Weave vs Modento for Dental Offices: Which Fits in 2027

The category decision comes first

Weave and Modento both sell patient communication software to dental offices, but they start from different places. A patient communication platform sends and receives texts, reminders and forms for a practice, and it works best when it syncs with the practice management system (PMS) that holds the schedule. Weave sells phone lines and texting as one bundle. Modento sells an engagement suite for reminders, forms, recalls and treatment presentation.

Modento is no longer a standalone company, and that changes the comparison. Modento acquired by Dental Intelligence: March 2021 according to Dental Products Report (2021). Mercom Capital tracked the same deal and recorded that financial terms were not disclosed, according to Mercom Capital (2021).

The product pages we opened now sell the engagement suite as Dental Intelligence's Engagement group. We did not find a product page that sells under the Modento name, although Modento still appears in at least one login address for engagement customers. When this article says "Modento," it means that Engagement product.

TL;DR: Pick Weave if you want phone lines, texting and a documented Dentrix connection from one vendor. Pick Dental Intelligence's Engagement group if you are keeping your current phone system and want treatment-plan follow-up alongside its reminders and forms. Neither vendor publishes a full price list, so get written quotes before you compare totals.

Key Takeaways

• Weave has the clearer public record for phones, texting and a named practice-software integration.

• Dental Intelligence's Engagement group, the former Modento product, lists recalls, treatment plans, forms and payments on its public pages.

• Neither vendor publishes tier-level prices on the pages we opened, so any budget comparison depends on written quotes.

• Confirm your own PMS before you shortlist, because the public integration evidence names Dentrix for Weave and does not tie any systems to the Dental Intelligence Bundle's sync.

• Texting rules shape the setup as much as features do, especially the opt-out wording and how fast opt-outs are honored.

• An FCC consent order released in October 2026 changes how opt-outs can be designated, but its effective date is still pending.

Who this is for

Weave fits an owner or office manager who wants one vendor for the phone line, texting and reminders, and whose practice software is Dentrix. The public integration evidence is specific to Dentrix, so an intake call can confirm scope quickly.

Dental Intelligence's Engagement group fits an office that is keeping a phone setup it already trusts, or one that wants treatment-plan follow-up in the same product as its reminders, forms and payments. Weave also sells forms and payments, so compare those like for like.

Red flags for Weave: you need tier pricing in writing before a budget meeting, or your practice software is not Dentrix, so ask Weave to confirm your system in writing.

Red flags for Dental Intelligence: you need a published price for planning, you expect a phone line that the vendor has not confirmed in writing, or your practice software is not on a supported list the vendor will show you.

How we evaluated these tools

We weighted six criteria by how much each one changes the decision for a small practice. Phone and texting scope and the practice-software connection carry the most weight, at 20% each, because they decide whether you replace a system or add to one. Engagement workflows also carry 20%, since reminders, recalls, forms and payments are the tasks front-desk staff repeat every day. Pricing transparency and texting compliance carry 15% each, because they decide how fast you can budget and how much legal risk you take on. Implementation evidence carries 10%, because the public record on onboarding is thin for both vendors and cannot move the result much.

We did not assign numeric scores to either vendor. The public record is not comparable enough to support a score, so the feature matrix below marks what each vendor publishes instead.

Vendor facts from public pages

These are the facts each vendor publishes. Our analysis follows in the sections after this one.

Weave lists three tiers, Pro, Elite and Ultimate, and asks buyers to request each tier's price. The Ultimate tier description includes up to 15 phones, one-on-one training and premium analytics. Dental-only features named on the page are Practice Analytics and Insurance Verification. Every plan includes onboarding and customer support. The page does not list contract length, setup fees or hardware costs.

Dental Intelligence's product descriptions page lists the Engagement group's features: Online Scheduling, Appointment Reminders and Confirmations, Automated Recalls, 2-Way Communication, Digital Forms & Consents, Kiosk & Virtual Check-In, LiveOps, Email Campaigns, Online Reviews, Team Chat, Screen Pops, Voicemail Drops, Patient Loyalty Program and a mobile app. The Engagement page we opened also lists Treatment Plans and Patient Chat.

Its AI Receptionist answers inbound patient calls, schedules appointments, requests payment on balances and documents transcripts, and it requires the Bundle or Engagement. AI Receptionist phone minutes: 1,000 included according to Dental Intelligence (checked 2026). Payment processing, point-of-sale terminal functions and SMS payment requests also require Engagement or the Bundle. The Bundle combines Analytics and Engagement with data sync to a supported PMS. The Bundle description does not say which systems it supports, though a separate PMS Integrations section lists Eaglesoft, Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Denticon, Fuse, Open Dental and Open Dental Clinics, and the page shows no plan prices, per-location fees, contract terms or setup fees.

Feature matrix and gaps

The matrix shows what each vendor's public pages say. "Not listed" means the pages we opened do not mention the capability, which is different from the vendor lacking it. Confirm every row in writing before you sign.

The matrix shows a split. Weave's public pages are strongest on phones and on a named Dentrix connection. Dental Intelligence's pages list the longer set of engagement workflows, including recalls and treatment plans, while Weave's dental page also lists forms and payments. A practice that wants both a phone line and the full engagement set will not find that covered in either vendor's public record, so the contract scope matters more than the feature list.

Pricing and total cost

Pricing checked October 25, 2026.

Weave's pricing page lists a starting price of $199 per month, bulk-text allowances of 1,500, 3,000 and 15,000 messages a month, and up to 15 phones on its top tier, according to Weave (2026). The starting price is not tied to any tier, and each tier shows "Get Pricing" rather than a number.

The starting price is a floor, not a budget. At $199 a month, twelve months comes to $2,388 before any setup fee, add-on or phone hardware, and the page publishes none of those. Ask each vendor for a 12-month and a 24-month total that includes setup, phone lines, any message overage charges and any integration fee.

Practice-software connection

Weave is an authorized integration vendor in the Henry Schein One API Exchange, which covers Dentrix and Dentrix Ascend. Weave integration announced: August 26, 2025 according to Weave Investor Relations (2025). The announcement lists save-the-date and appointment reminders sent after booking, a patient profile with call pop during phone calls, schedule sync filtered by confirmed or unconfirmed status, and automated review texts. It names no limits, prerequisites, supported software versions or pricing.

The only practice system named in that announcement is Dentrix. Weave's dental page says it integrates with leading dental PMS software and links to an integrations list, but the pages we opened did not name systems beyond Dentrix, so ask Weave to confirm yours in writing. We also did not find public API documentation for either vendor. Dental Intelligence's product descriptions say its Bundle syncs data with a supported PMS, but they do not say which systems the Bundle supports, even though a separate PMS Integrations section names several, including Dentrix and Open Dental. Before you sign, request three things in writing: the named integration list, whether sync runs one way or both ways, and who pays for any practice-software API access.

Texting rules that apply to both

Healthcare texts have a specific exemption. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(9)(iv), calls and texts made for healthcare purposes can skip prior consent when they are appointment and exam confirmations and reminders, among other listed purposes, according to Cornell Law School LII (checked 2026). The message must state the provider's name and contact information, contain no telemarketing, solicitation or advertising, offer an easy opt-out inside each message, and honor opt-out requests immediately. The rule also requires that messages go only to the number the patient provided, cost the recipient nothing, carry no billing, accounting or debt-collection content, stay at 160 characters or less, number no more than one per day and three per week from a provider, and comply with HIPAA privacy rules. Balance and text-to-pay messages, which both vendors sell, fall outside the exemption. Keep review requests and promotions out of reminder messages, because the exempt message cannot carry advertising or solicitation.

FCC consent order released: October 1, 2026 according to Manatt (2026). The order replaces the earlier "revoke all" approach in part. Callers can limit an opt-out to a category of informational robocalls, and they can designate one exclusive revocation method from three approved options: an interactive voice opt-out on calls, standardized reply words such as "stop" and "unsubscribe" on texts, or a designated website or phone number. The order takes effect 30 days after Federal Register publication, and Manatt's October 5, 2026 alert said that publication had not yet happened. Ask each vendor which method it will designate and how quickly it processes a STOP reply. This is an operations question for your counsel, not legal advice.

Worked example: allowance math

Take a single-location office that sends 1,200 outbound texts a month for reminders and recalls. That sits inside the smallest 1,500-message allowance on Weave's pricing page and leaves 300 messages unused, or 80% of the allowance used (1,200 ÷ 1,500). Add a 400-text review campaign and the monthly total becomes 1,600, which is 100 messages over the allowance and 107% of it, so the office would need the next allowance up or a smaller campaign. Trim the campaign to 300 messages and the total lands at exactly 1,500. The allowance is only a plan limit: the exemption's per-patient limits of one text a day and three a week from a provider apply whatever the plan's allowance. A team building the same flow on Twilio would track each send through the status and error_code fields on the Message resource, which Twilio documents with 13 possible status values, according to Twilio (checked 2026). That means the dashboard has to map those values before anyone trusts a send count.

Where a workflow layer fits

A proposed, configurable design for this office would treat the practice software as the source of truth. Trigger: a new or moved appointment appears in a PMS export or API feed. Action: a reminder text goes out from an approved template that names the provider and carries a visible opt-out line. Output: a send log with timestamps and delivery status, plus a daily exceptions list of failed sends and STOP replies. Prerequisites: a PMS export or API access, a messaging provider that honors the opt-out words you configure, and a consent record for each number. Human review: a staff member clears the exceptions list, and any reply about a balance, insurance or a clinical question goes to a person.

US Tech Automations would configure a recall version of the same design, labeled as a proposal until a pilot is scoped. Trigger: a recall due date in the PMS feed. Action: a text invites the patient to book, using the same opt-out line. Output: a rebooking request in a staff queue, with the outcome written back to the log. Human review: any reply that mentions cost, cancellation or a complaint goes to a person, and the workflow does not answer billing questions on its own.

The do-it-yourself route stitches Zapier, Make or n8n to the PMS and a texting provider. Those tools can keep run histories, retries, error branches and audit evidence when someone configures them, so they are a fair option for a practice with a technical owner. The buyer still designs and owns observability, idempotency so a retry never sends a second reminder, escalation, access controls and maintenance when the PMS changes. A vendor suite removes some of that stitching, but the practice still has to check its sync and send records.

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: If you only need the phone line answered and a standard reminder sequence, a bundled vendor feature is simpler and has fewer moving parts. If your practice software cannot export or expose appointments, a workflow layer has nothing reliable to trigger from. If no staff member will clear the exceptions list, the design would send messages without the human review it depends on, so skip it.

Glossary

• Two-way texting: Patient replies arrive in the same thread as staff messages.

• Bulk text allowance: The monthly message count a plan includes.

• PMS (practice management system): The software that holds the schedule, charts and billing, such as Dentrix.

• Call pop: A screen that shows patient details when a call comes in.

• Recall: An automated invitation to book a routine visit that is coming due.

• Consent revocation: A patient's withdrawal of permission to receive messages, which senders must honor under federal rules.

Decision checklist

1. Name your PMS and ask each vendor to confirm the integration in writing.

2. Decide whether you are replacing your phone system or keeping it.

3. Ask for tier-level prices, setup fees, contract length and any overage charges.

4. Count your monthly outbound texts across reminders, recalls and reviews, then compare that count with each allowance.

5. Ask how each vendor processes STOP replies and which revocation method it designates.

6. Assign a named staff member to review exceptions and patient replies each day.

Frequently asked questions

Is Modento still sold as its own product?

No standalone Modento product appears on the pages we opened, because Dental Intelligence acquired Modento in March 2021 and now sells the engagement functions as its Engagement group.

Does Weave publish its prices?

Only partly: Weave publishes a starting price and lists three tiers, but each tier shows "Get Pricing" instead of a number.

Does Weave connect to Dentrix?

Yes, Weave's August 2025 announcement says it is an authorized integration vendor for Dentrix and Dentrix Ascend through Henry Schein One's API Exchange. The announcement names no limits or prerequisites, so confirm the scope with Weave in writing.

Do I need patient consent to send appointment reminders?

Often not, if the message is an appointment reminder that meets all of the healthcare exemption's conditions, including naming the provider, offering an opt-out in each message, carrying no advertising or billing content, and staying within one text a day and three a week from a provider. Balance and text-to-pay messages fall outside the exemption. Confirm the specifics with your counsel before you rely on the exemption.

Do I need a workflow layer on top of either vendor?

Usually not for one office with a simple reminder flow. Add one only when you need a custom trigger from your PMS data and a staff review queue for exceptions.

Bottom line

For a practice that wants phone lines, texting and a documented Dentrix connection from one vendor, Weave has the clearer public record, but its tier prices must come in writing. For a practice that is keeping its phone system and wants treatment plans alongside forms and payments, Dental Intelligence's Engagement group lists those on its public pages; its pricing is quote-based. Whichever you pick, verify your PMS, your opt-out process and the twelve-month total before you sign. To see how a proposed design would be scoped for your office, see how US Tech Automations configures this.