The on-site audit: what we check inside the clinic
Today the ranking measures one thing: the digital footprint of the 2,933 clinics we track. This is the other half — an in-person verification of 41 checkpoints — and we are publishing it before we start applying it.
How we rank clinics → Corrections and removal policy →Why we are publishing this before we start, not after
No clinic has been audited yet. We are publishing the full standard — all 41 checkpoints, what each one is worth and how they add up — before applying it to anyone, and we are doing it on purpose.
Publishing the standard before applying it is the proof that it was not built to fit the results. If we published it afterwards, there would always be someone saying — fairly — that the rules were shaped so the clinics we wanted would end up on top. Written down first, and dated, that doubt has nowhere to go: anyone can keep this page and hold the results against it when they come out.
How the score is composed
The scale does not change: it is still 0 to 100. What changes is where those 100 points come from once a clinic has been audited.
Today — 100% digital footprint
- 🗣️ Review volume35
- ⭐ Average rating22
- 📱 Social presence13
- 🌐 Professional website12
- 📸 Photos on Google10
- ✅ Profile completeness5
- 🔒 Verified Google Business Profile3
- Total100
Once audited — half and half
The digital footprint stays exactly as it is, but it now carries half the weight. The visit provides the other half.
We divide by the points that were possible rather than by a fixed number for a practical reason: it lets us add or remove checkpoints — or leave out one that does not apply to a given clinic — without breaking the 0–100 scale or making earlier scores incomparable.
An audited clinic can go DOWN
Let it be written plainly: the audit can move a clinic up or down. This is not a theoretical risk or boilerplate. A clinic that looks excellent online — plenty of reviews, a strong rating, a polished website — and that does not meet the checkpoints inside the practice will fall down the list. And we publish the result either way.
If it could only push a clinic up, it would smell like something you pay for. A review that can only reward is not a review: it is a badge with a price tag dressed up as a standard. The only way this number means anything is if it can also hurt.
It cuts both ways, and that is exactly the point. A small clinic with nobody running its social media and no habit of asking patients for reviews may sit in the bottom half today and climb sharply once someone walks in and confirms it has its own laboratory, a class B autoclave with a documented log, and a written warranty. That is precisely what a digital footprint cannot see.
The 41 checkpoints, with their weight
The protocol has 41 checkpoints across 7 categories, adding up to 70 possible pts. They are not worth the same: what can happen to the patient in the chair weighs more than what the waiting room looks like. Here is the complete list, so you can see what is measured and what each item is worth.
| Category | Checkpoints | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| ACredentials | 8 | 16 |
| BTechnology and laboratory | 7 | 11 |
| CSafety and compliance | 7 | 12 |
| DFacilities | 6 | 7 |
| ETransparency and warranties | 4 | 8 |
| FTrack record and international patients | 6 | 11 |
| GCommitment to the patient | 3 | 5 |
| Total | 41 | 70 |
This table and the list below are read live from the same catalogue the auditor works with; they are not typed by hand into this page.
The ones that weigh most, and why
- Years in operation — up to 4 pts. One point per decade. A clinic that has been answering for its own work for thirty years has survived its own mistakes; that is information no website can fake.
- A verifiable licence for every dentist — 3 pts. Not for the clinic: for each person who treats patients. It is the floor of the whole thing.
- The owner is a practising dentist — 3 pts. Whoever decides what gets bought and how long an appointment lasts should be someone who still sits in the chair.
- Teaching and research — 3 pts. Teaching forces you to stay current and exposes your criteria to your peers.
- Its own laboratory on site — 3 pts. It controls the material and the turnaround. For a patient who came from abroad for a few days, a remake that takes a week instead of a day is the difference between going home finished and going home unfinished.
- Class B autoclave with a documented cycle — 3 pts. Having the machine is not enough; the log is what shows it is actually being run.
- A written warranty — 3 pts. Verbal warranties are worth nothing across a border. On paper, they can be claimed.
9 of the 41 checkpoints require a photograph as evidence: the autoclave, the sterilisation log, the sanitary registration, the waste manifest, the written warranty, the CBCT scanner, the licences and the association certificate, among others. On those, it is not enough for the auditor to see it and tick the box: without the photo, the point is not awarded.
The complete list
The number on the left is the catalogue number; the one on the right is what it is worth. The icon marks the checkpoints that require a photograph.
Credentials
8 checkpoints · 16 pts- 1 Verifiable professional licence for EVERY dentist who treats patients 3 pts
- 2 At least one specialist holding a specialty licence 2 pts
- 3 Recognised international certification or membership (AAID, ICOI, a board) 2 pts
- 4 The director or owner is a practising dentist, not only an investor 3 pts
- 5 Teaching, research, courses taught or publications 3 pts
- 6 Diplomas and licences physically displayed where the patient can see them 1 pt
- 7 Enough qualified support staff (assistants / hygienists) 1 pt
- 8 Working English from the person who actually treats the patient 1 pt
Technology and laboratory
7 checkpoints · 11 pts- 9 Its own CBCT scanner on site, not outsourced 2 pts
- 10 Digital radiography (periapical / panoramic) on site 2 pts
- 11 Digital intraoral scanner 1 pt
- 12 ITS OWN DENTAL LABORATORY on site (control over materials and turnaround) 3 pts
- 13 In-house CAD/CAM, or a verifiable partner laboratory 1 pt
- 14 Equipment in good condition, with documented maintenance 1 pt
- 15 Digital clinical records 1 pt
Safety and compliance
7 checkpoints · 12 pts- 16 Class B autoclave with a documented cycle 3 pts
- 17 Sterilisation log kept per instrument set 2 pts
- 18 Current sanitary registration with the competent authority of the country 2 pts
- 19 Biohazardous waste handled by a registered company, in line with the local standard 2 pts
- 20 A separate, clearly delimited sterilisation area 1 pt
- 21 Visible use of barriers (gloves, drapes, disposable covers) 1 pt
- 22 Emergency protocol and equipment (kit, oxygen) 1 pt
Facilities
6 checkpoints · 7 pts- 23 Observable general cleanliness and order 2 pts
- 24 Operatories and waiting room in good condition 1 pt
- 25 Patient privacy in the operatory 1 pt
- 26 Clean, working restrooms 1 pt
- 27 Accessibility and a safe location (parking / access) 1 pt
- 28 Formal signage identifying the business 1 pt
Transparency and warranties
4 checkpoints · 8 pts- 29 An explicit WRITTEN WARRANTY (treatment and materials) 3 pts
- 30 A formal written quote / price list 2 pts
- 31 Material traceability (implant brand and lot number) 2 pts
- 32 Documented informed consent 1 pt
Track record and international patients
6 checkpoints · 11 pts- 33 Verifiable YEARS IN OPERATION: 1 point per decade (under 10 = 0, 10+ = 1, 20+ = 2, 30+ = 3, 40+ = 4) 4 pts
- 34 Demonstrable experience with foreign patients 2 pts
- 35 A written re-treatment policy for when the patient has already gone home 2 pts
- 36 Logistical support (lodging, transport, coordination) 1 pt
- 37 A receipt or invoice usable for insurance or reimbursement 1 pt
- 38 Remote post-treatment follow-up 1 pt
Commitment to the patient
3 checkpoints · 5 pts- 39 DOCUMENTED pro bono or community work (outreach, campaigns, verifiable evidence) 2 pts
- 40 Member of a recognised dental college or association (current certificate) 2 pts
- 41 Publicly responds to its patients’ negative reviews 1 pt
The same catalogue for every country
The ranking is not only Mexican: it includes cities in Turkey, Hungary, Thailand, Costa Rica and Colombia alongside Mexico. If the protocol were written using one country’s terminology, scores across those cities would not be comparable — and a list where an 8 in one city does not mean the same as an 8 in another is useless.
That is why the catalogue is written in neutral terms. Sanitary registration is required “with the competent authority of the country”, not with one named agency; and biohazardous waste handling is required “in line with the local standard”, not with one specific national rule. What gets verified is the same everywhere: that it exists, that it is current, and that it can be seen.
The denominator is identical for every clinic. No city gets an easier or a harder catalogue than another.
Who audits, and what it costs
The visit is carried out by someone external to Molar City. That is deliberate: if the person scoring were on our staff, we would be both judge and party. We publish the standard and we publish the result; the person who walks into the clinic, works through the checkpoints and takes the photographs is not on our payroll.
The ranking is free and will stay free. Appearing costs nothing, staying costs nothing, and correcting a detail costs nothing. What has a cost is the auditor’s visit: the travel and the time. Today that is $150 USD, it is known before the visit, and it is the same fee whichever way the result goes.
Nobody can pay to go up
What is paid for is the inspection, not the result. The fee covers the auditor’s travel and time, it is charged the same whether the clinic does well or badly, and the result is whatever it is. There is no premium version of the audit that awards more points, and no way to buy a position.
A clinic can pay for the visit, do badly, and end up lower than it started. It paid to find out, and to have it on the record. That is the deal, and we say so up front so nobody buys it expecting something else.
Marks a clinic with a commercial relationship with Molar City. It is disclosed openly and does not change its score or its position.
It is earned by passing the 41-checkpoint audit. It cannot be bought and does not come with any partner package.
They are two different badges and we never mix them. A partner clinic that does not pass the audit does not carry “Site Verified”, and a clinic that has never paid us anything does carry it if it earns it.
How to request the audit
If you are with the clinic and want it inspected, send us a request under the topic “I want to request the on-site audit”. We reply with what is needed and when a visit is possible.
Where it starts. The audit starts in Los Algodones and moves city by city. We are not committing to dates: promising a calendar that does not depend only on us would be the first thing we failed to deliver, on a page that is precisely about delivering what it says. Each audited clinic is flagged in the ranking once its result is ready.
Frequently asked questions
Can a clinic drop after the audit?
Can I pay to move up the ranking?
How is the score composed once a clinic has been audited?
Who carries out the audit?
Is the “Site Verified” badge the same as “Partner”?
Does the catalogue change from country to country?
When will you audit my city?
Published: August 8, 2026.
