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Overview

The Open Dental connector polls your Open Dental MySQL database every 2 minutes and sends audit trail events to ScaleHouse for compliance monitoring.
Prerequisites: Open Dental must be installed and running on a Windows computer with MySQL database access.

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What Data is Collected

The connector queries the following Open Dental tables:
TablePurposeFrequency
auditlogAudit trail eventsEvery 2 minutes
userodUser informationEvery 2 minutes
providerProvider namesEvery 2 minutes
usergroupattachesPermission groupsEvery 2 minutes

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Audit Events Tracked

  • User logins (UserLogOnOff)
  • Failed login attempts
  • Session timeouts
  • Chart views (ChartModuleViewed)
  • Family module access (FamilyModuleViewed)
  • Medical info views (MedicalInfoViewed)
  • Patient edits (PatientEdit)
  • Patient creation (PatientCreate)
  • Permission changes (SecurityAdmin)
  • New user creation (AddNewUser)
  • SQL command execution (CommandQuery) - Critical alert
  • Image creation (ImageCreate)
  • Image edits (ImageEdit)
  • Image deletion (ImageDelete)

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Installation

1

Download Connector

Go to Audit Intelligence → Connectors in your ScaleHouse dashboard and click “Download Connector”.
2

Run Installer

Double-click ScaleHouseConnector.msi and follow the installation wizard. Requires admin rights.
3

Generate Activation Token

In the dashboard, click “Activate Connector” and copy the activation token (valid for 15 minutes).
4

Configure Connector

Right-click the connector icon in your system tray, click “Configure”, and paste the activation token.
5

Enter Database Credentials

Provide your Open Dental MySQL connection details:
  • Host: localhost (or IP address)
  • Database: opendental (default name)
  • Username: MySQL username
  • Password: MySQL password
6

Activate

Click “Test Connection” to verify, then click “Activate”. The connector will start syncing immediately.

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Database Query

The connector runs this SQL query every 2 minutes: 
SELECT
  al.AuditLogNum,
  al.DateTStamp,
  al.PatNum,
  al.UserNum,
  u.UserName,
  u.ProvNum,
  al.Permission,
  al.Computer,
  al.LogText,
  al.LogSource,
  al.LastEdit,
  p.FirstName,
  p.LastName
FROM auditlog al
LEFT JOIN userod u ON al.UserNum = u.UserNum
LEFT JOIN provider p ON u.ProvNum = p.ProvNum
WHERE al.DateTStamp > :lastPolledAt
ORDER BY al.DateTStamp ASC;
The connector uses cursor-based polling with a 2-minute overlap window to ensure no events are lost during crashes or network issues.

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Compliance Mapping

Open Dental events are automatically mapped to HIPAA requirements:
Open Dental PermissionHIPAA CitationRequirement
UserLogOnOff§164.312(a)(2)(i)Unique User Identification
PatientEdit§164.312(a)(1)Access Control
SecurityAdmin§164.308(a)(4)Information Access Management
CommandQuery§164.312(b)Audit Controls (RED FLAG)
ImageDelete§164.312(c)Integrity
EmailSend§164.312(e)Transmission Security
CommandQuery events (raw SQL execution) trigger CRITICAL severity alerts and should be investigated immediately.

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Troubleshooting

Possible causes:
  • Connector service stopped
  • Network connection lost
  • Database credentials changed
Solution:
  1. Check if connector is running (system tray icon)
  2. Right-click → “Reconfigure” to update credentials
  3. Check Windows Event Log for errors
Possible causes:
  • Connector not activated
  • Database credentials incorrect
  • Open Dental audit trail disabled
Solution:
  1. Verify connector status is “Active” in dashboard
  2. Check connector logs: C:\ProgramData\ScaleHouse\logs\
  3. Verify Open Dental audit trail is enabled
Possible causes:
  • MySQL not running
  • Firewall blocking connection
  • Incorrect host/port
Solution:
  1. Verify MySQL is running: services.msc → MySQL service
  2. Check firewall allows localhost connections
  3. Verify host is localhost or correct IP

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Security

How Credentials are Stored

Open Dental database credentials are encrypted using Windows DPAPI (Data Protection API) and stored locally on the office computer. They are never sent to the cloud.
Authentication Flow:
  1. Connector authenticates to ScaleHouse using per-connector API key
  2. Connector authenticates to Open Dental using local encrypted credentials
  3. Audit events are signed with HMAC-SHA256 before transmission
  4. ScaleHouse validates signature and stores events

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Performance

  • Polling Frequency: Every 2 minutes (configurable)
  • Batch Size: Up to 100 events per request
  • Network Usage: ~10-50 KB per sync (minimal)
  • CPU Usage: <1% (runs in background)
  • Memory Usage: ~50-100 MB

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Next Steps

Gap Detection

Learn how gap detection works

Compliance Scoring

Understand compliance scores