted in four months. Windows updates are deferred indefinitely because nobody wants to risk breaking the practice management software mid-day. Every week those machines stay unpatched is another week of known vulnerabilities sitting on your network next to patient health information.
Shared passwords across the entire office
One Windows login for every hygienist, associate, and front desk staff member. One Cleardent password taped to the monitor. No audit trail for who accessed what record or when. When the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner asks how you control access to patient data, "everyone uses the same login" is not a defensible answer.
Backups that have never been tested
Your IT person set up a backup drive two years ago. Nobody has verified whether it actually captures the Cleardent database, the digital imaging files, or the attachments stored outside the default path. You will find out whether your backups work on the day you need them, and that is the worst possible time to discover they do not.
PIPA exposure you may not know about
British Columbia dental practices fall under the Personal Information Protection Act. Patient health records, insurance details, radiographs, treatment notes. A breach notification obligation exists and the penalties are real. Most practices have no written privacy management program, no incident response plan, and no documentation of how patient data flows through their systems.
Imaging equipment on a flat network
Your Planmeca ProMax, Carestream sensors, and intraoral cameras share the same network as the front desk browsing the internet and checking email. A single phishing click can traverse laterally to the DICOM bridge, the imaging workstation, and the server holding every panoramic and periapical image you have ever taken. Segmentation is not optional when clinical hardware is involved.
No one owns IT decisions
The office manager handles most technology questions by default. They did not sign up to evaluate firewall rules or negotiate with the Cleardent support team about server requirements. Decisions get deferred, small problems compound, and by the time someone calls for help the situation has become urgent and expensive.
Practice management and imaging software we support
We work inside these platforms daily. We know the server requirements, the database paths, the port configurations, and the update schedules. When Cleardent pushes an update that changes the SQL Server dependency, we handle the migration before it becomes your Monday morning crisis.
CleardentPrimary
The dominant practice management system in BC dental offices. We manage the SQL Server backend, workstation deployments, automatic update testing, and the integration points with digital imaging. We know where Cleardent stores its database, how its backup utility works, and what happens when a workstation loses connection to the server mid-appointment.
Dentrix
Server-based practice management with specific requirements for network shares, user permissions, and eConnector services. We handle Dentrix server health, eServices configuration, and the database maintenance routines that keep performance stable as your patient base grows.
Curve Dental
Cloud-based practice management that shifts infrastructure responsibility but still requires reliable internet, proper workstation configuration, and secure endpoint management. We ensure your network delivers the uptime and bandwidth Curve needs to function without lag during peak scheduling hours.
ABELDent
Used across many Canadian practices with both server and cloud deployment options. We support the server infrastructure, workstation imaging, and the network architecture that ABELDent requires for stable multi-user operation.
Planmeca Romexis
Planmeca imaging integration requires specific network configuration, DICOM routing, and workstation GPU capability. We manage the Romexis server, ensure imaging data flows correctly between sensors and workstations, and maintain the storage infrastructure for large 3D datasets.
Carestream Imaging
Carestream sensors and software have specific driver requirements and network discovery protocols. We handle driver management, TWAIN integration, and the server-side image storage that keeps your radiographs accessible and backed up.
Dentsply Sirona
Sidexis and CEREC integrations require dedicated workstation configuration, specific GPU drivers, and reliable network throughput for large imaging files. We ensure the infrastructure behind your Sirona equipment performs consistently.
Privacy and compliance for BC dental practices
Dental practices in British Columbia handle patient health information subject to provincial privacy legislation. Compliance is not a checkbox exercise. It requires documented controls, access management, and the ability to demonstrate accountability if a breach occurs.
PIPA (Personal Information Protection Act)
BC's private-sector privacy law governs how dental practices collect, use, and disclose patient personal information. This includes health records, insurance details, radiographic images, and treatment plans. PIPA requires practices to designate a privacy officer, implement reasonable security safeguards, and notify affected individuals and the OIPC in the event of a breach that poses a real risk of significant harm. We help you build and document the technical controls that make PIPA compliance demonstrable rather than aspirational.
PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)
The federal privacy framework applies when patient information crosses provincial boundaries, such as insurance claims submitted to national carriers or referrals to out-of-province specialists. PIPEDA's accountability principle requires organizations to protect personal information with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data. Patient health information is among the most sensitive categories.
College of Dental Surgeons of BC — Record Retention
Professional obligations require dental records to be retained for specific periods following last treatment. This means your backup and archival strategy must account for long-term data integrity, not just disaster recovery. We design retention-aware backup architectures that keep records accessible and intact for the full required period.
What Nexanova does for dental practices
What the software vendor handles vs. what we handle
- Cleardent / Dentrix / ABELDent application bugs and feature development
- Imaging software updates and clinical calibration of sensors
- Practice management software licensing and subscription billing
- Cloud platform availability (for Curve Dental and cloud-hosted solutions)
- Clinical training on software features and workflows
- Server infrastructure, operating system, and SQL Server health for on-premise practice management
- Workstation deployment, patching, and endpoint security across all operatories
- Network architecture, segmentation, and firewall rules for clinical and imaging equipment
- Backup configuration, monitoring, and monthly restore verification
- User account management, access controls, and multi-factor authentication
- PIPA compliance documentation, privacy management program support, and breach response planning
- Vendor coordination during support sessions, installations, and upgrades
- Cybersecurity monitoring, threat detection, and incident response
AI that makes dental practice operations faster
AI in a dental practice is not about replacing clinical judgment. It is about eliminating the administrative friction that costs your front desk hours every week. These are tools that work alongside your existing software to handle the repetitive tasks that slow your team down.
Voice AI receptionist
An AI phone agent that answers calls, books appointments into Cleardent, handles rescheduling, and manages after-hours inquiries. Patients get a responsive experience. Your front desk staff stops juggling the phone while checking in patients and processing insurance claims simultaneously.
Appointment automation and recall
Automated recall sequences that contact patients due for hygiene appointments, send confirmations, and follow up on no-shows. Integrated with your practice management system so the schedule stays accurate without manual data entry.
Front desk knowledge base
A searchable AI assistant trained on your practice policies, insurance procedures, and common patient questions. New staff get answers in seconds instead of interrupting the office manager. Consistent information across every patient interaction.
Claude Cowork for administrative tasks
AI-assisted document drafting, patient communication templates, insurance narrative writing, and treatment plan letter generation. Your team spends less time on repetitive writing and more time on patient care.
How we built a Vancouver orthodontic practice from empty clinic to opening day
Every workstation, the X-ray machine, the Ortho2 Edge Cloud practice management software, patient guest Wi-Fi, custom-domain email, VoIP phones, and a kids' gaming station in the waiting area — configured and tested before the first patient arrived.
Highlight
100% on schedule
New orthodontic clinic, full IT build + ongoing managed coverage
Frequently Asked Questions
We support Cleardent specifically. We know the SQL Server backend, the database path structure, the backup utility, and the update process. When Cleardent pushes a version update that changes system requirements, we handle the migration. When a workstation loses its connection to the Cleardent server, we diagnose whether it is a network issue, a service issue, or a permissions issue without needing to escalate to Cleardent support for basic infrastructure problems.
PIPA requires you to designate a privacy officer, implement reasonable security safeguards for patient information, limit collection and use to what is necessary, and notify affected individuals and the OIPC if a breach poses a real risk of significant harm. In practical terms for IT, this means access controls, encryption, auditable logs, tested backups, and a documented incident response plan. We help you build and maintain the technical side of these requirements.
We schedule patching outside clinical hours, typically evenings or weekends. Before deploying updates to production workstations, we verify compatibility with Cleardent and imaging software in a controlled environment. Critical security patches are prioritized and deployed with a tested rollback plan. Your Monday morning should start with working systems, not surprises.
Yes. We design the network infrastructure for new dental offices from the ground up: structured cabling, switch placement, VLAN architecture for clinical and imaging equipment, Wi-Fi coverage planning, server room requirements, and workstation provisioning. We coordinate with your general contractor, Cleardent, and imaging equipment vendors to ensure everything works on opening day.
Most single-location dental practices fall in the $700 to $1,500 per month range depending on the number of workstations, whether you run on-premise or cloud practice management software, and the complexity of your imaging infrastructure. We scope every engagement individually because a four-operatory general practice has different needs than an eight-operatory multi-doctor office with CBCT imaging.
Your patients trust you with their health. Trust us with your technology.
Or call (604) 613-0150