A method and a system for operating a dental operating chair connected to a computer, comprising operating elements and/or state indicators arranged on the dental operating chair, an interface via which the information is transmitted from the dental operating chair to the computer, in the form of function codes, by the operating elements and/or state indicators, and a memory region on the computer, in which at least one action associated with a function code is stored. To adapt the operating elements or the operating surface, software for managing the function codes is provided on the computer, by which the action associated with the function codes and stored in a configuration file is initiated. The allocation of the function codes of the operating elements and/or the state indicators of the dental operating chair to the PC actions can be configured by changing the configuration file.