Technical analysis of softwares used for dental practice management

Introduction: The business world has been in constant competition and information is the main tool for the decision process in order to obtain more clients, to improve the performance, the quality of services and to increase profits. Facing this reality, Information Technology (IT) has been improving technologies and making possible many advances in this area. Objective: This article aims to perform a technical analysis about softwares designed for dental practice management by assessing their available functions. Material and methods: Softwares were assessed in the period from July to October of 2011 by using the following criteria: functions, interface, security and price. Results: The software had neither all fundamental items nor all the security items assessed. 75% responded positively to at least half of the interface heuristics proposed by Nielsen. Price is around R$ 576.96 per year and 40% of the softwares have purchase rate from R$ 50.00 to R$ 100.00. Conclusion: The research and analysis found out that most of softwares show some problems about security and functions. However, they exhibited user-friendly interface and affordable prices.