Claimed profile verification process
How we make sure the person claiming a listing is actually the licensed provider or their authorized representative.
Anyone can submit a claim on a listing, but no claim is approved without verification. Approving a claim unlocks editable fields, the ability to submit responses to reviews, and eligibility for featured placement, so we treat the bar deliberately high.
Step 1 — Submit the claim
Start at Claim your listing. We collect the practice name, the named dentist, the practice address and phone, a contact email, and (when known) the NPI. We also ask for a brief note about your role at the practice.
Step 2 — Identity match
- We confirm the submitted name and NPI match an active record in the federal NPPES registry.
- We confirm an active dental license through the appropriate state dental board.
- For Type 2 (organization) NPIs, we confirm the claimant is associated with the organization.
Step 3 — Practice match
- The contact email must come from a domain associated with the practice, or pass a callback verification: we call the published practice phone number and confirm the claim with someone at the front desk or the named provider.
- Alternatively, we accept a one-time verification code mailed to the NPPES practice address.
- For dentists who own or co-own the practice, we may request a business document (e.g., business license, IRS letter) matching the practice and the claimant's name.
Step 4 — Attestation
The claimant agrees to our terms of use, our editorial policy, the advertising disclosure, the review policy, and the requirement that any information they add (hours, insurance, services, languages, accessibility) is accurate to the best of their knowledge and will be kept current.
Step 5 — Approval and audit trail
- Approved claims are logged with the verification method used and the approving moderator.
- The provider can edit attested fields immediately. Substantive changes to identity, name, or specialty trigger re-verification against NPPES and the state board.
- If we later receive credible evidence that a claim was made fraudulently, we revoke access, restore the prior content, and refer to our corrections policy.
Re-attestation
Claimed providers are asked to re-attest to their information at least annually. Listings that have not been re-attested in over a year show a "Information last attested by provider on …" date and may be flagged for users to verify with the practice.
Disputed claims
If two parties submit conflicting claims (for example, an associate dentist and the practice owner), we pause editing on the listing and request additional documentation from both sides. The state-board record and the NPPES record are the primary tiebreakers; ownership disputes that cannot be resolved through public records are not adjudicated by DentistGrid.