The verdict in three sentences
A multi-site dental group does not need to replace its practice software: it needs a consolidated reporting layer that reads their data every night. In Dublin, this project costs between EUR 35,000 and 60,000 excl. VAT in 2026, ships in 4 months and must run on health-grade, GDPR-compliant hosting. For a group of 8 clinics and 45 dentists, payback comes in under 18 months through saved admin hours and recovered unpaid balances.
Why Dublin dental groups still steer blind
Irish dental clinics mostly run proven practice systems (Dentally, SOE Exact, Kodak R4, Aerona). These tools handle patient records, charting and claims very well. But they are built for a single clinic, not a group. The CFO of an 8-clinic network ends up exporting 8 files every month, pasting them into a workbook and recalculating revenue per dentist, chair occupancy and unpaid patient balances by hand.
The result: figures arrive 3 to 5 weeks late, gaps between clinics are spotted too late and unaccepted treatment plans are never followed up systematically.
| Indicator | Manual situation | With reporting layer |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly consolidation delay | 15 to 20 working days | Automatic, next day |
| Admin hours per year (8-clinic group) | about 2,100 h | about 600 h |
| Chair occupancy visibility | quarterly, estimated | daily, per dentist |
| Treatment plans followed up | 30 to 40% | 90% and above |
| Unpaid patient balances tracked | partially | 100%, with dated reminders |
| Data reliability | frequent copy-paste errors | single, traceable source |
What a custom reporting layer costs in 2026
Budget depends on how many practice systems must be connected, dashboard depth and the security requirements tied to health data. The figures below are 2026 orders of magnitude for a European provider or a mixed Europe and West Africa team.
| Item | 2026 range excl. VAT | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping and data model | EUR 4,000 to 7,000 | workshops with CFO, clinic managers, lead dentists |
| Connectors to practice software | EUR 8,000 to 15,000 | scheduled export, API or database extraction depending on vendor |
| Data warehouse and calculations | EUR 7,000 to 12,000 | revenue, procedures, occupancy, unpaid balances |
| Group, clinic and dentist dashboards | EUR 9,000 to 16,000 | role-based access, PDF export |
| Security, logging, GDPR compliance | EUR 3,000 to 5,000 | encryption, access logs, DPIA |
| Acceptance testing and training | EUR 4,000 to 5,000 | admin team onboarding |
| Total project | EUR 35,000 to 60,000 | delivered in 4 months |
Recurring costs come on top: health-grade hosting at EUR 300 to 700 per month depending on volume, and application maintenance at EUR 600 to 1,200 per month. A generic BI SaaS looks cheaper (EUR 40 to 80 per user per month), but it does not natively talk to dental software and is not always hosted to health-data standards.
The technical choices that move the bill
Three decisions drive budget. First, the connection method: some vendors offer an API, others only a scheduled export, which adds EUR 2,000 to 4,000 of development per distinct system. Second, detail level: a per-dentist dashboard with production, average ticket and treatment-plan acceptance needs more business rules than a simple group view. Third, hosting: pseudonymised patient data is still health data under GDPR Article 9, which calls for hardened EU hosting and a data protection impact assessment.
Mini case study
Claire, CFO of an 8-clinic dental group in Dublin (45 dentists, EUR 31M revenue), commissions a reporting layer at EUR 48,000 excl. VAT. Recurring cost: EUR 500 hosting and EUR 900 maintenance per month, or EUR 16,800 per year.
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Estimated annual gains: 1,500 admin hours saved at EUR 32 fully loaded, or EUR 48,000. Systematic treatment-plan follow-up: +2% acceptance on EUR 2.4M of plans issued, or EUR 48,000 extra revenue, about EUR 19,000 of margin. Total: about EUR 67,000 in gains, minus EUR 16,800 recurring, or EUR 50,200 net per year. The project pays back in just under 12 months.
FAQ
Do we need to change practice software to get group reporting?
No. The reporting layer reads data from existing systems every night. This avoids a risky migration that would often cost over EUR 100,000 and months of disruption across 8 clinics.
Is health-grade hosting mandatory?
Under GDPR, health data is a special category requiring strong safeguards, even when pseudonymised. Budget EUR 300 to 700 per month with a certified EU host for a group this size.
How long before the first dashboards?
A first group view is usually live after 8 weeks. Per-dentist dashboards and treatment-plan follow-up arrive over the next 8 weeks, for full delivery in 4 months.
Can dentists see each other's figures?
That is a governance choice. Access rights are set per role: a dentist sees only their own production, a clinic manager their site, leadership all 8 clinics.
What if a clinic switches software?
A new connector must be built, about EUR 2,000 to 4,000 excl. VAT. The data model and dashboards stay unchanged.
Let's scope your project. Send us your number of clinics, the systems you use and your priority KPIs: we will price a health-grade reporting layer between EUR 35,000 and 60,000 excl. VAT, deliverable in 4 months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
