Nova Dental
According to our open methodology, this clinic scored 54.8/100 for transparency, reputation, service accessibility, and digital visibility.
Overall rank: #1 of 15 ranked clinics · Last checked: 14 July 2026
Positions by Rating Profile
- Overall Transparency & Trust#154.8/100
- Best for Expats#156.3/100
- Best for Dental Implants#448.2/100
- Best for Emergency Dental Carenot ranked
- Best Price Transparency#347.4/100
- Best English-speaking Clinics#161.2/100
- Best for Families / Childrennot ranked
Summary
Nova Dental is a clinic in Plaza Itzkatzú, Escazú, led by implantology specialist Dr. Luis Obando, offering implants, endodontics, prosthodontics, cosmetic and surgical dentistry. The English-language site markets to international patients and publishes some indicative implant/full-mouth pricing.
Strengths
- Information Transparency: 20 of 20 points.
- Communication & Service: 8.5 of 10 points.
Weaknesses
- Price Transparency: 5 of 15 verifiable points (missing: cleaning price listed; filling price listed; crown price listed; consultation price listed; x-ray / imaging price listed)
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.
| ✓ | Has a working website [s1] | 4/4 |
| ✓ | Dentist names listed [s1] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Dentist specializations listed [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Real clinic photos [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Service list published [s1] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clear contact details [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | English website version [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Address and map published [s1] | 2/2 |
Price Transparency
Whether patients can estimate costs before visiting. Published price ranges count; exact prices are not required.
| ✓ | Prices or price ranges published [s1] | 3/3 |
| ✗ | Cleaning price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Filling price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Crown price listed [s1] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | 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) [s1] | 6/6 |
| ◐ | Google review volume [s1] | 2/3 |
| ? | Review recency | 0/3 |
| ? | Clinic responds to reviews | 0/2 |
| ✓ | No recurring complaints [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No suspicious review patterns [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Active Facebook presence [s1] | 1/1 |
| ? | TripAdvisor presence | 0/0.5 |
| ✓ | 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 | 0/2 |
| ? | CBCT (3D imaging) | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Implantology [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Orthodontics [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Oral surgery [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | Pediatric dentistry [s1] | 0/1.5 |
| ✗ | 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.
| ✓ | WhatsApp / LINE available [s1] | 2/2 |
| ? | Response speed | 0/1.5 |
| ✓ | English spoken [s1] | 2.5/2.5 |
| ✓ | Pre-visit consultation possible [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Clear service explanations [s1] | 1/1 |
| ✓ | Convenient opening hours [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
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 | 0/1.5 |
| ? | 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. Missing items are penalised.
Clinic operating licence: not published on the clinic’s website — penalty applied
Dentists & professional licences
| Dentist | Specialization | Licence No. |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Luis G. Obando [s1] | Dental implantology and aesthetic dentistry (Medical Director) | not published |
| Dr. Paola Truque [s1] | Endodontics | not published |
| Dr. Javier Chavarría [s1] | Prosthodontics | not published |
| Dr. Lucía Baltodano [s1] | General dentistry and esthetics | not published |
Dentists are named, but their professional licence numbers are not published — penalty applied.
Red Flags
- medium Clinic operating licence not published (-4 pts) — The clinic does not publish its operating licence or registration number (derived from data).
- medium Dentists / their licences not listed (-4 pts) — The clinic does not publish its dentists with their professional licence numbers (derived from data).
Red-flag penalty applied: -8 points (capped at -20).
Data We Could Not Verify
- Reputation & Reviews: Review recency
- Reputation & Reviews: Clinic responds to reviews
- Reputation & Reviews: TripAdvisor presence
- Medical Infrastructure: On-site X-ray
- Medical Infrastructure: CBCT (3D imaging)
- Communication & Service: Response speed
- 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: Structured data on website
- 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://novadentalcr.com/ |
|---|---|
| Phone | +506 2228-0997 |
| +506 8424-6719 | |
| https://www.facebook.com/NovaDentalCR/ | |
| Address | Plaza Itzkatzú, Local 212, 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://novadentalcr.com/ | address, phone, WhatsApp, dentist names and specializations, services, indicative prices | 2026-07-14 |
| s2 | https://smilejet.app/destinations/costa-rica/san-jose | Google rating 4.9 and review count 116 | 2026-07-14 |
| s3 | https://www.facebook.com/NovaDentalCR/ | Facebook presence, hours | 2026-07-14 |
Change History
| Date | Change |
|---|
Spotted an Error?
If any information on this page is outdated or wrong, please tell us. Corrections are reviewed against sources and applied with a public change-history entry.