How dental practices and orthodontists are chosen for our lists
What decides which dental practices and orthodontists appear on our lists and in what order, and what you should still check yourself.
A practice that places implants every week is not the obvious choice for a child’s first check-up, and a busy NHS surgery may not be set up for an anxious adult who wants sedation. So each list on DentRank starts from what the reader is looking for, and the same four questions decide who is on it and in what order.
Does it really do this kind of work?
First, what the practice actually does. Dental laboratories and suppliers, whitening kiosks and beauty salons with no dentist, GP surgeries and hospital departments are left out. On every list, practices that do the treatment as a core part of their work rank above those for which it is one service among many.
The implant pages are for practices that place implants themselves, from a single tooth to a full arch. The emergency pages are for practices that see urgent cases on the same day, in the evening or at the weekend, including people who are not already their patients. The Invisalign pages cover practices offering Invisalign or a similar clear aligner treatment to adults. The orthodontist lists are for specialist orthodontists and orthodontic practices, not general dentists who simply mention aligners, and companies that sell aligners only online are not included. The NHS filter picks out practices that say they provide NHS treatment. Whether one is taking on new NHS patients is something only the practice can tell you.
A reputation built up over the years
Next comes what patients have said about each practice in public, which anyone can read and weigh up for themselves. We read it against how long the practice has been treating people, so a few warm comments in the months after a refit count for less than a long record of steady ones.
What it tells you before you walk in
We also read each practice’s own website and official channels. Does it name its dentists and give their GDC numbers? Does it say clearly which treatments are NHS and which private, publish its prices and explain its finance options, its sedation and what happens when a patient needs to be seen urgently? A practice that sets this out openly gives you something solid to compare.
Independence
The order of every list is our own editorial judgement, based on merit and reviewed from time to time. Being listed is free, and money does not change the criteria. A practice that has already been selected may choose Pro, which adds photos, its website and contact buttons to its page, or Top, which puts it in one of the first places on a list. Both are always labelled.
Worth checking before treatment
Look the dentist up on the GDC register, and if they call themselves an orthodontist or another kind of specialist, check that the specialist list says so. Ask for a written treatment plan and estimate, whether the consultation is charged, who will do the work and what happens if a filling, crown or implant fails. If you spot a mistake or an out-of-date detail on our pages, write to us from the contact page.