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Treatment planningDaily use3 min read

Using the Base Chart for Diagnosis

Record a patient's existing dental condition on the Base Chart without turning crowns, implants, restorations, or other findings into a new treatment plan.

Updated

The Base Chart shows the patient's current mouth when they arrive at the clinic. As soon as a new patient is saved, Medicasimple automatically opens the Base Chart so the existing condition can be recorded before any planned treatments are added.

When should you use the Base Chart?

Use the Base Chart to record what is already present in the mouth, such as a crown, implant, restoration, missing tooth, or another existing finding. This creates the patient's diagnosis view without treating previous work as a new recommendation.

1. Start the treatment plan with Base Chart

  • Save the new patient record.

  • Medicasimple automatically opens the patient's Base Chart as soon as the patient is saved.

  • Use the tooth map to record the patient's existing oral condition before adding planned treatments.

In this video, we first select the treatment list that contains the diagnosis procedures we want to use. We then start the Base Chart and record the patient's existing oral condition:

  • Tooth 17: a missing tooth.

  • Tooth 18: an existing implant.

  • Tooth 46: an existing root canal filling.

In this video, we use the Medicasimple Operations (Base Chart List). Open the sheet and make a copy for your clinic. If your clinic needs a dedicated Base Chart treatment list, see Multiple Treatment Lists to create and manage one. To switch lists without leaving the same treatment plan, see Selecting Treatment List.

2. Create the diagnosis of the existing mouth condition

  • Select the relevant tooth or teeth while Base Chart is active.

  • Choose the diagnosis that represents the patient's existing or previously completed dental work.

  • Add a clinical note when the finding needs more context.

  • Save the Base Chart diagnosis before adding planned treatments.

Teeth selected on the Base Chart are shown with a pink animated state. This makes the patient's existing oral condition visually distinct from new treatment work.

How the chart colours work

  • Base Chart — pink animated: the patient's current oral condition and previously completed dental work recorded on the Base Chart.

  • Planned — orange: treatments that have been added to the plan but are not yet completed.

  • Done — blue: treatments marked as completed.

This distinction is important: Base Chart diagnoses show the patient's current mouth, while planned and done states show the treatment workflow.

3. Continue with treatment planning

Once the Base Chart diagnosis is complete, add the treatments you are proposing. Newly planned items appear in orange. When a treatment is completed and marked Done, it appears in blue. The Treatment Tracking workflow uses these clear status differences so waiting, completed, and diagnosis-only items can be read without searching through clinical notes.