How we build this directory

Sources

Where the information comes from

Licensing and provider records

Federal provider records (NPPES), California dental board licensing records, Medi-Cal Dental provider files, and practice-submitted verification. These records provide the starting identity, credential, specialty, or eligibility evidence defined for this directory.

The practice's own website

Used for facts the practice controls: services, team rosters, coverage statements, appointment links, and the source material behind any summary we write.

Google Business Profile

Used for public business identity, location, hours, phone, rating, review count, map link, and attributed Place photography when a match is confirmed.

Owner-submitted corrections

Reviewed by a person and kept separate from authoritative records. A claimant cannot rewrite an official credential through this directory.

Five-step review

From raw record to published profile

1. CollectRetrieve a dated record from an approved source.
2. NormalizeStandardize names, addresses, identifiers, credentials, and taxonomy.
3. Resolve identityJoin records only when identifiers or corroborated identity evidence are strong; ambiguous identities remain separate for review.
4. CorroborateCompare public location and contact details with independent or practice-controlled evidence.
5. Quality-gate and publishRequire geography, source fit, a stable identity, and the site's minimum profile score. Appearing in search engines has a separate, higher threshold.

Duplicates

One practice, one profile

Government rosters register legal entities, but people are looking for a place. A single office can appear in source data two or three times: once under its incorporated name, once as a “doing business as” name, once under an owner's name. Those records become one profile only when the evidence supports it.

• A confirmed Google Place match is location-level identity and merges the records.
• Otherwise a merge needs a matching identity name and a matching phone or website domain and a matching street address. A shared phone number or suite alone never merges two records, because group offices, health systems, and answering services legitimately share them.
• Merges never delete anything. The absorbed name stays searchable as an alias, its evidence moves to the surviving profile, and the merge is recorded with its reason.
• Records that look like the same practice but fail these tests stay separate and go to human review rather than being combined on a guess.

Labels

What “Verified” means here

It means one narrow thing: the profile is matched to federal provider records (NPPES), California dental board licensing records, Medi-Cal Dental provider files, and practice-submitted verification, and the match was checked on the date shown. It is not a review of care, workmanship, price, service, or how a visit will go. Nobody buys the label, and claiming a profile does not grant it.

Owner control

What a practice can change

Owners maintain these fields

Practice phone, Practice website, Public contact email, About the practice, Office hours, Practice photos. Changes are recorded with the account that made them and reviewed before they appear publicly.

Owners can propose these

Review practice address, Dental specialties, Dental services, Dental plans accepted, Languages spoken, Wheelchair accessibility, New patient status, Dentists and care team. We check a proposal against source evidence first, and publish it as an owner-supplied fact rather than as a record.

Owners cannot change these

Practice name. Identity and credential facts stay tied to the records that established them; a correction has to come from the record.

Freshness

How often each source is rechecked

Google business details are targeted for refresh within 30 days, practice websites within 90 days, and roster or licensing sources within 120 days when the authority supports a repeatable collection process. Profiles show their real last verified or updated date and source check dates; deploy time is never used as a freshness claim.

A stale or conflicting fact may be withheld, sent for review, or left visible with a clear confirmation warning depending on its risk. Time-sensitive details should always be confirmed with the practice.

Order and advertising

How results are ordered, and what money can buy

Browse, search, and matching order practices by published fit, geography, source evidence, and profile completeness. Ownership claims, memberships, and payments do not change that order, and they do not change verification or whether a page can be indexed.

Featured practices are labeled where they appear. Paid placement never changes the contact details, ratings, or other factual information on a profile, and never changes the order of the directory.

Limits

What a record does not tell you

• NPI issuance does not establish state licensure or board certification.
• A source-record match does not prove service or project fit, price, availability, outcome, quality, or current acceptance status.
• Google ratings and reviews belong to Google and can change independently of this directory.
• Publication is not a recommendation, guarantee, or referral agreement, and it is not a substitute for checking the original authority.

Corrections, appeals, and claims

How to get something changed

Anyone can report a factual error, whether or not they are connected to the practice. Representatives may claim a profile, but control is granted only after review. Include the profile URL, the disputed fact, and an authoritative or practice-controlled source when emailing directory@centralvalleydentists.com. A claim, and any payment, changes neither what a profile says nor its position among the other Central Valley dental offices listed here.