Case study · Dental
Highland Village Smile Studio Modernized Dentrix and Dexis on New Intel NUC Workstations
Dentrix and Dexis were not the bottleneck. Six Apple PCs running Windows through Boot Camp were. The practice needed hardware that could keep up with the day — and with Windows 11 — without taking chairs offline.
When Dr. Nicole Richardson and the team at Highland Village Smile Studio started waiting on charts, imaging, and the front desk, technology was costing chair time.
323 Technologies replaced all six workstations — four operatories and two front desk systems — with Intel NUC business-class PCs configured for Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10. The office stayed closed for the cutover. Staff returned to machines that were already in production.
At a Glance
- Practice
- Highland Village Smile Studio · Highland Village, Texas
- Workstations
- Six replaced (four operatories, two front desk)
- Platform
- Intel NUC · Core i7 · 32GB RAM · Windows 11-ready
- Clinical software
- Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10
- Cutover
- Two days while the office was closed
Executive Summary
Highland Village Smile Studio is a dental practice in Highland Village, Texas. Daily work depends on Dentrix 27, Dexis 10, scheduling, and imaging at every chair.
The office was still running six Apple computers more than five years old, with Microsoft Windows installed through Boot Camp. The machines had been adequate. They were no longer a platform for current dental software, and they could not move to Windows 11.
323 Technologies treated that as a hardware and cutover problem, not a software replacement. The work was a full workstation refresh while the practice was closed.
The project included:
- Six workstation replacements
- Four operatory systems and two front desk systems
- Intel Core i7 NUCs with 32GB RAM
- Windows 11-ready hardware
- Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10 validation
- User profile migration and production testing
- A two-day deployment with the office closed
Staff came back to six live workstations. There was no patient impact and no clinical downtime.
The Assessment
The software was not the primary limit. Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10 were asking more of the PCs than five-year-old Apple hardware running Windows through Boot Camp could give them.
Each year the same stack felt slower. Charts lagged. Imaging waited. The front desk felt it on a full schedule.
The existing workstations also could not support Windows 11. Staying on Windows 10 past Microsoft’s end of support would have left the practice with a security and support problem it did not need.
Leadership had a choice: keep absorbing the delay, or put Windows-based dental applications on hardware built for them. They chose to modernize before the deadline, not after a failure.
The Challenge
Every workstation in a dental office has to keep up for the whole day — scheduling, digital imaging, charting, and treatment planning. When it does not, the delay shows up in the chair.
Highland Village Smile Studio was seeing that delay on all six systems.
- Slow Dentrix performance
- Delayed chart access
- General workstation sluggishness
- Aging hardware approaching end of life
- No path to Windows 11
- Windows 10 approaching end of support
Four operatories and two front desk stations used the same aging Boot Camp setup. Dentrix and Dexis were core to the business. The PCs underneath them were not.
What Success Needed to Look Like
No disruption to patient care
The refresh had to happen while the office was closed. Staff should return to working systems, not a project still in progress.
Hardware that matches the software
Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10 needed Windows workstations — not Apple hardware pretending to be a Windows PC through Boot Camp.
Windows 11 readiness
The new PCs had to be a platform the practice could stay on after Windows 10 support ended.
A supportable standard
Six matched business-class systems are easier to maintain than six one-off Boot Camp machines.
How 323 Technologies Replaced the Workstations
The objective was a fast, stable, supportable platform for a busy dental day — without the limits of older Boot Camp systems.
A complete workstation refresh
Every PC in the office was in scope. Four clinical treatment rooms and two administrative and scheduling stations.
Each system was replaced with an Intel NUC business-class workstation: Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, and Windows 11-ready hardware, configured for Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10.
Cutover while the office was closed
Patient care should not wait on a technology project. The entire deployment ran after hours, over two days.
- Hardware installation
- User profile migration
- Application configuration
- Dentrix validation
- Dexis validation
- Workstation testing
- Production readiness verification
When the team returned, every workstation was already in production.
Results
The cutover finished in two days. The practice did not lose a clinical day.
Faster Dentrix performance
Staff stopped waiting on aging hardware and Boot Camp during scheduling, charting, and patient management.
Improved chart access
Patient information opened without the lag that had become part of the day.
A better Dexis platform
Imaging ran on hardware that can take current workflows and later software updates.
Windows 11 readiness
The practice is no longer blocked from Microsoft’s current desktop OS by five-year-old Apple PCs.
Lower technology risk
Replacing the machines before Windows 10 end of support reduced a known security, compatibility, and support problem.
- Zero patient impact
- Zero clinical downtime
- Zero disruption to office operations
Key Project Outcomes
- Six Intel NUC workstations deployed
- Four operatories and two front desk systems
- Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10 validated on the new PCs
- Two-day after-hours cutover
- No patient impact and no clinical downtime
- Windows 11-ready standard across the office
Why This Project Matters
Software is not always the bottleneck
Dentrix and Dexis will feel slow on hardware that cannot run them. Replacing the PCs is often the real fix.
Small delays add up
Charts that load slowly, imaging that waits, applications that take too long to open — across every patient and every employee, that is lost production.
Windows 10 end of support is a calendar, not a surprise
Hardware that cannot move to Windows 11 turns a Microsoft deadline into a practice risk. This office moved before that date, not after an outage.
Dental projects can wait until the office is closed
A workstation refresh does not have to steal a hygiene day if the cutover is planned as a closed-office job.
Technology should help a dental practice move through the day, not slow it down.
Highland Village Smile Studio now runs Dentrix 27 and Dexis 10 on Intel NUC workstations built for that software — a standard the staff can work on and 323 Technologies can support.
If Dentrix is crawling, Dexis is waiting, or the PCs cannot move to Windows 11, dental IT support is the practice version of this work. Schedule a consultation.
Next step
Schedule a consultation
If Dentrix is waiting on aging PCs, or the office cannot move to Windows 11, we’ll tell you what a closed-office refresh looks like.
Next step
Talk about Dentrix, Dexis, or a workstation refresh.
If the chairs are waiting on aging PCs, or Windows 10 is still on hardware that cannot move, 323 Technologies will look at the practice you actually run.
Or call (817) 477-6111