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How we verify

Anyone can put up a sign. We check every listing against the body that licenses dentists in that province.

Where listings come from

We start with the public registers kept by each province's dental regulator. Every dentist and hygienist in good standing lists a practice address there, and we group the people who share an address into one clinic. Then we read each clinic's own website, and the provincial dental association's directory where there is one, to learn what it offers. Clinics can also tell us directly.

Because every listing starts from the register, a clinic only appears here if at least one licensed dentist or hygienist says they practise at that address.

The licence check

Each clinic page lists the registered dentists and hygienists who practise there, with a link to the register. Each listing shows one of these:

Straighter teeth and certified orthodontists

"Straighter teeth" includes any clinic that offers braces or clear aligners. Plenty of family dentists do Invisalign. The "Certified orthodontist" label is stricter: it only appears when a dentist at that clinic is a certified orthodontic specialist on the provincial register.

Referral-only specialists

Gum specialists (periodontists), root canal specialists (endodontists) and oral surgeons mostly see patients sent by their own dentist, so we don't list them. Start with a general or family dentist and they'll refer you if you need one.

Dental hygienists

Hygiene practices are run by registered dental hygienists rather than dentists, so we check them against the hygienists' college in that province (in BC, one college covers both). Mobile practices show the area they serve, not a street address.

Individual hygienist profiles are built only for hygienists who are practising on their college's public register at a clinic or practice we list. They show only what the register shows publicly until the hygienist claims the profile. Unclaimed profiles are kept out of search engines, and any hygienist can ask us to remove theirs.

Taking new patients

This label only comes from the clinic itself. We don't guess it from websites, because clinics fill up and reopen all the time. Clinics confirm it with us, and the label comes off after 90 days unless they confirm again.

Open evenings and weekends

Worked out from each clinic's posted hours. "Evenings" means open until 6 pm or later on at least one weekday.

Dental association directories

Most provinces also have a dental association with its own public directory, where dentists describe their own practice. We use those for extras like languages spoken, wheelchair access and services, and label them as self-reported. Association listings never count toward a licence check or the "Taking new patients" label. (In Manitoba and New Brunswick, the association is also the licensing body.)

Everything else

Emergency appointments, CDCP, direct billing, sedation, kids, family, teeth whitening and Invisalign come from what the clinic says on its own website or tells us directly. Every listing shows where each label came from. For the Canadian Dental Care Plan, always confirm when you book that the clinic will bill Sun Life directly.

Provincial registers we use

How clinics are ordered

Not by payment, and not by any judgment of quality. Each list reshuffles once a day so no clinic sits at the top permanently. Tap "Sort by distance" to see the nearest clinics first. Use the filters to narrow the list down to licence-checked clinics, clinics taking new patients, and so on.

We never call any clinic "best," "top" or "#1."

Clinics can pay a flat monthly fee to appear in the "Sponsored" box above a list. That box is always labelled and kept apart from the main list. Sponsors still appear in the main list in their normal place, with a small "Sponsor" tag, and paying never changes a licence check. We never charge clinics per patient, per booking or per lead.

Something wrong?

Tell us and we'll fix it.