Best UK AI Dental Scribe (2026): Price, VAT and the Free Tier

Dr Anuj Gupta • 13 minute read • June 2, 2026

I compared the AI scribes UK dentists ask about, and what each one actually costs. That includes the one I built.

A dental scribe used to mean a person in the surgery. Today it usually means software: a dental AI scribe that drafts AI dental notes from the appointment so you can paste a structured record into SOE, EXACT, R4, or Dentally.

I'm a dentist. I've used, tested, or closely followed every AI clinical documentation tool in this space. I also built one of them, Dentascribe, so I'll be upfront about that bias. I've tried to be fair, because I want you to find the right tool even if it isn't mine.

Summary

The short version, before the table. It is what each product actually does, and the monthly figure, including VAT where the vendor charges it.

Clickable notes

If you want a structured note you click through, Dentascribe includes unlimited clickable notes on the free plan. Kiroku's equivalent, Essential, is £35.99 a month including VAT. There is no free Kiroku plan.

Audio notes and a scribe that learns your style

Ambient notes on Dentascribe start at £29 a month, and no VAT is added. It learns your wording, your abbreviations, and how you like a discussion written, and you can import the templates you already use. DigitalTCO is £118.80 a month including VAT. It does not learn from your edits, and it is weaker when you bring your own templates.

NHS trusts

Buying for an NHS trust is a different decision from buying for a practice. Kiroku is the dental product people name when DCB0129 and secondary care matter. Heidi is already used across medical settings. Neither of those facts makes either one the default note for a GDP.

Cross-discipline

Heidi is built for doctors and GPs. If your week is mostly medical consultations, start there. If the record is a dental examination, with tooth notation, a BPE, and a treatment plan, use a scribe built for that record. That is the job Dentascribe is built for.

Feature and pricing comparison

Monthly prices below include 20% UK VAT where the vendor charges it. An asterisk means that vendor does not add VAT, so the figure is the full amount you pay. Checked in November 2026. For a way to trial a scribe before the shortlist, read how to choose a dental AI scribe.

The tools, in detail

1. Dentascribe

Full disclosure: I built this one. Read the others and make your own call.

Dentascribe is an ambient AI scribe purpose-built for UK dentists. It listens during appointments and writes structured clinical notes, and it also does clickable templates, patient letters, and template import. The free plan includes unlimited clickable notes. Paid plans start at £29/month for ambient audio notes, and £39/month adds letters. Dentascribe also has practice plans for team template sharing and consolidated billing. Dentascribe is not VAT-registered, so no VAT is added: the price on the pricing page is the full amount you pay.

Dentascribe was made to work seamlessly with your own templates. It takes seconds to import your own templates so that you stay writing clinical records and documentation in a format and style you're familiar with. It also learns how you write, what abbreviations you use, and how you like discussions written, so it gets better and better over time.

The note is a dental note: Palmer or FDI notation, a BPE when you recorded one, and the headings a UK examination actually uses. It does not write a medical SOAP note and hope you will translate it. You still read the draft before it is filed. There is no direct link into SOE, EXACT, R4, or Dentally. You copy the note in. I would rather say that plainly than imply the practice software accepts a scribe natively.

Strengths

• Unlimited clickable notes on the free plan, so you can try the workflow on a real session list before you pay
• Ambient audio notes from £29 a month, with no VAT added. Pro+ at £39 a month is where letters become unlimited. Pro includes a smaller letter allowance
• It listens during the appointment, rather than asking you to dictate the visit afterwards
• Import the templates you already use, and it learns your edits, abbreviations, and how you write a discussion
• Zero-knowledge encryption, NHS DSPT, and UK Cyber Essentials

Limitations

• No direct practice-management integration. The workflow is copy and paste into SOE, EXACT, R4, or Dentally

When to choose it: Most UK dentists who want accurate clinical notes, seamless template import, AI that learns their style, and patient letters at £29-£39/month with no VAT added, plus unlimited clickable notes free.

2. Kiroku

Kiroku was one of the first platforms to speed up clinical record writing, and it popularised the structured, clickable note. It has a loyal following, especially in hospital and secondary care, where DCB0129 compliance is part of the buying decision.

For a GDP it was built for dentists in general, not around a UK examination, Palmer or FDI notation, or the record format primary care expects. Essential is £35.99 a month including VAT. Pro, which is the unlimited voice notes and letters plan, is £119.99 a month including VAT. There is no free plan, and there is no model that learns your wording from the edits you make.

Letters at that Pro price are not the same thing as a letter drafted from the appointment you just had. People who use it for clickable notes often still want a separate way to produce a letter. Importing your own note and letter templates is difficult, and the audio notes are the less mature part of the product.

The longer write-up is the full Kiroku vs Dentascribe comparison. The clickable templates Kiroku charges for are free in Dentascribe.

Strengths

• The longest track record of the clickable-note products, established in 2017
• DCB0129 compliant, and used in secondary care where that compliance is required

Limitations

• Very difficult to import your own note and letter templates
• Audio notes are less mature than the clickable templates
• Unlimited voice notes and letters are £119.99 a month including VAT, and the letters are not a dynamic draft of the visit
• The in-product recommendations are limited, and users have reported that they are not useful
• No free plan

When to choose it: Hospital and secondary care dental teams where DCB0129 compliance is required, or practices wanting one-click note push into Dentally, Dental4Web, or Aerona. Clickable templates alone are free in Dentascribe.

3. DigitalTCO

DigitalTCO popularised AI audio notes in dentistry and was one of the first to market. If you have heard of an AI dental scribe, there is a good chance this is the name you heard. The transcription is decent, and the product does what it says it does.

The trade-off is the price and the shape of the note. At £118.80 a month including VAT it is the most expensive tool in this guide. The notes tend to be long, paraphrased blocks with extensive bullet points. DigitalTCO pads the record for completeness: options, risks, and findings that were not said, so the note looks thorough and can disagree with the appointment that actually happened. A clinical record should reflect the visit, not a more defensible visit that did not take place.

There is no learning from your edits over time, and no practice template sharing. It is weaker when you use your own templates. You can spend the time you saved trimming output that does not sound like you. It is audio only. There are no clickable notes.

Full DigitalTCO vs Dentascribe comparison.

Strengths

• A well-known name in dental AI, and one of the products that made ambient notes familiar
• An established audio-note product, built for dentistry rather than adapted from general practice

Limitations

• The most expensive tool in this guide, at £118.80 a month including VAT
• The premium people remember from the early versions is harder to justify now that other dental scribes are more accurate
• Users have reported it being frustrating since the V2 update
• Does not work as well with your own templates
• Notes are padded for completeness rather than kept accurate to the appointment, and they are verbose enough to need a heavy edit
• Audio only. No clickable notes, no free plan, and no practice template sharing

Verdict: Hard to justify for a new buyer at £118.80/month. Dentascribe covers ambient notes, dictation, letters, and consent forms for £29-£39/month, plus free clickable notes and style learning, without padding the record. The only real reason to stay on DigitalTCO is already having your daily workflow built around it.

4. Heidi

Heidi is a popular AI scribe in UK healthcare, built for doctors and GPs. The medical notes are good. Dentistry is a different record. Heidi does not natively understand Palmer notation, BPE, or a UK dental exam, so it often requires more corrections after generating your AI notes, or you need to carefully set up your templates so it can recognise dental-specific notations. Heidi dental notes are what people search for, and a Heidi alternative is what they look for once they have tried it. At £84/month including VAT (£70 plus 20% VAT) it is one of the more expensive options, the free tier is a medical trial rather than a dental plan, and the setup can include a separate microphone. Recording is not stored in the UK by default.

Heidi publishes about £70 a month before sales tax. With 20% UK VAT that is £84 a month, which is the figure in the table above. The longer write-up is the full Heidi vs Dentascribe comparison.

Strengths

• Excellent for medical and GP consultations
• A large user base across healthcare, and a polished product

Limitations

• Not designed for dental notation, a BPE, or a UK dental examination
• Weaker for dentists than the dentistry page implies, unless you correct the note afterwards or build templates that teach it the notation
• Built by an Australian technology company, not as a dental record
• Expensive beside a dental plan: £84 a month including VAT (£70 plus 20% VAT), with a separate practice tier above that
• The free tier is a medical trial. Recordings are not stored in the UK by default

When to choose it: Clinicians splitting their week between medical or GP clinics and dentistry. For a purely dental list, a dental scribe avoids the extra template work, the post-generation corrections, and the £84/month VAT-inclusive cost.

5. Chairsyde

Chairsyde's real strength is patient education. The treatment animation library is useful for case acceptance, and it is the reason many practices already pay for it. AI notes are a newer add-on, not the product.

Those audio notes are in early access and are currently free, which is a reasonable extra if you already use the animations and you want a basic draft at no further cost. There are no clickable notes, no learning from your edits, no dictation, and no practice template sharing. The draft needs more review than a scribe built around the dental record. Early-access pricing can change.

Full Chairsyde vs Dentascribe comparison.

Strengths

• A patient-education animation library that other scribes do not have
• AI notes currently free while they are in early access
• Useful when the appointment is as much about explaining treatment as writing it up

Limitations

• Notes are an add-on. They are not the core product, and they need more correction
• No clickable notes, no dictation, and no learning from your own style
• No practice template sharing
• The free early-access price may not last

When to choose it: Practices already paying for Chairsyde's patient-education animations that want a basic early-access AI note included at no extra cost.

6. Dentistry Dashboard

Dentistry Dashboard started as practice analytics, and some of those tools are genuinely useful if you want a dashboard rather than a scribe. That includes CPD tracking, associate invoicing, a staff rota, and the practice numbers. Audio notes came later.

Audio notes, letters, and custom templates are £40.99 a month including VAT. The wider toolkit, including CPD tracking, associate invoicing, a staff rota, and template sharing, is the reason a practice would buy it; practice tools go up to £99 a month. There are no clickable notes, no learning from your edits, and no dictation. In my own use it did not handle importing my templates. It is a newer product, with a smaller user base, and the note-taking is the less proven part.

Full Dentistry Dashboard vs Dentascribe comparison.

Strengths

• £40.99 a month including VAT covers audio notes, letters, and custom templates
• Dental, rather than a medical scribe
• CPD tracking, associate invoicing, a staff rota, and practice analytics, if you want those in the same product

Limitations

• No free plan, no clickable notes, no dictation, and no learning from your edits
• It did not import my own templates when I tried
• Newer, less proven, and less polished than the products that have been doing notes for longer

When to choose it: Dentists or practices specifically wanting its non-scribing tools, CPD tracking, associate invoicing, a staff rota, and practice analytics, under the same login, with basic AI notes alongside them.

7. OpenDentist

OpenDentist lists Pro at £50 a month. A yearly price is not published. The pricing page does not say whether VAT is added, so I have not marked it with an asterisk and I would not treat £50 as a confirmed VAT-inclusive figure. It listens to the appointment and can pull BPE scores from speech, which is a specific claim rather than a general promise to write notes.

I have not used it long enough to say how it treats your own templates, or whether the note stays limited to what was actually said. Clickable notes are not the workflow it presents. If those details matter to the way you write, read them on the pricing page rather than assuming parity with a product that publishes them.

The side-by-side page is the full OpenDentist vs Dentascribe comparison.

Strengths

• A dental ambient scribe, not a medical product with a dentistry page added
• BPE scores taken from speech, which is a concrete feature rather than a slogan
• A published monthly price of £50, without a second tier you have to discover on a call

Limitations

• No yearly price published, and VAT is not stated, so the amount on the invoice may not be £50
• No free plan. A trial is not the same as being able to run your session list on it
• Template import, learning your style, letters, and practice sharing are not clearly published. I have not claimed them

Verdict: A capable dental-only ambient scribe, though there is no clear reason to pay £50/month, with VAT status unstated and no free plan, when Dentascribe handles the same ambient exam and BPE workflow from £29/month with no VAT added, plus free clickable notes and style learning.

The other tools that show up in these searches

Squte

Squte Essential is £45 a month, or £39 a month billed yearly, and Squte says it is not VAT-registered, so nothing is added. Checked on its comparison of UK scribes on 21 October 2026. There is a trial and no free plan. Dentascribe covers the same dental scribing workflow for £29 a month, with no VAT added, plus a free clickable tier.

Dentally AI notes

If the practice already uses Dentally, its own AI notes sit inside the record, so there is no copy and paste. Dictated notes come with an allowance per surgery (45 on Essentials, 90 on Pro), then 20p a note, as described in October 2026. Appointment recording was still in a free rollout then, with pricing due in early 2027. It only works inside Dentally.

If you are still choosing, the notes on how to choose a dental AI scribe are the checklist I use: accuracy to the appointment, a finished dental note, and the real monthly cost. This page is the prices and the products behind that checklist.

Common questions

What is the best AI scribe for dentists?

How do I compare note-taking tools for UK dentists?

How do I speed up NHS clinical notes?

What is a dental scribe?

What is a dental AI scribe?

What are AI dental notes?

Will an AI scribe work with SOE, EXACT, R4, or Dentally?

What is ambient scribing in dentistry?