Colombia Veneer Clinic Ranking Methodology v1.3
Freeze timestamp
2026-07-24 16:35 EDT
Research cutoff
2026-07-24
Research question
Which Colombian clinics offering veneers appear best suited for U.S. patients based on useful public evidence available at the research cutoff?
The answer is an editorial comparison of observable evidence, not a declaration of clinical superiority or universal safety.
Source classes
- Class A: government, professional registry, airport, airline, or public-health source.
- Class B: clinic website, named clinician page, clinic policy, or official clinic channel.
- Class C: established review platform, recognized directory, reputable reporting, or reliable route-planning source.
- Class D: unsupported listicle, search snippet, scraped summary, or AI answer. Class D is discovery-only.
Completeness
The v1.3 evidence model contains 31 practical public-evidence groups.
Completeness = (verified groups + 0.5 x partially verified groups) / 31 x 100.
A normal finalist needs at least 35 percent overall completeness. There is no per-category completeness floor.
Score and category weights
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Credentials and operating identity | 15 |
| Veneer-specific cases | 15 |
| Patient feedback | 10 |
| Diagnostics and treatment planning | 8 |
| Materials and laboratory transparency | 7 |
| Safety and clinical accountability | 10 |
| English communication | 12 |
| Travel accessibility | 12 |
| Remote coordination and aftercare | 6 |
| Pricing transparency | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
The frozen evidence schedule defines the exact anchors. Partial points are allowed only where an anchor permits them. No bonus points exist.
Normal qualification gates
A normal finalist must satisfy all of these:
- Identifiable operating clinic in Colombia.
- Published physical location.
- Explicit veneer service.
- At least one named dentist, clinical lead, or identifiable treating team.
- No unresolved material identity or closure conflict.
- Overall score of at least 42 out of 100.
- Evidence completeness of at least 35 percent.
- English score of at least 2 out of 12.
- Travel score of at least 3 out of 12.
- Coordination and aftercare score of at least 1 out of 6.
- Total U.S.-patient accessibility score of at least 8 out of 30.
Travel method
ATL remains the consistent reference origin. Current route practicality can be supported by Class A airline or airport sources or Class C route-planning sources. The score evaluates whether the destination is ordinarily reachable nonstop or with a practical connection, broader U.S. gateway connectivity, airport transfer practicality, and clinic travel support. Ticket prices do not affect the score.
Review method
The full v1.2 Bayesian dataset is no longer required. A clinic can earn partial review points from attributable current public patient feedback. Maximum review credit still requires an independent platform with usable rating, count, recency, and veneer relevance. Clinic-hosted testimonials can earn limited credit only when clearly presented as patient feedback and never count as independent validation.
Odonto Súper
Odonto Súper is evaluated under the same v1.3 anchors. It may be exempt from score, completeness, English, travel, coordination, and total-accessibility minimums, but not identity, Colombian location, operating status, veneer service, disclosure, or honest scoring. If it does not qualify normally, it appears outside the normal rank order as the predefined non-ranked comparison inclusion and does not displace a normal finalist.
Selection and tie breakers
After rescoring the full pool and completing the two preserved saturation rounds, select the fourteen highest-scoring clinics that pass every v1.3 normal gate. Tie breakers remain: total U.S.-patient accessibility, safety, completeness, case score, then alphabetical order. There is no maximum score.
Sensitivity analysis
The five frozen scenarios are baseline, clinical emphasis, safety governance, U.S. accessibility, and reputation reviews. Baseline remains the primary ordering. Scenario scores rescale category percentages. The published results report rank ranges, leader changes, and ties within one point.
Governance
Preserve v1.2 and its zero-qualifier result as a historical stricter edition. Do not silently overwrite it. Version 1.3 applies to every candidate equally and was frozen before its rescore. Any later factual correction must be logged and applied consistently.
Status at freeze
No clinic had been rescored under v1.3.
Version history
v1.0: Calibration framework. v1.1: Expanded evidence model. v1.2: Strict thresholds, zero normal qualifiers. v1.3: Relaxed thresholds, 29 normal qualifiers, 14 selected. All 48 candidates rescored. Colombia Smile Studio remained excluded.
Why v1.3 replaced v1.2: v1.2 produced zero qualifiers among 48 candidates. Version 1.3 is more permissive but remains bounded. Missing evidence earns zero. Contradicted evidence earns zero and is disclosed.
Limitations
Scores reflect public evidence completeness only. No clinical outcome audit or on-site verification was performed. Results are bounded by the cutoff date and available public sources. Search snippets remain discovery-only unless the underlying source is attributable and the claim is independently preserved.
Publisher conflict disclosure
Published and funded by Colombia Smile Studio. Colombia Smile Studio was excluded from Phase 1 discovery, scoring, and ranking.
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