DDS Dental Costa Rica
According to our open methodology, this clinic scored 80/100 for transparency, reputation, service accessibility, and digital visibility.
Overall rank: #1 of 15 ranked clinics · Last checked: 1 September 2026
Positions by Rating Profile
- Overall Transparency & Trust#180/100
- Best for Expats#177.5/100
- Best for Dental Implants#178.5/100
- Best for Emergency Dental Carenot ranked
- Best Price Transparency#274.6/100
- Best English-speaking Clinics#178.5/100
- Best for Families / Children#183.4/100
- Sleep Dentistry (GA / deep sedation)not ranked
General Anaesthesia & Deep Sedation
Whether the clinic documents treatment under general anaesthesia or deep / twilight sedation — "sleep dentistry", where the patient is asleep and unaware (does not feel, see, or hear the procedure). Ordinary conscious sedation, where the patient stays awake and responsive, does not count here. This is informational and does not affect the transparency score.
- ? General anaesthesia / deep sedation (sleep dentistry) — Not verified No sedation/anesthesia information found on homepage or accessible service pages
Summary
DDS Dental Costa Rica is a multi-specialty clinic in San Rafael de Escazú led by prosthodontist Dr. Vinicio Prada, with a team of US-trained specialists offering implants, orthodontics, surgery, endodontics and pediatric dentistry, plus an in-house lab and radiology. The English-language site publishes some prices and targets US/Canadian patients.
Strengths
- Information Transparency: 20 of 20 points.
- Reputation & Reviews: 19.5 of 20 points.
- Medical Infrastructure: 13.5 of 15 points.
- No red flags identified in public sources.
Weaknesses
No category fell below the weakness threshold (50% of verifiable points).
Score Breakdown
Every criterion below is scored from public sources. ✓ verified yes · ✗ verified no / not found · ◐ partial · ? unverified (scores 0, not a negative finding).
Information Transparency
Whether basic facts about the clinic - its team, premises, services, and location - are publicly verifiable.
Price Transparency
Whether patients can estimate costs before visiting. Published price ranges count; exact prices are not required.
| ✓ | Prices or price ranges published [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-prices] | 3/3 |
| ✗ | Cleaning price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Filling price listed Composite filling from $100 on the price-comparison page. [dds-dental-costa-rica-prices] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Crown price listed [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Implant price listed [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | Consultation price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | X-ray / imaging price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
Reputation & Reviews
Public review signals. The Google rating is adjusted with a Bayesian prior (rating 4.0, weight 25) so a 5.0 from a handful of reviews does not outrank a 4.8 from hundreds.
| ✓ | Google rating (Bayesian-adjusted) as of 2026-09-01 [dds-dental-costa-rica-refresh] | 6/6 |
| ◐ | Google review volume [dds-dental-costa-rica-refresh] | 2.5/3 |
| ✓ | Review recency latest visible reviews 1-2 months old as of 2026-09-01 [dds-dental-costa-rica-refresh] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clinic responds to reviews Owner replies visible under recent reviews (English and Spanish). [dds-dental-costa-rica-refresh] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No recurring complaints [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No suspicious review patterns [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Active Facebook presence [s1] | 1/1 |
| ✓ | TripAdvisor presence [s1] | 0.5/0.5 |
| ✓ | Other review platforms [s1] | 0.5/0.5 |
Medical Infrastructure
The range of publicly documented equipment and services. This measures documented availability, not clinical quality.
| ✓ | On-site X-ray [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | CBCT (3D imaging) 3D tomography named in implant planning; in-house radiology. [dds-dental-costa-rica-implants] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Implantology [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Orthodontics [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Oral surgery [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Pediatric dentistry [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✗ | Emergency care [s1] | 0/1.5 |
| ✓ | Works with international patients [s1] | 2/2 |
Communication & Service
How easy it is to contact the clinic, get answers, and book - especially for international patients.
AI & Search Visibility
Whether the clinic is discoverable when patients search - including via AI assistants. Checked with fixed queries: "best dentist San Jose", "English speaking dentist San Jose", "dental implants San Jose", "emergency dentist San Jose", "San Jose dental clinic for expats".
| ? | Mentioned for: best dentist San Jose | 0/1 |
| ? | Mentioned for: English speaking dentist San Jose | 0/1 |
| ? | Mentioned for: dental implants San Jose | 0/1 |
| ? | Mentioned for: emergency dentist San Jose | 0/1 |
| ? | Mentioned for: San Jose dental clinic for expats | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Structured data on website Organization, Place, Service, WebSite and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD on every page - typed as a generic Organization, not Dentist/MedicalBusiness; no opening hours, telephone or rating in the markup. [dds-dental-costa-rica-site] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ? | Google indexing quality | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Dedicated service pages [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
Licensing & Credentials
Whether the clinic publishes its operating licence and the dentists working there together with their professional licence numbers. A verified “not published” is recorded as a red flag; data we have not checked yet is shown as unverified and carries no penalty.
Clinic operating licence: not checked against public sources yet — unverified, no penalty
Dentists & professional licences
| Dentist | Specialization | Licence No. |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Vinicio Prada [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic] | Prosthodontics | 1326092 (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica) |
| Dr. Enrique González [s1] | Periodontics | not verified |
| Dr. Alejandro Saenz [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic] | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery | 1375093 (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica) |
| Dr. Rolando Guzmán [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic] | Orthodontics | 1218089 (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica) |
| Dr. Paola Carranza [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic] | Endodontics | 1782000 (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica) |
| Dr. Gabriela Atmetlla [s1] [dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic] | Pediatric Dentistry | 206701 (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica) |
Dentists are named; their licence numbers have not been checked against public sources yet — unverified, no penalty.
Red Flags
No red flags identified in the public sources we reviewed.
Data We Could Not Verify
- Communication & Service: Response speed
- Communication & Service: Convenient opening hours
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: best dentist San Jose
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: English speaking dentist San Jose
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: dental implants San Jose
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: emergency dentist San Jose
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: San Jose dental clinic for expats
- AI & Search Visibility: Google indexing quality
Unverified items score 0 points but are not treated as negative findings. If you can document any of them, please send a correction.
Contact Information
| Website | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/ |
|---|---|
| Phone | +506 2289 4040 |
| +506 8455 3468 | |
| https://www.facebook.com/drpradadds/ | |
| Google Maps | Map listing |
| Address | Plaza Fuentes del Obelisco, Local 5 y 6, San Rafael de Escazú, San José, Costa Rica |
Contact details are provided for identification only and may change; verify with the clinic directly.
Sources
| ID | Source | What it supports | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| s1 | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/our-team/ | dentist names and specializations, address, WhatsApp, in-house lab and radiology | 2026-07-14 |
| s2 | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/?lang=en | published prices, international patient marketing, English site | 2026-07-14 |
| s3 | https://www.dentaldepartures.com/dentist/dds-dental-costa-rica | address and price ranges | 2026-07-14 |
| dds-dental-costa-rica-refresh | https://www.google.com/maps/place/DDS+Dental/@9.9297203,-84.1393173… | most recent review posted about 6 months before 2026-08-25; 2026-09-01: 5.0 from 485 reviews, owner replies in English and Spanish, latest reviews 1-6 months old, opens 08:00, Calendly booking link | 2026-09-01 |
| dds-dental-costa-rica-doclic | https://www.colegiodentistas.org/listado-odontologos/ | searched: ROLANDO GUZMAN — CCDCR registry shows ROLANDO GUZMAN CALZADA, código 1218089, especialidad ODONTOPEDIATRIA,ORTODONCIA-ORTOPEDIA, Estado Activo — specialty includes Orthodontics, matching clinic's listing (a second candidate, Guzman Midence, lists only Odontopediatria and was not selected). | 2026-08-26 |
| dds-dental-costa-rica-prices | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/price-comparison/ | price-comparison page: root canal from $380, composite filling from $100, zirconia crown from $620, implant crown from $860, whitening $360, veneers $620/tooth, All-on-4 from $5,550 per arch (first trip) - USD 'starting from' against U.S. national averages | 2026-09-01 |
| dds-dental-costa-rica-site | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/ | homepage re-read 2026-09-01: Organization + Place + Service + WebSite JSON-LD (no Dentist/MedicalBusiness type, no opening hours, no rating); phones +506 2289 4040, +506 8455 3468 (WhatsApp), +1 561 273 1252 in text and tel:+1 786 598 0034 in the call link; agency address in page code; /sitemap.xml 404 (wp-sitemap.xml exists); English only, no hreflang | 2026-09-01 |
| dds-dental-costa-rica-implants | https://www.ddsdentalcr.com/dental-implants/ | implant planning with x-rays and 3D tomography | 2026-09-01 |
Change History
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | Re-read of the clinic's website and Google listing following the clinic's free-check request of 2026-08-26: composite-filling price ($100) found on the price-comparison page - recorded; 3D tomography / CBCT recorded from the implant page; structured data recorded (generic Organization/Place markup, no Dentist type, hours or rating); Google rating refreshed - 5.0 from 485 reviews (was 480), owner replies recorded, recency within 3 months. Opening hours not published on the site - noted. |
| 2026-08-26 | License verification 2026-08-26 against CCDCR (no Costa Rica clinic/establishment register exists; clinic-level licensing not searched): 5 of 6 named doctors matched active CCDCR records, most confirmed by matching registered specialty; 'Dr. Enrique González' could not be disambiguated among an extremely common surname's ~200 active registrants. |
| 2026-08-25 | Re-verification 2026-08-25: confirmed website live, address and phone unchanged, not permanently closed; captured first Google rating 5.0 (480 reviews), Maps URL, geo coordinates, and review recency (within_year). |
A question or a correction?
Have a question, a suggestion, or a correction to this page? Get in touch — we read every message. Verified data corrections are reviewed against sources and applied with a public change-history entry.