How Consumers Rate Dentists on the Internet

Objectives: Choosing a healthcare practitioner is an important task for patients. Although consumers have many sources for helping them make decisions about providers, the internet is likely to become an increasingly common resource. Little is known about the prevalence, content and coverage of websites that collect consumer ratings and reviews of dentist on the internet. In this study we seek to: 1) identify rating systems for dentists on the internet, 2) discover the scope and depth of the websites, 3) identify criteria used to rate dentists and 4) determine if most consumer ratings and reviews of dentists are positive or negative.

Methods: Keyword searches were conducted in the three most popular search engines: Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com to identify dental rating websites. Websites that met the inclusion criteria were systematically analyzed to determine provider coverage, number of dentist reviews, cost to consumers for accessing reviews, display of advertising, rating criteria, and editorial process.

Results: Six relevant websites were identified from 1710 search results that accounted for approximately 70,000 consumer reviews. Websites ranged in the number of dentists reviews included from a high of 59,375 to only 7. Most rating websites were free to access, rated providers differently, and were supported by advertising. An analysis of the 2 larger websites (DoctorOogle.com and RateMDs.com) revealed that most consumer ratings were positive in nature.

Conclusion: Interested patients are likely to discover consumer ratings and reviews of dentists on the internet. More research is needed to determine the accuracy and usefulness of consumer reviews. Despite provider fears of a vocal minority of patients complaining about their care, most consumer reviews appear to be positive in nature. Managing and monitoring online reputations may be beneficial for dentists.