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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-07 | Enamel Clinic | Reputation block measured live on 2026-09-07, which opened this clinic’s Google Maps place page in a real browser. The manual browser check could not reach these ten cards: they enter the country directory southafrica-dental as twins of this city site, carry no entry in data/research/*.json, and import-research.js therefore left them untouched, so their respondsToReviews, recurringComplaints and suspiciousReviewPatterns had never been assessed at all. Written now: googleRating 4.9 → 4.9; googleReviewCount 460 → 461 (histogram 452/3/0/0/6 = 461, weighted mean 4.941); reviewRecency within_3_months (unchanged, re-proved); respondsToReviews null → true; recurringComplaints null → false; suspiciousReviewPatterns null → false. The histogram sums to the place-page header count exactly and its weighted mean reproduces the published rating to one decimal. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. The country twin on southafrica-dental was re-synchronised from this card in the same step; the two copies are identical except for the twin’s city key. |
| 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we are reviewing those entries in a follow-up pass, because some of them were also written for nothing more than an unpublished price list. |
| 2026-09-07 | OptiSmile Advanced Dentistry and Implant Centre | Reputation block measured live on 2026-09-07, which opened this clinic’s Google Maps place page in a real browser. The manual browser check could not reach these ten cards: they enter the country directory southafrica-dental as twins of this city site, carry no entry in data/research/*.json, and import-research.js therefore left them untouched, so their respondsToReviews, recurringComplaints and suspiciousReviewPatterns had never been assessed at all. Written now: googleRating 4.9 → 4.9; googleReviewCount 492 → 493 (histogram 481/4/1/1/6 = 493, weighted mean 4.933); reviewRecency within_3_months (unchanged, re-proved); respondsToReviews null → true; recurringComplaints null → false; suspiciousReviewPatterns null → false. The histogram sums to the place-page header count exactly and its weighted mean reproduces the published rating to one decimal. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. The country twin on southafrica-dental was re-synchronised from this card in the same step; the two copies are identical except for the twin’s city key. |
| 2026-09-07 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Reputation block measured live on 2026-09-07, which opened this clinic’s Google Maps place page in a real browser. The manual browser check could not reach these ten cards: they enter the country directory southafrica-dental as twins of this city site, carry no entry in data/research/*.json, and import-research.js therefore left them untouched, so their respondsToReviews, recurringComplaints and suspiciousReviewPatterns had never been assessed at all. Written now: googleRating 4.9 → 4.9; googleReviewCount 373 → 382 (histogram 362/5/4/2/9 = 382, weighted mean 4.856); reviewRecency within_3_months (unchanged, re-proved); respondsToReviews null → true; recurringComplaints null → false; suspiciousReviewPatterns null → false. The histogram sums to the place-page header count exactly and its weighted mean reproduces the published rating to one decimal. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. The country twin on southafrica-dental was re-synchronised from this card in the same step; the two copies are identical except for the twin’s city key. |
| 2026-09-07 | Smith and Van Lierop Dentistry | Reputation block measured live on 2026-09-07, which opened this clinic’s Google Maps place page in a real browser. The manual browser check could not reach these ten cards: they enter the country directory southafrica-dental as twins of this city site, carry no entry in data/research/*.json, and import-research.js therefore left them untouched, so their respondsToReviews, recurringComplaints and suspiciousReviewPatterns had never been assessed at all. Written now: googleRating 4.9 → 4.9; googleReviewCount 413 → 416 (histogram 396/9/2/3/6 = 416, weighted mean 4.889); reviewRecency within_3_months (unchanged, re-proved); respondsToReviews null → true; recurringComplaints null → false; suspiciousReviewPatterns null → false. The histogram sums to the place-page header count exactly and its weighted mean reproduces the published rating to one decimal. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. The country twin on southafrica-dental was re-synchronised from this card in the same step; the two copies are identical except for the twin’s city key. |
| 2026-09-07 | The Cosmetic & Dental Emporium (V&A Waterfront) | Reputation block measured live on 2026-09-07, which opened this clinic’s Google Maps place page in a real browser. The manual browser check could not reach these ten cards: they enter the country directory southafrica-dental as twins of this city site, carry no entry in data/research/*.json, and import-research.js therefore left them untouched, so their respondsToReviews, recurringComplaints and suspiciousReviewPatterns had never been assessed at all. Written now: googleRating 4.9 → 4.9; googleReviewCount 418 → 416 (histogram 405/2/0/3/6 = 416, weighted mean 4.916); reviewRecency within_3_months (unchanged, re-proved); respondsToReviews null → true; recurringComplaints null → false; suspiciousReviewPatterns null → false. The histogram sums to the place-page header count exactly and its weighted mean reproduces the published rating to one decimal. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. The country twin on southafrica-dental was re-synchronised from this card in the same step; the two copies are identical except for the twin’s city key. |
| 2026-09-06 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Owner decision: reputation.recurringComplaints has been set from true to null. Its only support was source s2, a WhatClinic aggregator listing, carrying no note and no quoted complaint; the clinic's own Google review base (4.9 from 373, most recent review one month old) was never read for a repeating theme. It was the only recurringComplaints: true in the country, and rules treat an aggregator listing as an unfit basis for a negative claim about a named clinic. The field now reads "not assessed" rather than "complaints found"; the Google rating, review count and recency are unchanged. |
| 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. |
| 2026-08-26 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Link-rot cleanup 2026-08-26: pruning 1 dead source(s) confirmed unreachable in the fleet external-link sweep (checked 2026-08-26) and re-confirmed dead by direct recheck where applicable. s1 [https://paradisedental.co.za/emergency-dentist-cape-town/]: https://paradisedental.co.za/emergency-dentist-cape-town/ (HTTP 404, rotten) |
| 2026-08-26 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Link-rot cleanup round 2 (2026-08-26): s1's stored path (/emergency-dentist-cape-town/) still 404s; the domain root (https://paradisedental.co.za/) is live and re-confirmed to support the same facts (services, contacts, address, 24/7 emergency, no published prices), so all s1-only criteria were re-cited against the root. recurringComplaints was re-cited to s2 (WhatClinic, which explicitly documents 'billing complaints' — a better match than s1 ever was) instead. s1 is no longer cited by any criterion but remains referenced inside licensing.doctors (union-only, not removable via this importer), so it is not pruned this round. |
| 2026-08-25 | Blouberg Dental Clinic | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.6 (44 reviews). Note: Google lists the suburb as 'Table View' rather than 'Bloubergstrand' for the same street address - not treated as a correction. |
| 2026-08-25 | Cape Dentists | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.2 (15 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | Cape Dentists | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: could not confirm a specific match for 'Dr Ahmad' - the clinic site publishes only the surname, which is common enough among registered dentists that no single match can be confidently attributed without a first name. |
| 2026-08-25 | Cape Town Dental Studio (Dr Beilinsohn) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (813 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | Cape Town Dental Studio (Dr Beilinsohn) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Barry Beilinsohn (DP 0049395), with a Sea Point 8001 address matching the practice. |
| 2026-08-25 | Claremont Dental Studio | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.2 (88 reviews). Sedation research: site explicitly describes General Anaesthesia as hospital-setting treatment where the patient doesn't see or feel it. |
| 2026-08-25 | Claremont Dental Studio | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Site explicitly describes General Anaesthesia as 'treatment in a hospital setting where a patient doesn't see or feel the treatment'. |
| 2026-08-25 | Claremont Dental Studio | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registrations for all 3 listed dentists (Ahmad DP0078115, Sedick DP0110736, Bruintjies DP0123609). |
| 2026-08-25 | DentalWize (Durbanville) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, phone unchanged, open status; resolved the previously vague 'Durbanville, Cape Town; multiple branches' address to the Durbanville branch's street address, 40 Wellington Rd, Durbanville, 7550, via Google Maps. Captured first Google rating 4.1 (229 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | DentalWize (Durbanville) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registrations for Dr Wilkinson (Caroline Wilkinson, DP 0101419 - the only Wilkinson on the dentist register) and Dr Safodien (Tamiya Safodien, DP 0126624 - the only Safodien on the register, listed under title 'Miss'); Dr Loraine Louw not confidently isolated among 46 'Louw' dentist registrations. |
| 2026-08-25 | Dr David Huson (Dr Francois Hofmeyr & Associates) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: MOVED - practice's own website (drdavidhuson.com) and its Google Maps listing ('Dr David Huson Biomimetic Restorative Dentistry') now both show 3rd Floor, De Waterkant Centre, 9 Somerset Rd, De Waterkant (the same building as Enamel Clinic), replacing the stored 36 Maynard Road, Wynberg address. The Google listing's phone is +27 21 418 2048 (shared with Enamel Clinic's reception), though the website's body text still shows the old stored number 021 761 2511 on at least one page - flagging this phone discrepancy for follow-up. Captured first Google rating 5.0 (144 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | Dr David Huson (Dr Francois Hofmeyr & Associates) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr David Huson (David Jonathan Huson, DP 0102113, Cape Town 7708). |
| 2026-08-25 | Enamel Clinic | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (460 reviews) - previously unset. |
| 2026-08-25 | Enamel Clinic | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registrations for all 5 listed dentists (Bowes DP0035971, Gluckman DP0053910, Engelbrecht DP0089095, Huson DP0102113, Wolfaardt DP0060100 - Wolfaardt's registry city is Johannesburg, differing from the Cape Town practice address). |
| 2026-08-25 | Enhance Dental Studio | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live and open status; resolved the previously vague 'Upper Claremont' address to 43 Protea Rd, Claremont, 7708 and captured the previously-missing phone number +27 21 683 1863, both via Google Maps. Captured first Google rating 3.7 (28 reviews). Sedation research: site's IV Sedation page states 'many patients do sleep through their dental appointment' and 'few patients have any memory of their treatment'. |
| 2026-08-25 | Enhance Dental Studio | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. IV Sedation described: 'many patients do sleep through their dental appointment', 'Few patients have any memory of their treatment' (twilight-type). |
| 2026-08-25 | Enhance Dental Studio | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for the only 'Everson' on the dentist register (Aubrey Alfred Everson, DP 0057118, Cape Town 7708 - matches the practice's Claremont postal code), taken as the match for the clinic site's 'Dr Everson'. |
| 2026-08-25 | JJS Dentistry (V&A Waterfront) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 5.0 (389 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | JJS Dentistry (V&A Waterfront) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr JJ Serfontein (Jean-Jacques Serfontein, DP 0083232, Cape Town) and for Dr Raymund Weihman, registered under the corrected spelling 'Weihmann' (confirmed via the practice's own site), DP 0115851, Durbanville. |
| 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 | Molteno Dental Practice | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.6 and updated review count to 96 (was 39). |
| 2026-08-25 | Molteno Dental Practice | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: Dr Tienelle de Jager active (DP0117382); a Strydom registered at the exact same Cape Town 8001 postal code as the practice - STRYDOM JEAN-ANDRE HERMAN, DP 0069221 - shows registry status SUSPENDED and is flagged false for 'Dr Jean Strydom'; Dr Wiehan van Wyk could not be confidently isolated among 52 'van Wyk' dentist registrations. |
| 2026-08-25 | OptiSmile Advanced Dentistry and Implant Centre | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address, phone and open status; recorded Google rating 4.9 (was 4.9) with review count 492 (was 501 - decreased, likely a review-cleanup by Google). |
| 2026-08-25 | OptiSmile Advanced Dentistry and Implant Centre | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Clifford Yudelman (DP 0042919, Cape Town). |
| 2026-08-25 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open (24-hour) status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (373 reviews). Sedation research: site lists 'Conscious sedation' and 'General Anesthetic' under Paediatric & Gentle Dentistry. |
| 2026-08-25 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): documented as available. Paediatric & Gentle Dentistry section lists 'Conscious sedation' and 'General Anesthetic' as options. |
| 2026-08-25 | Paradise Road Dental Practice | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Nazier Natha (DP 0086215, Cape Town 7700 - matches practice postal code exactly); Dr Shahnaz Khan not confidently isolated among 87 'Khan' dentist registrations. |
| 2026-08-25 | Sea Point Prosthodontist (Dr Rustim Moosa) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: CAUTION - the only Google Maps listing found for this phone number (+27 21 439 7696), under the name 'Dr Rustim Moosa - Sea point Prosthodontist' at Room 303, Artem Centre, Main Rd, Sea Point, is marked 'Permanently closed' with no rating/reviews shown. The practice's own website (prosthodontist.capetown) is still live and lists the same phone number and the stored Floor 2, 74 Loop Street address, with no closure notice, but its only dated content is from 2019, suggesting the site may be stale. Could not find a current Google Maps listing for the Loop Street address to confirm active operation. Recommend manual follow-up (call the number) before treating this listing as confirmed open. Sedation research: no anaesthesia/sedation info found on the site. |
| 2026-08-25 | Sea Point Prosthodontist (Dr Rustim Moosa) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Rustim Moosa (DP 0054828) - the only dentist nationally with this full name. |
| 2026-08-25 | Smith and Van Lierop Dentistry | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (413 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | Smith and Van Lierop Dentistry | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Jean van Lierop (DP 0071889, Jean Alexander van Lierop, Cape Town 7700 - matches practice postal code); no confident match located for Dr Corne Smith, whose surname is too common to search exhaustively via this registry. |
| 2026-08-25 | The Cosmetic & Dental Emporium (V&A Waterfront) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (418 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | The Cosmetic & Dental Emporium (V&A Waterfront) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Zak Schabort (registered as IZAK PETRUS SCHABORT, DP 0096334) - the only Schabort on the dentist register; Dr Wim and Dr Pierre are published on the clinic's own site by first name only with no surname given, so no registry search was possible for them. |
| 2026-08-25 | The Cosmetic and Dental Emporium (Willowbridge, Durbanville) | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, open status; captured first Google rating 4.9 (174 reviews). |
| 2026-08-25 | The Cosmetic and Dental Emporium (Willowbridge, Durbanville) | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registrations for Dr Heinrich Sander (Carl Heinrich Louis Sander, DP 0116750, Cape Town) and Dr Lara Kleyn (Lara Louise Kleyn, DP 0111937, registered city De Rust). |
| 2026-08-25 | The Dental Practice at The Waterfront | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live (name, phone +27 21 421 1140, treatments list) with no closure notice. No distinct Google Maps listing could be located under this business name after several targeted searches, so Google reputation fields were left unset rather than guessed. Sedation research: site states implants are placed 'under a normal local anaesthetic' (no GA/deep sedation offered). |
| 2026-08-25 | The Dental Practice at The Waterfront | Recorded sedation / general anaesthesia availability (informational): not documented in public sources. Site states dental implants are placed 'under a normal local anaesthetic'; no GA/sedation offered. |
| 2026-08-25 | The Dental Practice at The Waterfront | License verification 2026-08-25 against HPCSA iRegister: found active registration for Dr Andrias de Nysschen (registered as ANDREAS MARTHINUS DE NYSSCHEN, DP 0076392, city Durbanville). |
| 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. |