๐จ Important - This article is only relevant to sites using the new notes experience currently rolling out across sites.
Clinical notes must now be manually locked by the clinician. No more 24hr locking mechanism. This ensures that:
The note has been reviewed for accuracy
The content reflects the treatment provided
The final record is confirmed by the responsible clinician
With advanced AI tools now supporting everyday clinical workflows inside Dentally, itโs essential that clinicians actively review and approve notes before they become part of the official patient record.
This manual locking workflow provides:
Greater transparency when amendments are added later
A clear confirmation step
Strong clinical governance
Selecting 'Lock' confirms that the note is complete and ready to be saved as a final clinical record.
๐ Please note - Only Level 2 practitioners and above can sign, lock and amend notes.
How to sign and lock a note
Once you are happy with your clinical note:
Review the content carefully
Select 'Lock' at the top of the clinical note sidebar
Confirm 'Sign and lock' action.
When signed:
The note is locked
It becomes part of the official patient record
It is time and date-stamped
It is attributed to the signed-in clinician
Amends can be added at any time using 'Add amendment'
What happens if I donโt lock the note?
If you finish treatment but do not lock the note:
The note remains in draft
It does not automatically lock
It is not considered finalised
You can return to the note later from your clinical notes sidebar and sign it.
You can access the draft note:
From the patientโs record using the 'View note' button or opening the sidebar
From the your task list inside Dentally, filter to view 'uncompleted notes'
How editing works after signing and locking a note
Once a note has been locked, the original content cannot be edited directly. However as mentioned above you can add an amendment to the note.
Amendments are:
Appended to the original note
Time and date-stamped
Clearly recorded as note changes
Marked as created by the dentist logged in.
This makes corrections cleaner, more transparent, and easier to manage, whilst removing the 24 hour locking system.