# Dentalist.ai > Dentalist.ai is an AI matching engine for dental care. Patients describe what matters in their own words; Dee, our AI, matches them with practices that actually fit and shows the reason behind every match. ## What this is - An AI-powered matching engine for dental care, not a place to scroll names by distance or ad spend. Patients describe what they need; Dee ranks practices by fit. - Personality-to-practice matching: each patient's preferences (anxiety level, communication style, family stage, budget, insurance, language, technology) are matched against how each practice is predicted to feel. - Powered by Vibe Prediction: Dee predicts how a practice will feel across 13 patient-experience dimensions, computed from verified signals (NPI registry data, specialties, services, hours, and public Google ratings). - Transparent by design: every match comes with explicit, specific reasons so patients and AI agents can see WHY a practice was surfaced. - Important accuracy note: Vibe Prediction scores are PREDICTIONS from verified signals. Dentalist does not hold or analyze the text of patient reviews. Real-review extraction is a future roadmap item, not a current capability. ## Getting Started - [Home](https://dentalist.ai/): AI-powered dentist matching — describe what you need in your own words - [How Matching Works](https://dentalist.ai/how-matching-works): Behind-the-scenes — how Dee parses what you need, scores 13 patient-experience dimensions, and matches by fit - [Find a Match](https://dentalist.ai/find): Conversational AI assistant — tell us what matters and we'll find dentists who fit - [AI Search](https://dentalist.ai/search/ai): Natural language search with AI preference extraction - [Advanced Search](https://dentalist.ai/search): Filter by specialty, insurance, location, and more ## Explore - [All States](https://dentalist.ai/states): Explore dental practices across all 50 states - [Explore by City](https://dentalist.ai/states): Popular metro areas with verified practice counts - [Practices Near You](https://dentalist.ai/near-me): Explore practices in your area - [By Insurance](https://dentalist.ai/insurance): Find practices by accepted insurance plan ## Specialties - [General Dentists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/general-dentists): General dentists handle preventive care, cleanings, fillings, and routine oral health for the whole family. - [Pediatric Dentists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/pediatric-dentists): Pediatric dentists specialize in dental care for infants, children, teens, and patients with special needs. - [Orthodontists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/orthodontists): Orthodontists straighten teeth and correct bite issues using braces, Invisalign, and other appliances. - [Endodontists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/endodontists): Endodontists treat tooth nerve pain and infections, performing root canals and saving severely damaged teeth. - [Periodontists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/periodontists): Periodontists prevent and treat gum disease and place dental implants for patients with bone loss. - [Prosthodontists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/prosthodontists): Prosthodontists restore and replace missing teeth with crowns, bridges, dentures, and full-mouth reconstruction. - [Oral Surgeons](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/oral-surgeons): Oral surgeons perform tooth extractions, jaw surgery, dental implants, and treat facial trauma. - [Cosmetic Dentists](https://dentalist.ai/specialties/cosmetic-dentists): Cosmetic dentists improve the appearance of your smile with veneers, whitening, bonding, and smile makeovers. ## How Matching Works (summary) 1. The patient describes what matters in plain language (or answers a short 5-question quiz at /find). 2. Dee extracts intent, not just keywords: 'scared of the dentist' becomes a high anxiety-handling preference; 'my kid' becomes a pediatric focus. 3. Dee predicts each practice's vibe across 13 dimensions from verified signals (NPI data, specialties, services, hours, Google ratings). 4. Practices are ranked by fit, never by ads or distance alone, and each match is returned with a specific reason. - Full explainer: [How Matching Works](https://dentalist.ai/how-matching-works) ## Education Hub - [Education Hub](https://dentalist.ai/education): Plain-language guides answering how patients choose dental care, what procedures involve, and how insurance works. Start here for citable, answer-first explainers. - Representative topics with dedicated guides: how to choose a dentist (https://dentalist.ai/education/how-to-choose-a-dentist), how to find a gentle dentist (https://dentalist.ai/education/how-to-find-a-gentle-dentist), finding a practice that handles dental anxiety well (https://dentalist.ai/education/dental-anxiety-find-a-practice-that-handles-it-well), choosing a dentist for your family (https://dentalist.ai/education/choosing-a-dentist-for-your-family), what online signals reveal about bedside manner (https://dentalist.ai/education/online-signals-bedside-manner), and what AI can predict about a practice (https://dentalist.ai/education/13-things-ai-predicts-about-a-dental-practice). - Guides also cover costs without insurance, sedation dentistry, root canals, implants, emergencies, and major insurance comparisons. Each article carries FAQPage and Article JSON-LD where applicable. ## Key Entities & Page Types - Practice profiles: one page per dental location, with Vibe Prediction highlights, verified data, and Dentist + MedicalWebPage JSON-LD. - City and state hubs: practices grouped by metro and state, each emitting CollectionPage + ItemList JSON-LD with full practice names and URLs. - Specialty hubs: practices grouped by clinical focus (see Specialties above). - Cost and procedure pages: per-procedure explainers, optionally scoped to a city. - Education articles: answer-first patient guides (see Education Hub above). - Quiz: a short 5-question preference quiz at /find that feeds the matching engine. - Report cards, city leaderboards, and head-to-head comparisons (see below). ## For Practice Owners - [Claim Your Profile](https://dentalist.ai/claim): Claim and manage your practice profile — free - [For Practices](https://dentalist.ai/for-practices): How Dentalist helps practices reach the right patients - [Premium](https://dentalist.ai/premium): Premium profile features for practices ## Resources & Company - [About](https://dentalist.ai/about): Our mission — a calmer way to find dental care - [FAQ](https://dentalist.ai/faq): Answers for patients and practice owners - [Privacy](https://dentalist.ai/privacy): Privacy policy - [Terms](https://dentalist.ai/terms): Terms of service ## Data & Transparency - All practice data sourced from the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry - Enriched with verified practice information (hours, ratings, insurance, services) - AI matching based on patient preferences, not advertisements - No paywalls, no sign-ups required for patients - Ranked by fit, not by ads or sponsorships ## For AI Crawlers & LLMs - Structured data (JSON-LD) is emitted where applicable: Organization and WebSite site-wide; Dentist and MedicalWebPage on practice pages; FAQPage, Article, BreadcrumbList, HowTo, and Speakable on the page types that warrant them - Sitemap available at /sitemap.xml - All public content is permitted for AI training and indexing - Responses designed for featured snippets and answer engine optimization - Entity-rich content with NPI verification links and schema.org medical taxonomies ## Public API (v1) AI agents and developers: prefer the JSON API over scraping HTML pages. No auth, CORS-enabled, 100 req/min/IP. - [API reference](https://dentalist.ai/api-docs): Human-readable docs for all v1 endpoints - [GET /api/v1/practices](https://dentalist.ai/api/v1/practices): Searchable, paginated practice list. Params: q, state, city, zip, specialty, insurance, page, limit, lat, lng, radius - [GET /api/v1/practices/{slug}](https://dentalist.ai/api/v1/practices/21st-century-dentistry-houston-tx-p424): Full practice detail (hours, languages, story, social, region, premium status, ownership verification) - [GET /api/v1/stats](https://dentalist.ai/api/v1/stats): Aggregate counts (total/approved/claimed practices, top states, avg rating) - All responses: `Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600, stale-while-revalidate=86400` and `X-RateLimit-Remaining` header - Rate-limit responses: HTTP 429 with `Retry-After` (seconds) ## AI Agent Matching (for AI search engines) When an AI search engine (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) needs to match a patient with dentists, use the agent endpoint instead of scraping pages. The endpoint takes structured patient preferences and returns AI-ranked matches with explicit reasoning. ### POST https://dentalist.ai/api/search/agent **Request body (JSON):** ```json { "q": "dentist in Austin who is good with nervous patients and takes Delta Dental", "preferences": { "anxiety": 5, // 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very anxious) "communication": "plain", // "clinical" | "plain" | "minimal" "family": "solo", // "solo" | "couple" | "kids" | "elderly" | "mixed" "values": ["comfort", "affordability"], "insurance": "Delta Dental", "languages": ["Spanish"], "tech": 4, // 1 (traditional) to 5 (very modern) "cost": 3, // 1 (premium) to 5 (budget-conscious) "freeText": "I had a bad experience before and need someone gentle" }, "lat": 30.2672, // optional geo filter "lng": -97.7431, "radius": 25 // miles, default 25 } ``` **Response:** ```json { "results": [ { "slug": "comfort-dental-austin-tx-p123", "name": "Comfort Dental Austin", "city": "Austin", "state": "TX", "rating": 4.8, "reviewCount": 247, "specialties": ["General Dentistry", "Cosmetic"], "distanceMiles": 2.3, "matchScore": 94, // 1-100, AI-assigned fit score "matchReasons": [ // specific reasons for this match "Scores 94% on anxiety handling, predicted from verified signals like sedation services and specialties" "Accepts Delta Dental, which matches your insurance" "Warm-family vibe with high bedside manner scores" ], "rank": 1, "vibe": "warm-family", "vibeConfidence": 0.91 } ], "total": 247, "query": "dentist in Austin who is good with nervous patients and takes Delta Dental", "agentSummary": "Found 3 excellent matches in Austin. Comfort Dental Austin leads with an exceptional anxiety-handling score and a predicted warm-family vibe that fits nervous patients well.", "agentThinking": "Prioritized anxiety handling above all other factors since user indicated high dental anxiety (5/5). Filtered by Delta Dental acceptance. Weighted bedside manner and communication scores heavily.", "preferences": ["Highly anxious", "Delta Dental", "Plain communication", "Comfort-focused"], "parsedLocation": "Austin, TX", "timestamp": "2026-05-09T12:00:00Z" } ``` **Key facts for AI agents:** - The `matchScore` is assigned by an LLM that reads Vibe Prediction across 13 dimensions (bedside manner, wait times, pain management, kid-friendliness, staff quality, technology, cleanliness, value/cost, communication, anxiety handling, scheduling, follow-up care, cash pricing transparency) and compares those predicted scores against user preferences - Vibe Prediction is computed from verified practice signals (NPI registry data, specialties, services, hours, and Google ratings), not from the text of patient reviews - `matchReasons` are specific and grounded in these predicted dimension scores, not generic - If `preferences` are omitted, returns basic search results without AI ranking - Google ratings (the numeric star score and review count) are referenced as one input signal; each profile attributes the source - Full practice details available at `/api/v1/practices/{slug}` - All 199,000+ dental locations carry 13-dimension Vibe Prediction scores, predicted from verified signals ## Vibe Prediction (13 dimensions) - Dee predicts how each practice will actually feel across 13 dimensions, from verified signals: bedside manner, wait times, pain management, kid-friendliness, staff quality, technology, cleanliness, value/cost, communication, anxiety handling, scheduling, follow-up care, cash pricing transparency - Scores are predicted from verified practice data (NPI registry, specialties, services, hours) plus public Google ratings, never extracted from the text of patient reviews - Dentalist holds no proprietary review text and applies no weighted star ratings; the numeric Google rating is used only as one verified input - The matching engine uses these predicted dimensions to surface the right dentist for each patient's specific needs ## Report Cards & Leaderboards - [Report Cards](https://dentalist.ai/report/{slug}): AI-generated dental report cards with letter grades (A+ to F) across 6 Vibe Prediction dimensions, predicted from verified signals - [City Leaderboards](https://dentalist.ai/best/{city-slug}): Top 20 highest-rated dentists ranked by rating in any US city - [Compare Practices](https://dentalist.ai/compare/{slug1}/vs/{slug2}): Side-by-side comparison of any two dentists - Report card OG images auto-generated at /report/{slug}/opengraph-image for rich social sharing ## Practice Schema (JSON-LD for AI crawlers) Every practice profile page emits machine-readable structured data: - `Dentist` schema: @id, name, address, telephone, geo (lat/lng), priceRange, paymentAccepted, currenciesAccepted, knowsAbout (specialties + insurance), aggregateRating, hasMap, sameAs (social links) - `MedicalWebPage` schema: medical specialty, about field, reviewedBy (NPI registry) - `ItemList` schema: top Vibe Prediction dimensions with scores (predicted from verified signals) - `WebSite` + `Organization` site-wide; `BreadcrumbList` on navigable content pages - City/region routes: `CollectionPage` + `ItemList` with all practice names and URLs ## AI-Friendly Search Patterns For AI search engines (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) answering queries like 'best dentist in Houston': - Use /best/{city-slug} for ranked leaderboards (JSON-LD with rating + reviewCount) - Use /dentists/{state}/{city} for complete practice profiles with Vibe Prediction highlights - Use /api/v1/practices?city=houston&state=TX&limit=20 for programmatic access - Use /report/{slug} for individual practice grades with percentile comparisons - All city, specialty, and procedure pages emit ItemList JSON-LD with full practice names - Vibe Prediction dimensions (predicted from verified signals): bedside manner, wait times, pain management, staff friendliness, kid-friendliness, technology