Question 1

Which practice management systems does Marea support?

Accepted Answer

Marea integrates directly with Open Dental, ClearDent, Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Dentrix Enterprise, Denticon, TDO, Eaglesoft, Tracker, Akitu One, DentiMax, and Dental EMR. No data migration is required. We connect to your existing system and start working alongside it.

Question 2

How long does it take to get set up?

Accepted Answer

Most practices go live within 3 business days. Setup includes connecting your PMS, configuring your preferences, and a single onboarding session with your team.

Question 3

Will patients know they're talking to an AI?

Accepted Answer

Marea's AI receptionist is designed to sound natural and professional. Practices can choose to disclose AI use based on their preference and local regulations.

Question 4

Is my patient data secure?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Marea is HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant and encrypts all data with 256-bit AES. We offer Business Associate Agreements for every customer.

Question 5

Do I have to buy both Documentation and Inbound?

Accepted Answer

No. Marea Documentation (Scribe, Letters, and Perio in early access) and Marea Inbound (Receptionist and Forms) are sold separately, and most practices start with Documentation. They're better together — Inbound captures the patient, Documentation writes up the visit — but each stands on its own.

Question 6

Which systems does it write back to?

Accepted Answer

Notes and letters land straight in the chart you already use — Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, TDO, and more. No exports, no copy-paste, no second system to reconcile.

Question 7

How does it learn our note format?

Accepted Answer

Marea matches how each provider already documents — SOAP, narrative, or a template you built. Share a few finished notes and it writes in that shape from the first appointment.

Question 8

How accurate are the notes?

Accepted Answer

Marea drafts from what was actually said and done in the operatory, using dental templates a general scribe has never seen. You read it and sign — the draft is complete enough that most days that's a glance, not a rewrite.

Question 9

Do we have to change how we run appointments?

Accepted Answer

No. Treat the way you always have. Marea listens from the corner of the operatory — no buttons, no dictation, no new hardware — and the documentation is waiting when you finish.

Question 10

Is perio charting available today?

Accepted Answer

Voice perio charting is in early access. You call out pockets, recession, and bleeding as you probe, the chart fills in on screen, and nothing writes to the record until you confirm it.

Question 11

Is patient data secure?

Accepted Answer

Every note and letter is handled under HIPAA and PIPEDA and written directly to your PMS with no intermediate storage. A BAA is available for every practice before you go live.

Question 12

What happens to my current phone setup?

Accepted Answer

Nothing changes. You forward your existing line to Marea — on the third ring, the fourth, or all of them — and the assistant picks up. No porting, no new hardware.

Question 13

Can it book directly into our PMS?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Marea reads live availability and writes appointments back to Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, TDO and others in real time. The slot is gone the moment the conversation ends.

Question 14

How fast can we go live?

Accepted Answer

Usually the same afternoon. Forwarding takes minutes; a short setup call teaches Marea your hours, providers, and tone.

Question 15

Does Marea handle more than phone calls?

Accepted Answer

Today Marea answers the phone and completes digital intake before the visit. Website chat and text messaging are on the way — so patients reach you however they prefer, and finish where they started.

Question 16

Is patient data secure?

Accepted Answer

Every conversation is HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant. Audio is processed in real time and discarded — nothing recorded, nothing stored. A BAA is available for every customer before you go live.

Question 17

What about intake and forms?

Accepted Answer

The moment a visit is booked, Marea sends the intake — history, consents, e-signatures — and syncs it back to the chart, so the paperwork is done before the patient arrives.

Question 18

How is pricing determined?

Accepted Answer

Pricing is shaped to your practice — size, location count, and which pillars you use. Book a call and we'll put together a quote tailored to your operation, with no templates and no surprises.

Question 19

What's included in a quote?

Accepted Answer

Every quote covers your selected pillars, PMS integration, onboarding, training for your team, and ongoing support. You'll see exactly what's bundled before you commit.

Question 20

Can I start with one pillar and add the other later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most practices start with Marea Documentation and add Inbound once the documentation workflow is humming. Marea One customers get both from day one.

Question 21

Do you offer a pilot or trial?

Accepted Answer

Most prospects start with a hands-on pilot in their own practice so they can see Marea working with their real workflow before signing anything. Talk to sales to set one up.

Question 22

Do you work with multi-location practices and DSOs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Multi-location and DSO pricing is built for scale, with central administration, group reporting, and a dedicated success manager. We'll tailor a proposal to your group structure.

Question 23

Is my patient data secure?

Accepted Answer

Marea is HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant and encrypts all data with 256-bit AES. Every customer signs a Business Associate Agreement before going live.

Question 24

Do I need to migrate any data?

Accepted Answer

No. Marea uses the data in place. Your chart never leaves your system — we read what we need and write outcomes back.

Question 25

Do you connect to my calendar, billing, or texting software?

Accepted Answer

No — on purpose. One integration, your PMS. Your schedule already lives there, so bookings write straight to it. Fewer connections to maintain, fewer places your data can sit.

Question 26

What if my PMS isn't on the list?

Accepted Answer

Tell us. We add connectors on demand, and most ship within a quarter. The model is the same, so a new one is configuration, not invention.

Question 27

Does this work for multi-location practices?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Marea connects per location and rolls up group reporting at the org level. Denticon, Dentrix Enterprise, and other multi-location systems are first-class.

Question 28

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

Most practices go live within three business days. The connection takes minutes — the rest is one onboarding session with your team.

Question 29

Is the connection HIPAA-compliant?

Accepted Answer

Encrypted in transit and at rest, with a BAA signed before it goes live. We keep no long-term copy of your chart — full details on our security page.

Question 30

Why does Marea win on these comparisons?

Accepted Answer

Marea Documentation is built specifically for dental documentation — dental note templates, referral letters generated from the note, voice perio charting in early access — and it writes everything back to the PMS you already use. Most competitors are general-medical scribes that stop at the note and leave the chart to you.

Question 31

Is the AI scribe quality comparable?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our scribe is trained specifically on dental conversations — endodontic, perio, OS, ortho, general — so it captures terminology and structure correctly. Side-by-side trials with Heidi and Freed show comparable or better dental note quality.

Question 32

What about pricing?

Accepted Answer

Marea pricing is shaped to your practice — locations, PMS, and whether you run Marea Documentation, Marea Inbound, or both. Most single-purpose AI scribes price per-doctor per-month; Marea is per-location. For a practice with more than one provider, we're usually cheaper.

Question 33

Can I run Marea alongside another tool while I evaluate?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Many practices pilot Marea alongside their existing scribe for a month before switching. We can scope a side-by-side trial in your real workflow.

Question 34

Where does patient data actually live?

Accepted Answer

Your patient chart stays in your PMS — Open Dental, ClearDent, Dentrix, TDO, Eaglesoft. Marea pulls what it needs in real time, never migrates or replicates the chart, and writes outcomes back. The artifacts of work Marea did for you (call summaries, generated letters, completed form submissions) are retained encrypted in Marea so your team can search, re-send, and audit them.

Question 35

What about audio from calls and operatory recordings?

Accepted Answer

Never stored. Across both Receptionist and Scribe, audio is transcribed in real time and discarded the moment the call ends or the note is generated. There are no recordings on our servers, period. Nothing to play back, nothing to leak.

Question 36

What does Marea actually keep?

Accepted Answer

Receptionist keeps the call summary and the basics about who called — never the audio itself. Scribe keeps nothing long-term — the note goes straight into your chart. Letters keeps the letter we generated and the delivery history. Forms keeps the submission (which also syncs into your chart). Plus the basics for running your account.

Question 37

What if Marea were ever breached?

Accepted Answer

There's no audio to find. There's no copy of your patient charts. What we keep — call summaries, generated letters, form submissions — is encrypted, so even if someone got to the storage they'd see scrambled data. It's a fraction of what most health-tech platforms hold.

Question 38

Can we export every record Marea holds about a patient? Can we delete it?

Accepted Answer

Yes to both. Export and deletion requests are honoured within hours. The data Marea holds on a given patient is the work artifacts described above — straightforward to package or remove.

Question 39

Do you sell, share, or train models on our data?

Accepted Answer

Never. Marea operates under a BAA with every customer. Patient data is not used to train external models, sold to third parties, or shared outside the workflow that produced it.

Question 40

Where can we get the legal details?

Accepted Answer

Our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Service Agreement spell it out in full — linked below and at the bottom of every page.

Question 41

Will callers know it isn't a person?

Accepted Answer

It introduces itself honestly and sounds natural. Most callers just get what they needed — a booking, an answer — and go on with their day.

Question 42

Do I need new hardware or IT help?

Accepted Answer

No. Marea runs on top of the PMS and phone line you already have. Nothing to install or migrate.

Question 43

Can it keep my existing phone number?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Forward your current line — all of it, or just overflow and after-hours. Your number stays yours.

Question 44

What does it cost for a single practice?

Accepted Answer

One flat price per location. No per-doctor surcharge, no per-call meter.

Question 45

How fast can I go live?

Accepted Answer

Most solo practices are live within three business days.

Question 46

Can you be ready before we open?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most startups go live in about a week — PMS connected, templates loaded, phone line configured before opening day.

Question 47

Do I still need to hire a front desk?

Accepted Answer

Not right away. Marea Inbound covers calls, booking, and intake, so you can defer one or two hires until volume justifies them.

Question 48

What if I don't know my call volume yet?

Accepted Answer

Pricing is per location, not per call — so you're never penalized as volume ramps up.

Question 49

Will it scale when I add operatories or a second site?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Everything is structured from day one, so adding capacity doesn't mean rebuilding.

Question 50

Is there pricing that fits a new practice?

Accepted Answer

Yes — founder-friendly pricing that respects your first months. Talk to us and we'll shape it to your ramp.

Question 51

Can each location keep its own hours and providers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The group sets the standard; each site keeps its own hours, providers, and insurance mix — no forking, no drift.

Question 52

Do all sites have to launch at once?

Accepted Answer

No. Roll out location by location, or all at once. The standard is the same either way.

Question 53

How is it priced across locations?

Accepted Answer

Per location. No per-doctor multiplier, no per-call meter — predictable as you add sites.

Question 54

Can I see one site and the whole group?

Accepted Answer

Both. Every metric rolls up to the group and drills down to a single operatory.

Question 55

Does this replace the PMS at each site?

Accepted Answer

No. Marea runs on top of the PMS each location already uses. Nothing to migrate.

Question 56

Is digital patient intake more secure than paper forms?

Accepted Answer

Digital intake removes certain risks tied to manual handling, such as re-keying errors and unsecured physical forms sitting at the front desk. It introduces different considerations, like vendor access controls and data handling practices, so security depends on how the digital system itself is built and managed, not on the format alone.

Question 57

Does Marea sign a Business Associate Agreement?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Marea signs a Business Associate Agreement with every customer. It's included at no extra cost, with no negotiation cycle or per-seat surcharge.

Question 58

Is Marea HIPAA compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Marea is built for full compliance with US healthcare privacy regulations, and a Business Associate Agreement is available for every customer. Marea is also PIPEDA compliant for practices operating in Canada.

Question 59

Does Marea store audio recordings or copy the PMS chart?

Accepted Answer

No. Audio from calls and operatory recordings is never stored, it's transcribed in real time and discarded the moment the work is done. The PMS chart is never replicated either; Marea pulls what it needs in real time and writes outcomes back to the system a practice already uses.

Question 60

What does Marea keep from a completed Smart Form?

Accepted Answer

The completed submission auto-syncs into the patient's PMS record, and Marea also retains an encrypted copy so the practice can search, audit, and export past submissions. E-signatures are legally binding with a full audit trail.

Question 61

Do Smart Forms replace the need for staff to manage compliance?

Accepted Answer

No. The practice remains responsible for access management, staff training, and vendor agreements regardless of whether intake is paper or digital. Smart Forms change how intake data is collected and stored, not who is accountable for handling it correctly.

Question 62

Can I get a copy of everything Marea holds about a patient, or delete it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The retained data Marea keeps, such as call summaries, letters, and form submissions, is available to export and deletable on request. Full detail on this process is published at usemarea.com/security.

Question 63

How bad is the dental staffing shortage in 2026?

Accepted Answer

It remains one of the top challenges in dentistry. According to the ADA Health Policy Institute, only about 60 percent of dentists report adequate hygiene staffing, and roughly 90 percent of those actively recruiting hygienists call it very or extremely challenging, a figure that has held steady for about three years. Staffing tied for the top concern dentists named looking ahead to 2026. New graduates are largely replacing those leaving the field rather than expanding the workforce, so the pipeline alone is not closing the gap.

Question 64

Can AI replace front desk or dental assistant staff?

Accepted Answer

No, and that is not the goal. AI handles repetitive administrative work like answering routine calls, writing clinical notes, sending intake, and running recall. It does not replace the judgment, warmth, and clinical skill of your team. The right way to think about it is a floor under the team that absorbs the repeatable load, so a smaller or stretched team can cover the work without burning out.

Every question, in one place.

Getting started

Marea Documentation

Marea Inbound

Pricing

Integrations

Marea vs alternatives

Security & data

Solo practices

Startup practices

Multi-location & DSO

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Multi-Location Dental Group Software: What Changes at 5+ Locations (2026 DSO Guide)

How AI Saves Dental Practices Time: ROI Data From 200+ Practices (2026)

Best AI Dental Scribe (2026): 8 Tools Compared by Features, Pricing & PMS Integration

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