A high score means a sampled practice publishes a broad, specific set of dental prices across multiple procedure families. It does not mean the practice is cheaper, clinically better, or recommended by Dental Verdicts.
What we found
Every practice in the underlying public-price dataset.
Published price observations per sampled practice.
Practices scoring 80 or higher under the published formula.
Practice transparency rankings
The ranking rewards three things: more individually priced procedures, coverage across more types of dental care, and specific prices rather than only broad ranges.
| Rank | Practice | Location | Score | Prices | Families | Exact | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Ascend Dental | Chicago, IL | 99/100 | 25 | 7 | 92% | Leader |
| #2 | Dental Health Arlington | Arlington, TX | 93/100 | 17 | 7 | 100% | Leader |
| #3 | Tanglewood Dental Associates | Houston, TX | 92/100 | 19 | 6 | 47% | Leader |
| #4 | Wicker Park Dental Group | Chicago, IL | 86/100 | 19 | 4 | 84% | Leader |
| #5 | Ventana Family Dental | Katy, TX | 86/100 | 18 | 6 | 11% | Leader |
| #6 | Ace Dental Boston | Boston, MA | 81/100 | 16 | 6 | 13% | Leader |
| #7 | Boardwalk Dentistry | Granite Bay, CA | 80/100 | 14 | 5 | 100% | Leader |
| #8 | New York General Dentistry | New York, NY | 78/100 | 15 | 7 | 0% | Strong |
| #9 | Westborough Dental | South San Francisco, CA | 78/100 | 11 | 6 | 100% | Strong |
| #10 | Vivid Dental | Las Vegas, NV | 75/100 | 11 | 7 | 73% | Strong |
| #11 | Risas Dental and Braces | Phoenix, AZ | 73/100 | 11 | 5 | 100% | Strong |
| #12 | Risas Dental and Braces | San Antonio, TX | 73/100 | 11 | 5 | 100% | Strong |
| #13 | Century Smile | Los Angeles, CA | 69/100 | 10 | 5 | 90% | Strong |
| #14 | Buchanan Dentistry | North Las Vegas, NV | 68/100 | 11 | 4 | 100% | Strong |
| #15 | Super Smile Center | Bethesda, MD | 68/100 | 9 | 5 | 100% | Strong |
| #16 | Hallmark Dental | Brentwood, TN | 65/100 | 10 | 4 | 100% | Strong |
| #17 | Life Bloom Dental | Portland, OR | 64/100 | 11 | 5 | 18% | Notable |
| #18 | Noble Dental Group | Philadelphia, PA | 63/100 | 11 | 5 | 9% | Notable |
| #19 | Vermeer Dental | Baltimore, MD | 63/100 | 11 | 5 | 9% | Notable |
| #20 | DNA Dental Studio | Glendale, CA | 62/100 | 9 | 5 | 44% | Notable |
| #21 | 58 Peaks Dental | Denver, CO | 59/100 | 11 | 4 | 18% | Notable |
| #22 | NY Smile Clinic | New York, NY | 55/100 | 8 | 3 | 100% | Notable |
| #23 | Miami Dental Group | Miami, FL | 55/100 | 6 | 4 | 100% | Notable |
| #24 | Stoute Dental | Crofton, MD | 53/100 | 5 | 4 | 100% | Notable |
| #25 | 5th & Olive Dental | Seattle, WA | 50/100 | 4 | 4 | 100% | Notable |
| #26 | Clear Smiles | Dallas, TX | 48/100 | 8 | 2 | 75% | Included |
| #27 | SP Smile Dentistry | Miami, FL | 48/100 | 5 | 3 | 100% | Included |
| #28 | Keith + Associates Dentistry | Mission, KS | 43/100 | 7 | 3 | 0% | Included |
| #29 | Limestone Hills Orthodontics | Austin, TX | 40/100 | 6 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #30 | Charlotte Dental Arts | Charlotte, NC | 40/100 | 5 | 3 | 20% | Included |
| #31 | SouthView Cosmetic Dentistry | Charlotte, NC | 38/100 | 4 | 3 | 25% | Included |
| #32 | Capitol Square Dental | Columbus, OH | 38/100 | 3 | 2 | 100% | Included |
| #33 | Thomas Orthodontics | Tampa, FL | 35/100 | 4 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #34 | Phoenix Smile | Phoenix, AZ | 35/100 | 2 | 2 | 100% | Included |
| #35 | Smile On Nashville | Nashville, TN | 33/100 | 3 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #36 | Smile Straight Orthodontics | Phoenix, AZ | 33/100 | 3 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #37 | Ari Family Dental | Boston, MA | 28/100 | 1 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #38 | Dental Expressions | San Diego, CA | 28/100 | 1 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #39 | Pure Dental Health | Atlanta, GA | 28/100 | 1 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #40 | Sachar Dental NYC | New York, NY | 28/100 | 1 | 1 | 100% | Included |
| #41 | O2 Dental Group | Raleigh, NC | 18/100 | 1 | 1 | 0% | Included |
Prices = public price observations in the dataset. Families = distinct procedure families represented. Exact = share of observations published as one exact amount rather than a range.
Scoring methodology
| Component | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing breadth | 50 | 2.5 points per distinct priced procedure, capped at 20 procedures. |
| Procedure-family coverage | 30 | 5 points per represented family, capped at 6 of 8 families. |
| Price specificity | 20 | Every bounded price/range earns a 10-point base; the remaining 10 points scale with the share published as exact single prices. |
The eight families are: Preventive, Restorative, Endodontic, Prosthodontic, Cosmetic, Orthodontic, Implant / surgery, Appliances. This formula is intentionally simple enough for another researcher to reproduce from the raw CSV.
Locations with the deepest published pricing in this sample
This table is not a city-wide transparency rate. It shows where the practices represented in our public-price dataset collectively disclosed the most individual prices.
| Location | Practices | Prices | Families | Avg. score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | 2 | 44 | 7 | 93/100 |
| New York, NY | 3 | 24 | 8 | 54/100 |
| Houston, TX | 1 | 19 | 6 | 92/100 |
| Katy, TX | 1 | 18 | 6 | 86/100 |
| Arlington, TX | 1 | 17 | 7 | 93/100 |
| Boston, MA | 2 | 17 | 6 | 55/100 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 3 | 16 | 6 | 47/100 |
| Granite Bay, CA | 1 | 14 | 5 | 80/100 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 1 | 11 | 7 | 75/100 |
| South San Francisco, CA | 1 | 11 | 6 | 78/100 |
Why this is different from a “cheapest dentist” ranking
Price transparency and low prices are different questions. A practice can publish expensive fees and still score highly because patients can see meaningful numbers before contacting the office. Conversely, a low-cost practice can score lower if it publishes only one promotional offer.
What this scorecard does not measure
- Clinical quality, dentist qualifications or treatment outcomes.
- Whether the posted price is the final personalized treatment quote.
- Insurance-negotiated fees, deductibles or a patient's final out-of-pocket amount.
- How practices that publish no prices compare, because this scorecard is derived from the 40 practices already captured in our public-price dataset.
2026 Price Transparency Leader badge
Practices scoring 80+ may display our generic transparency-leader badge. Use of the badge does not imply a clinical endorsement, and no backlink is required.
Audit the underlying observations
The complete 358-row source-linked dataset remains available under CC BY 4.0 so researchers and journalists can reproduce or challenge the ranking.
Citing this scorecard
Dental Verdicts. “2026 U.S. Dental Price Transparency Scorecard: 40 Practices Ranked.” September 2026. https://dentalverdicts.com/dental-savings/us-dental-price-transparency-scorecard-2026/