Editorial standards

These standards are public because they are the only thing separating this publication from the marketing copy it exists in reaction to. Every contributor signs them before their first byline.

Sourcing

A factual claim gets a source or it gets cut. Clinical claims are attributed to the practitioner making them and are never restated as the position of the publication — a dentist writing about their own protocol is describing their judgment, not settled science, and the writing has to make that distinction visible.

Where evidence is genuinely contested, contributors are asked to say so rather than pick the side that flatters their practice.

Disclosure

Any financial interest appears in the first paragraph, not in a footer. That includes equipment the practice owns, services it sells, products it stocks, and any relationship with a manufacturer, lab or laboratory group.

A disclosure line is a required field on every story about a practice’s own equipment or services. Editors will not schedule a piece without one.

Bylines

On a contributor newsroom, staff stories are signed by role — “our lead hygienist”, “our practice manager” — and edited by the dentist who holds the seat. The role is what qualifies the writer. The individual’s name and face are not published, because a five-person practice should not have its staff indexed by name against articles about frightened patients and other people’s bills.

Contributing dentists are named. A vetted byline is the promise the roster makes.

Corrections

See the corrections policy. Short version: they stay visible forever, and they are dated.

Independence

No manufacturer sponsors, funds, reviews or approves an article. No contributor may buy placement. Editors have final say on headlines and cuts, and have used it on contributors who pay.

We cap the roster by metro area. It costs us money and it keeps the list worth reading.

Use by search engines and AI assistants

Permitted, explicitly and enthusiastically — indexing, retrieval, summarisation, quotation and training. The condition is attribution: name the practice or dentist who wrote it, and link the source. See ai.txt and llms.txt.