Changelog
Every data update, correction, and methodology change is logged here and in each clinic's own change history. The rating updates whenever the underlying public data changes.
| Date | Subject | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-07 | Methodology v1.4.1 | Added a limit on re-checks made at a clinic's request: the next request from the same clinic about its own page is taken up no sooner than one month after the last re-check made at its request, which is dated in the clinic's change history; requests sent earlier are not processed. Corrections reported by anyone else are handled as before. No score changes. |
| 2026-10-05 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-05 in 6 review orders (11 distinct reviews, dated 2017-08-03 to 2026-06-30; 4.9 from 63): suspicious review patterns false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Advance Dental Costa Rica | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: absent. |
| 2026-10-02 | Advance Dental Costa Rica | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 2 review orders (12 distinct reviews, dated 2016-07-14 to 2026-01-31; 4.8 from 51): suspicious review patterns false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Art Dental Care | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present, service pages: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 4 review orders (7 distinct reviews, dated 2023-07-25 to 2026-06-30; 4.9 from 63): recurring complaints false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Costa Rica Dental Team | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | DCW Dental Center | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | DCW Dental Center | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 3 review orders (10 distinct reviews, dated 2025-02-20 to 2026-09-11; 4.8 from 18): recurring complaints false; suspicious review patterns true. |
| 2026-10-02 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 2 review orders (6 distinct reviews, dated 2026-07-16 to 2026-09-07; 5.0 from 6): recurring complaints false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini International Dental Clinic | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini International Dental Clinic | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 3 review orders (14 distinct reviews, dated 2022-03-03 to 2026-08-31; 4.8 from 128): owner replies false; recurring complaints true; suspicious review patterns false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 3 review orders (13 distinct reviews, dated 2022-09-03 to 2026-09-20; 4.9 from 377): suspicious review patterns false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Goodness Dental | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Meza Dental Care | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | New Smile Dental Group | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | New Smile Dental Group | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 2 review orders (10 distinct reviews, dated 2015-05-13 to 2026-08-14; 4.4 from 35): suspicious review patterns false. |
| 2026-10-02 | Prisma Dental | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Star Dental Implant Center | Read the clinic's website HTML on 2026-10-02: structured data: present. |
| 2026-10-02 | Star Dental Implant Center | Read the clinic's Google listing on 2026-10-02 in 4 review orders (9 distinct reviews, dated 2026-04-29 to 2026-07-23; 5.0 from 37): recurring complaints false. |
| 2026-10-01 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Summary location corrected to the clinic's current address, the 18th floor of Torre Universal (Urbanización Colón), as given on its website and Google listing; "Sabana Sur" was an earlier address. |
| 2026-09-29 | Advance Dental Costa Rica | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-01-07). |
| 2026-09-29 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-06-30). |
| 2026-09-29 | Costa Rica Dental Team | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-08-05). |
| 2026-09-29 | DCW Dental Center | Corrected 2026-09-29: review count 18 (was 17) from the Google listing on 2026-09-26; owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-08-11). |
| 2026-09-29 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | Corrected 2026-09-29: review count 6 (was 5) from the Google listing on 2026-09-26. |
| 2026-09-29 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-09-10). |
| 2026-09-29 | Goodness Dental | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-09-18). |
| 2026-09-29 | Meza Dental Care | Corrected 2026-09-29: owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-09-14). |
| 2026-09-29 | New Smile Dental Group | Corrected 2026-09-29: review recency within 3 months (newest review dated 2026-08-14); owner replies to reviews confirmed on the Google listing (owner reply dated 2026-08-14). |
| 2026-09-25 | Goodness Dental | Aligned with the clinic's entry on costaricadentalrating.com: recorded Convenient opening hours (no), Google indexing quality (good) from sources read on 2026-08-17. |
| 2026-09-25 | Prisma Dental | Aligned with the clinic's entry on costaricadentalrating.com: recorded General anaesthesia / deep sedation (sleep dentistry) (no) from sources read on 2026-08-25. |
| 2026-09-10 | Goodness Dental | Twin parity (costarica-dental / sanjose-dental publish the same clinic): the two cards named seven different dentists between them, and the clinic's own dental-team page read 2026-09-10 names all seven. 3 dentist(s) named only on the twin card are added here with the twin's licence value, specialization and register reading. The page also names nine dentists neither card carries and does not name Peter Aborn or Laura Masís; neither is acted on by this pass. |
| 2026-09-07 | Methodology v1.4.0 | Narrowed the "Opaque or bait pricing" red flag to what its published definition describes. Until now the flag was applied automatically to every clinic that does not publish a price list — a harsher statement than the evidence supports, since the catalogue defines the flag as complaints about final bills materially exceeding quoted prices, or advertised prices that are not honoured. Not publishing prices is already scored: it costs the clinic points in the price transparency category, and it is not, on its own, evidence of bait pricing. The automatic rule is removed, so the flag and its 2-point penalty come off about 1,300 clinic pages across the index; no clinic gains a flag, and no weight, severity or other scoring rule changed. The flag can still be recorded against a clinic by hand with cited sources, and about 210 clinics carry such an entry today; we are reviewing those entries in a follow-up pass, because some of them were also written for nothing more than an unpublished price list. |
| 2026-09-03 | Methodology v1.3.1 | Clarified that the publication criteria refer to the clinic’s own channels: a service list, the names of the dentists and a price list count when the clinic itself publishes them (its website, its social profiles or its own Google Business profile) — registers, directories and review sites do not, and a time-limited promotional offer is not a price list. Added a third state for a dentist’s licence, "checked, not found in the public register": a dentist we searched for in the national register and did not find is now recorded as checked-but-unverified with the date of the check, instead of being shown either as "not checked yet" or as the "not published" red flag. Neither change alters any weight or penalty; the red-flag rule still fires only on a verified negative. Also corrected the wording of the penalty note under the ranking table, which rendered as "20−" in right-to-left dictionaries. |
| 2026-09-01 | DDS Dental Costa Rica | Re-read of the clinic's website and Google listing following the clinic's free-check request of 2026-08-26: composite-filling price ($100) found on the price-comparison page - recorded; 3D tomography / CBCT recorded from the implant page; structured data recorded (generic Organization/Place markup, no Dentist type, hours or rating); Google rating refreshed - 5.0 from 485 reviews (was 480), owner replies recorded, recency within 3 months. Opening hours not published on the site - noted. |
| 2026-08-26 | Advance Dental Costa Rica | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): all 5 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, four confirmed by matching registered specialty. |
| 2026-08-26 | Art Dental Care | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): both named doctors matched active CCDCR records. |
| 2026-08-26 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): all 4 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, two confirmed by matching registered specialty. |
| 2026-08-26 | Costa Rica Dental Team | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (Costa Rica has no clinic/establishment license register; clinic-level licensing not searched): Dr. Jessica Mora and Dr. Yelda Fernandez matched active CCDCR records by name; 'Dr. Maripaz' (no surname published) could not be disambiguated among 3 same-first-name active registrants. |
| 2026-08-26 | DCW Dental Center | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): the clinic's own team page supplied the founder's first name (Jorge), resolving an otherwise ambiguous two-candidate CCDCR match to Jorge Andres Chin Wo Astua, código 203501, Activo. |
| 2026-08-26 | DCW Dental Center | Link-rot cleanup 2026-08-26: pruning 3 dead source(s) confirmed unreachable in an external-link check (checked 2026-08-26) and re-confirmed dead by direct recheck where applicable. dcw-dental-center-sedation [https://dcwdental.com/dental-clinic-treatments/]: https://dcwdental.com/dental-clinic-treatments/ (attempt1: HTTP 500; attempt2 (+30s): HTTP 500, other->stable-dead on recheck) | s1 [https://dcwdental.com/]: https://dcwdental.com/ (attempt1: HTTP 500; attempt2 (+30s): HTTP 500, other->stable-dead on recheck) | s2 [https://dcwdental.com/our-dentists/]: https://dcwdental.com/our-dentists/ (attempt1: HTTP 500; attempt2 (+30s): HTTP 500, other->stable-dead on recheck) |
| 2026-08-26 | DDS Dental Costa Rica | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): 5 of 6 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, most confirmed by matching registered specialty; 'Dr. Enrique González' could not be disambiguated among an extremely common surname's ~200 active registrants. |
| 2026-08-26 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): both named doctors matched active CCDCR records. |
| 2026-08-26 | Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini International Dental Clinic | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): both named doctors matched active CCDCR records with exactly matching registered specialties. |
| 2026-08-26 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | License verification 2026-08-26, re-checked 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): 4 of 6 named doctors matched active CCDCR records; 'Dr. Josue Chavez' (Oral Surgery) has a probable but unconfirmed CCDCR match — JOSUE CHAVES ALFARO, código 411510, especialidad PERIODONCIA, Estado Activo, found via the 'Chaves' spelling variant the initial search missed — left null (registered specialty conflicts with the clinic's marketed profile) rather than marked false; 'Dr. Andrea González' could not be disambiguated among several same-named active registrants. |
| 2026-08-26 | Goodness Dental | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no clinic/establishment register exists for Costa Rica; clinic-level licensing not searched): all 6 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, most confirmed by matching registered specialty; Dr. Mauricio Briceño's registered specialty (health-services administration) differs from the clinic's marketing description. |
| 2026-08-26 | Meza Dental Care | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): founder Dr. Alberto Meza matched an active CCDCR record. |
| 2026-08-26 | New Smile Dental Group | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): all 6 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, most confirmed by matching registered specialty. |
| 2026-08-26 | Prisma Dental | License verification 2026-08-26 against Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica (CCDCR, the sole statutory dental registry — Costa Rica has no public clinic/establishment license register, so clinic-level licensing was not searched): all 6 named doctors matched active (Activo) CCDCR records by name, several confirmed further by matching registered specialty. |
| 2026-08-26 | Star Dental Implant Center | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): all 4 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, three confirmed by matching registered specialty. |
| 2026-08-25 | Advance Dental Costa Rica | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 4.8 (52 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_year). |
| 2026-08-25 | Art Dental Care | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; Google rating changed 4.9->5.0, review count changed 59->84; captured Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_year). |
| 2026-08-25 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website (crownsandimplants.com) live, not permanently closed; Google Maps primary listing shows a more precise location (Torre Universal, Avenida 12, Urbanización Colón) and phone +506 4010-0366, both differing from stored address/phone (recorded as corrections); captured first Google rating 4.9 (63 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | CLEO Dental (Drs. Castro) | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. FAQ explicitly states general anesthesia is offered for nervous surgical patients |
| 2026-08-25 | Costa Rica Dental Team | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 4.8 (147 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Costa Rica Dental Team | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): not documented in public sources. FAQ: cannot provide nitrous oxide/narcotics on-site; IV sedation available but surgery is referred to another facility |
| 2026-08-25 | DCW Dental Center | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 4.8 (17 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | DCW Dental Center | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): not documented in public sources. Site states implant surgery can be done under 'conscious sedation performed by an anesthesiologist' (patient stays conscious) |
| 2026-08-25 | DDS Dental Costa Rica | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 5.0 (480 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_year). |
| 2026-08-25 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 5.0 (5 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Design Dent (DesignDentCR) | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): not documented in public sources. Site mentions only 'conscious sedation' as an optional service; no general anesthesia or asleep language found |
| 2026-08-25 | Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini International Dental Clinic | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 4.8 (127 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini International Dental Clinic | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Site advertises 'Sleep Dentistry' with IV sedation administered by a certified anesthesiologist |
| 2026-08-25 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 5.0 (374 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Freer Dental Aesthetic and Implants Center | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Site explicitly lists general anesthesia with certified anesthesiologists for All-on-4/6 procedures |
| 2026-08-25 | Goodness Dental | Re-verification 2026-08-25: website returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch but loaded live in-browser (confirmed live); not permanently closed per Maps; Google rating changed 4.6->4.7, review count changed 259->492; Maps profile lists phone +1 866-218-1036 vs stored +506 4037-0040 (recorded as correction, not independently confirmed on-site due to fetch block); captured Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Goodness Dental | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Site explicitly describes general anesthesia (patient completely asleep, cannot be aroused) as an option distinct from conscious IV sedation |
| 2026-08-25 | Methodology v1.3.0 | Corrected how the two licensing red flags are applied ("Clinic operating licence not published" and "Dentists / their licences not listed"). Previously they were applied whenever licensing data was absent from our records, which treated unchecked data as a negative finding — contrary to the methodology's own rule that unverified data is a fact about our coverage, not about the clinic. Both flags now apply only where we have verified that the information is not published. Manual licensing flags that rested on unverified data were removed from the affected clinics. No other scoring rules changed; most scores rise because the incorrect penalty is removed. |
| 2026-08-25 | Meza Dental Care | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; Google rating changed 4.7->4.6, review count changed 136->168; captured Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | New Smile Dental Group | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address unchanged, not permanently closed; site and Maps both now show phone +506 4010-3333 vs stored +1 800-661-2126 (recorded as correction); Google rating changed 4.3->4.4, review count changed 30->35; captured Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (older). |
| 2026-08-25 | Prisma Dental | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; Google rating changed 4.6->4.7, review count changed 157->186; captured Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Star Dental Implant Center | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 5.0 (37 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_3_months). |
| 2026-08-25 | Star Dental Implant Center | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Site offers 'IV sedation (conscious or twilight sedation)' — twilight sedation qualifies as asleep/unaware |
| 2026-08-23 | Methodology v1.2.0 | Added an informational "Sedation & general anaesthesia" availability field to every clinic and a new "Sleep Dentistry (Sedation / GA)" list, for patients who cannot tolerate — or would rather not be awake for — treatment. This field is informational and does not change any transparency score. |
| 2026-07-08 | Methodology v1.1.0 | Added licensing transparency: clinics are now penalised when they do not publish their operating licence, or do not list their dentists together with their professional licence numbers. Each clinic page now shows a Licensing & Credentials section. |
| 2026-07-03 | Methodology v1.0.0 | Initial public methodology. |