Importing Patient Data
Moving to a new practice management system does not mean starting from scratch. MyDentalPractice supports bulk import of patient records via CSV files, making migration straightforward.
Preparing Your Data
Before importing, ensure your data is clean and formatted correctly.
Required Columns
| Column | Description | Example |
|---|
| first_name | Patient first name | Adaeze |
| last_name | Patient last name | Okafor |
| phone | Phone number with country code | +2348012345678 |
| email | Email address (optional) | adaeze@email.com |
| date_of_birth | Date in YYYY-MM-DD format | 1990-05-15 |
| gender | Male, Female, or Other | Female |
Optional Columns
address — Patient home addressblood_group — A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, O-allergies — Comma-separated list of known allergiesnotes — General notes about the patientlast_visit_date — Date of most recent visit (YYYY-MM-DD)Step-by-Step Import Process
Navigate to Patients → Import from the sidebarClick Download Template to get a pre-formatted CSV fileFill in your patient data using the template columnsSave the file as CSV (UTF-8 encoding recommended)Click Choose File and select your CSVThe system will preview the first 10 rows — verify the data looks correctClick Import Patients to begin the importHandling Duplicates
During import, MyDentalPractice checks for duplicates by matching:
Phone number (primary match)Email address (secondary match)Full name + date of birth (tertiary match)If a duplicate is detected, you will be prompted to:
Skip — Do not import the duplicate rowMerge — Update the existing record with new dataCreate New — Import as a separate patient recordImport Limits
| Plan | Max Records Per Import |
|---|
| Starter | 500 |
| Professional | 5,000 |
| Enterprise | Unlimited |
Troubleshooting Common Issues
"Invalid date format" — Ensure dates use YYYY-MM-DD format, not DD/MM/YYYY"Phone number invalid" — Include the country code (+234 for Nigeria)"File too large" — Split your CSV into smaller batches if it exceeds the plan limit"Encoding error" — Save your CSV with UTF-8 encoding to handle special charactersAfter Import
Once the import completes, verify your data:
Go to Patients → All Patients and check the total countOpen a few patient records to confirm details imported correctlyUse Patient Search to find specific recordsFor manual entry of individual patients, see our Adding Patients guide.