How Dentist Guide chooses dentists and specialists

We start with what an office actually does

Looking for a dentist in the United States mixes up three different questions. Who treats most people for checkups and fillings? Who takes the harder jobs, such as wisdom teeth, gum surgery or a root canal on a back tooth? And who is simply advertising the loudest? Our lists keep those apart. There is a list for general and family dentists, which also carries pages for implants, emergencies, cosmetic work, clear aligners and dentures, and separate lists for pediatric dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists and endodontists.

A practice goes on a list because of what it really does, as far as we can tell from its own pages and its public profile. A name that says "implant center" does not settle it. We read what the office offers and put it where it belongs.

Then we ask what the public record shows

Reputation we can check comes next: how long people have been reviewing the practice, how they describe it and how consistent that is across the places where patients write. We are cautious with scores. A practice with a few glowing comments is not ahead of one with years of steady feedback. We do not publish formulas, because a formula is the first thing a marketing agency would build around.

The record that matters most for a dentist is the license. We do not decide who is licensed, and neither can an advertisement. Our license guide sends you to each state's dental board, which is the only source that can say whether a dentist may practice.

Then we read what the practice says about itself

Last, we look at the practice's own website and channels: services, hours, prices when shown, languages, how to book and whether the claims fit what the rest of the picture says. Offices that explain their fees clearly help patients, and the prices we collected come from exactly those pages. The three ideas together set the order of each list. None of them is a score on its own.

What a place on the list costs, and what it does not

Being on a list is free. Practices cannot buy their way onto one, and only a practice that is already listed can pay for more. Pro is a fuller profile with the practice's own photos, contact details and descriptions, and it does not raise the position. Top reserves a spot among the first three positions, and the page labels it as Top. Payment never decides whether a practice is listed, and it never touches what we write about the others.

Who we leave out

We leave out dental laboratories and suppliers, the teaching clinics of dental schools, medical clinics and urgent care, pharmacies, hospitals, spas and whitening kiosks. Large dental groups and office chains stay in, marked as chains, because patients should know what they are choosing. Our list titles never call anyone a "specialist". That word belongs to the state boards and to the twelve specialties recognized by the dental profession, which we explain in the license guide.

When we get it wrong

A phone number changes, an office moves, a dentist retires. If you see a mistake, use the contact link in the footer and tell us what you saw and where. Owners can claim a listing for free and correct their own details. Corrections to facts are made as soon as we can check them, and a listing is never removed or moved up because of a message from the practice.

Dentist Guide editorial team