Editorial Standards
SmileShop helps patients understand dental pricing, billing, and procedure basics. Because dental decisions affect both your health and your finances, we hold our content to publication-grade standards. Here's how.
Last updated May 12, 2026
Evidence-based sourcing
Clinical content is informed by peer-reviewed dental research from open-access journals (PubMed Central, BMC Oral Health, PLOS, Frontiers in Dental Medicine) and government health authorities (NIH/NIDCR, CDC Division of Oral Health, FDA, MedlinePlus). We do not republish copyrighted content from commercial health publishers.
Transparent pricing data
Pricing ranges on /prices and /codes pages start from publicly available fee surveys and ADA CDT references. When we accumulate at least 20 verified patient-quoted treatment plans for a given procedure, we override our baseline with that live data and label the source on the page.
Regular content review
Every reference page (articles, /prices, /codes) carries a visible "Last reviewed" date. Our editorial team re-checks each page against current literature and our pricing dataset at least every 12 months, and immediately whenever a pricing benchmark shifts by more than 10% or a clinical guideline changes.
Independence from advertisers
Dental offices can submit deals to SmileShop, but no office can pay to influence which procedures we cover, what we say about them, or how we rank deals. Verified deals are ranked by transparent signals (proximity, verification, freshness, votes) — never by commercial relationship.
Clear "not medical advice" boundary
SmileShop is not a dental practice and does not provide dental, medical, or professional advice. We help patients understand pricing, billing, and procedure basics so they can have better conversations with licensed dentists. Every clinical article carries an educational-purpose disclaimer.
Open about who writes us
Content authored by our in-house editorial team is bylined "SmileShop Editorial Team." Content authored by named dental clinicians carries their full name, credentials, and (where available) ORCID. Republished open-access content is fully attributed with the original author, publication, license, and DOI.
Where our content comes from
A full, browseable list lives on our Sources & Review Board page. Broadly, our reference content draws from three buckets:
Government health authorities
- NIDCR (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research)
- CDC Division of Oral Health
- MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine)
- FDA Dental Devices
Peer-reviewed open-access journals
- BMC Oral Health (CC-BY)
- PLOS ONE (CC-BY)
- Frontiers in Dental Medicine (CC-BY)
- PubMed Central Open Access Subset
Industry data references
- ADA CDT Code Reference (2024 edition)
- ADA Survey of Dental Fees
- BLS Consumer Price Index — Dental Services
Reporting an error
We take corrections seriously. If you find something on SmileShop that is inaccurate, outdated, or misleading — clinical content, a pricing range, a CDT code description, anything — please email editorial@smileshop.ai with the page URL and the issue. We aim to respond within 5 business days, and visible corrections are noted in the page's review history.
Are you a licensed dentist?
We're actively expanding our medical review board. Licensed dentists (DDS/DMD) and registered dental hygienists (RDH) can join as named reviewers — your name and credentials appear on the pages you review, and on our public Sources & Review Board page.
Apply to join the review board →