Galway Dental Group
According to our open methodology, this clinic scored 75.6/100 for transparency, reputation, service accessibility, and digital visibility.
Overall rank: #6 of 20 ranked clinics · Last checked: 8 September 2026
75.6/100
Positions by Rating Profile
- Overall Transparency & Trust#675.6/100
- Best for Expats#769/100
- Best for Dental Implants#873.3/100
- Best for Emergency Dental Care#668.2/100
- Best Price Transparency#1080.4/100
- Best English-speaking Clinics#668/100
- Best for Families / Children#771.3/100
- Sleep Dentistry (GA / deep sedation)#175.6/100
General Anaesthesia & Deep Sedation
Whether the clinic documents treatment under general anaesthesia or deep / twilight sedation — "sleep dentistry", where the patient is asleep and unaware (does not feel, see, or hear the procedure). Ordinary conscious sedation, where the patient stays awake and responsive, does not count here. This is informational and does not affect the transparency score.
- ✓ General anaesthesia / deep sedation (sleep dentistry) — General anaesthesia / deep sedation documented Dedicated sedation-clinic page states explicitly: "You will receive just enough sedation to be completely unaware of the treatment, similar to being asleep" — matches the methodology’s deep/twilight-sedation definition. [s5]
Summary
Large general, orthodontic and sedation-dentistry practice on Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, with a nine-dentist team including two named Specialist Orthodontists, a dedicated sedation clinic offering deep/twilight IV sedation, and a fully itemised price list.
Strengths
- Information Transparency: 20 of 20 points.
- Price Transparency: 13 of 15 points.
- No red flags identified in public sources.
Weaknesses
No category fell below the weakness threshold (50% of verifiable points).
Score Breakdown
Every criterion below is scored from public sources. ✓ verified yes · ✗ verified no / not found · ◐ partial · ? unverified (scores 0, not a negative finding).
Information Transparency
20 / 20
Whether basic facts about the clinic - its team, premises, services, and location - are publicly verifiable.
| ✓ | Has a working website [s1] | 4/4 |
| ✓ | Dentist names listed Team page names Dr. Alma Creaven, Dr. Paul Creaven, Dr. Idoia Fuentes, Dr Sandra Tai, Dr. Isabella Qianyu Ye (Chen), Dr. Catherine Cronin, Dr. Rikin Parekh, Dr. Monik Vasant and Dr. Monica Amorim. [s2] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Dentist specializations listed Dr. Idoia Fuentes and Dr. Monica Amorim are each named "Specialist Orthodontist". [s2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Real clinic photos Verified visually on the clinic's Google place page on 2026-09-08: the lead photograph is the practice's own shopfront on Sean Mulvoy Road — a navy fascia reading «GALWAY DENTAL GROUP» in gold over its window, which itself carries the clinic's name and tooth graphic, with the entrance beside it. Premises and signage of this clinic on its own claimed profile. [gmp2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Service list published Extensive nav (Invisalign, teen braces, composite bonding, sedation clinic, veneers, implants, whitening, root canal, hygiene, digital dentistry, emergency) plus a fully itemised pricing page. [s1] [s3] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clear contact details [s1] [gmp1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | English website version [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Address and map published Own schema.org LocalBusiness address matches the Google Maps listing (10A Sean Mulvoy Rd, Galway, H91 AK64). [s1] [gmp1] | 2/2 |
Price Transparency
13 / 15
Whether patients can estimate costs before visiting. Published price ranges count; exact prices are not required.
| ✓ | Prices or price ranges published Permanent, itemised pricing page of well over 20 procedures. [s3] | 3/3 |
| ✗ | Cleaning price listed Checked both the pricing page and the dedicated hygiene page — no scale-and-polish/hygiene fee is published on either. [s3] [s4] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Filling price listed Composite White Fillings from €135. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Crown price listed Ceramic Crown €750–950 per unit. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Implant price listed Implants from €2,200–€2,600. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Consultation price listed Routine Examination €90; Child Examination €80. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | X-ray / imaging price listed Small X-Ray €25; OPG €50; CBCT €150. [s3] | 2/2 |
Reputation & Reviews
15 / 20
Public review signals. The Google rating is adjusted with a Bayesian prior (rating 4.0, weight 25) so a 5.0 from a handful of reviews does not outrank a 4.8 from hundreds.
| ◐ | Google rating (Bayesian-adjusted) Read live on the place page in a browser on 2026-09-08. Unchanged from the automated reading of 2026-09-07. The star histogram — 134 five-star, 0 four-star, 1 three-star, 2 two-star and 5 one-star — sums to 142, matching the 142 in the place-page header exactly, and its weighted mean 4.803 reproduces the published 4.8. [gmp1] [gmp2] | 5/6 |
| ◐ | Google review volume Read live on 2026-09-08 from the place-page header, and the star histogram sums to the same figure. The card held 142 and the listing has not moved since. [gmp1] [gmp2] | 2/3 |
| ✓ | Review recency The newest review visible is 1 month old, which proves the within_3_months bucket and no better. Visible dates: 1 month, two entries at 2 months, three at 3 months, one at 5 months and one at 6 months. Sample: the eight reviews Google Maps renders on the place page in its own relevance order — the "Newest" sort does not open to automation, so a review more recent than the newest one visible may exist. [gmp2] | 3/3 |
| ✗ | Clinic responds to reviews None of the 14 reviews read on Google carries an owner reply, including the 13 dated 2025-03-21 to 2026-08-22. [galway-dental-group-galway-deepen-3] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | No recurring complaints One critical account is readable and it is a three-star rather than a one- or two-star: a patient a month ago who credits the reception staff but describes an unpleasant consultation with a named dentist, having come in with stabbing pain in the upper jaw radiating to the tonsils; the account breaks off at Google's truncation before the outcome can be read. Five one-star and two two-star ratings exist in the distribution and none carries text that relevance ordering surfaces. One- and two-star ratings together are 7 of 142, 4.9 % of the base, below the 25 % at which the methodology's rule withholds a verdict, so the value is recorded false with the unread mass stated. Sample: the eight reviews Google Maps renders on the place page in its own relevance order — the "Newest" sort does not open to automation, so a review more recent than the newest one visible may exist. [gmp2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No suspicious review patterns Judged on the histogram shape, the spread of dates, the variety of reviewers and the wording, on 2026-09-08. Three features are disclosed rather than glossed. The distribution 134/0/1/2/5 has no four-star rating at all — 134 five-star against seven low ones — which is a two-valued shape; every one of the eight visible reviews falls inside six months, so no older account surfaces; and six of the eight name the same dentist, Dr Paul Creaven, which makes the visible sample a reading of one clinician rather than of the practice. Against manipulation: five one-star and two two-star ratings stand unpruned under a published 4.8; the accounts are long and circumstantial, several describing emergency treatment obtained the same day and one from a family who continue to travel from the United Kingdom; and there is no owner engagement anywhere on the profile, which is not how a curated record behaves. [gmp2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Active Facebook presence [s1] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | TripAdvisor presence No TripAdvisor listing found via its search for "Galway Dental Group" and "Galway Dental"; the clinic's site does not link to TripAdvisor. [galway-dental-group-galway-presence] [galway-dental-group-galway-presence-2] [galway-dental-group-galway-presence-3] | 0/0.5 |
| ✗ | Other review platforms Doctify lists the practice only as an unclaimed entry with no reviews; WhatClinic and Trustpilot have no profile of it (checked 2026-10-05). [galway-dental-group-galway-g6] [galway-dental-group-galway-deepen] [galway-dental-group-galway-deepen-2] | 0/0.5 |
Medical Infrastructure
11 / 15
The range of publicly documented equipment and services. This measures documented availability, not clinical quality.
| ✓ | On-site X-ray [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | CBCT (3D imaging) "CBCT €150" priced under X-Ray on the pricing page. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Implantology [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Orthodontics Two named Specialist Orthodontists; Invisalign and Teen Braces priced. [s2] [s3] | 2/2 |
| ? | Oral surgery | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Pediatric dentistry Child Examination (under 16) €80. [s3] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Emergency care Dedicated "Emergency Treatment" page on the clinic’s own site: "when you reach out to us with an urgent dental issue, we’re committed to finding you the earliest possible appointment". Re-sourced away from the search-position pseudo-source the initial data collection had used. [s6] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ? | Works with international patients | 0/2 |
Communication & Service
4 / 10
How easy it is to contact the clinic, get answers, and book - especially for international patients.
| ? | WhatsApp / LINE available | 0/2 |
| ? | Response speed | 0/1.5 |
| ✓ | English spoken [s1] | 2.5/2.5 |
| ? | Pre-visit consultation possible | 0/1.5 |
| ? | Clear service explanations | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Convenient opening hours Settled from null on 2026-09-08: the clinic's own Google Business Profile publishes the full week — Monday 08:00–17:00, Tuesday and Wednesday 08:00–20:00, Thursday 07:00–20:00, Friday 07:00–17:00, Saturday 08:00–17:00, Sunday closed. Both halves of the rule this index applies are satisfied — weekday closes at 20:00 and a full Saturday — and one of the visible reviews independently records that the practice offers Saturday appointments. [gmp2] | 1.5/1.5 |
AI & Search Visibility
5 / 10
Whether the clinic is discoverable when patients search - including via AI assistants. Checked with fixed queries: "best dentist Ireland", "English speaking dentist Ireland", "dental implants Ireland", "emergency dentist Ireland", "Ireland dental clinic for expats".
| ✗ | Mentioned for: best dentist Ireland [av1] | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Mentioned for: English speaking dentist Ireland Rank 5 of 8 for "English speaking dentist Galway" (AI-visibility pass, 2026-09-07). [av3] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: dental implants Ireland [av2] | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Mentioned for: emergency dentist Ireland Rank 5 of 9 for "emergency dentist Galway" (AI-visibility pass, 2026-09-07). [av4] | 1/1 |
| ? | Mentioned for: Ireland dental clinic for expats Query not run in AI-visibility pass — the single centralised canonical-query AI-visibility pass ran the "dental clinic for expats" query only for the first research city per country (Dublin); Galway was not queried for this key. | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Structured data on website Own schema.org markup, type "LocalBusiness", with name, address, openingHours and image. [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ? | Google indexing quality | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Dedicated service pages Separate pages per treatment (Invisalign, teen braces, sedation clinic, implants, root canal, hygiene, digital dentistry, emergency, etc.). [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
Ranking leaders in AI answers
The queries above are this index's own check. The three leading clinics have also been measured in full: how often ChatGPT and Gemini name them when a patient asks them to recommend a dentist.
- #13Dental Limerick53.6 of 100View report →
- #2Portobello Dental Clinic39.6 of 100View report →
- #3Alexandra Dental Limerick60.8 of 100View report →
Measured by Ansmeter, 8 October 2026. Ansmeter is an affiliated service. Its figure is not part of this rating and does not affect positions — scores change only when public data changes.
Licensing & Credentials
Whether the clinic publishes its operating licence and the dentists working there together with their professional licence numbers. A verified “not published” is recorded as a red flag; data we have not checked yet is shown as unverified and carries no penalty.
Clinic operating licence: not checked against public sources yet — unverified, no penalty
Dentists & professional licences
| Dentist | Specialization | Licence No. |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Alma Creaven [reg1] | — | IDC 4312 |
| Dr. Paul Creaven [reg2] | — | IDC 10015 |
| Dr. Idoia Fuentes (registered as Idoia Fuentes Ugartemendia) [reg3] [reg10] [s2] | Specialist Orthodontist | IDC 10923 |
| Dr. Monica Amorim [reg3] [reg4] | Specialist Orthodontist | IDC 9823 |
| Dr. Catherine Cronin [reg5] | — | IDC 13723 |
| Dr Sandra Tai [reg7] | — | not found in the public register (checked 7 September 2026) |
| Dr. Isabella Qianyu Ye [reg6] | — | IDC 19424 |
| Dr. Rikin Parekh [reg8] | — | not found in the public register (checked 7 September 2026) |
| Dr. Monik Vasant [reg9] | — | not found in the public register (checked 7 September 2026) |
One or more named dentists could not be found in the public register on the date checked — recorded as unverified, no penalty.
Red Flags
No red flags identified in the public sources we reviewed.
Data We Could Not Verify
- Medical Infrastructure: Oral surgery
- Medical Infrastructure: Works with international patients
- Communication & Service: WhatsApp / LINE available
- Communication & Service: Response speed
- Communication & Service: Pre-visit consultation possible
- Communication & Service: Clear service explanations
- AI & Search Visibility: Mentioned for: Ireland dental clinic for expats
- AI & Search Visibility: Google indexing quality
Unverified items score 0 points but are not treated as negative findings. If you can document any of them, please send a correction.
Contact Information
| Website | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/ |
|---|---|
| Phone | +353 91 724 040 |
| https://www.facebook.com/profile.php | |
| Google Maps | Map listing |
| Address | 10A Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, H91 AK64, Ireland |
Contact details are provided for identification only and may change; verify with the clinic directly.
Sources
| ID | Source | What it supports | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| s1 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/ | Clinic homepage: nav, schema.org LocalBusiness markup, testimonials, social links | 2026-09-07 |
| s2 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/team | Own-site Team page names this dentist (read 2026-09-10): 'Dr. Idoia Fuentes — Specialist Orthodontist — About Dr Idoia is a skilled orthodontist...'. Only the short form 'Idoia Fuentes' appears on the page; the register's fuller surname 'Ugartemendia' in the card's name field is not printed there, which is why an exact-string automated match missed it. | 2026-09-10 |
| s3 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/pricing | Permanent itemised pricing page | 2026-09-07 |
| s4 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/hygiene | Dedicated hygiene service page (checked for a fee, none published) | 2026-09-07 |
| s5 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/sedation-clinic | Dedicated sedation-clinic page describing deep/twilight IV sedation ("similar to being asleep") | 2026-09-07 |
| gmp1 | https://www.google.com/search?tbm=map&q=Galway%20Dental%20Group&hl=… | Google Maps automated lookup: geo, address, phone, website (no rating currently published) | 2026-09-07 |
| reg0 | https://www.hiqa.ie/find-a-centre | Confirms Ireland has no institutional/facility register covering private dental practices | 2026-09-07 |
| reg1 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Creaven | Dental Council Register of Dentists entry for Alma Creaven | 2026-09-07 |
| reg2 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Creaven | Dental Council Register of Dentists entry for Paul Creaven | 2026-09-07 |
| reg3 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/orthodontists?keyword_filter=Fuentes | Dental Council Register of Orthodontists entry for Idoia Fuentes Ugartemendia | 2026-09-07 |
| av1 | search:best dentist Galway | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-07 |
| av2 | search:dental implants Galway | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-07 |
| av3 | search:English speaking dentist Galway | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-07 |
| av4 | search:emergency dentist Galway | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-07 |
| s6 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/emergency | Clinic’s own "Emergency Treatment" service page | 2026-09-07 |
| reg4 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Amorim | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Monica Amorim | 2026-09-07 |
| reg5 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Cronin | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Catherine Cronin | 2026-09-07 |
| reg6 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Ye%20Chen | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Isabella Qianyu Ye | 2026-09-07 |
| reg7 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Tai | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Sandra Tai (no matching entry) | 2026-09-07 |
| reg8 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Parekh | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Rikin Parekh (no matching entry) | 2026-09-07 |
| reg9 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Vasant | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Monik Vasant (no matching entry) | 2026-09-07 |
| reg10 | https://www.dentalcouncil.ie/dentists?keyword_filter=Fuentes | Dental Council of Ireland, Register of Dentists — surname search for Dr Idoia Fuentes (main Register of Dentists entry) | 2026-09-07 |
| gmp2 | https://www.google.com/maps/place/x/@53.2823653,-9.0406172,17z/data… | The clinic’s Google Maps place page, opened in a real browser on 2026-09-08. The Reviews tab (this URL) gives the headline rating, the review-count header, the five star-histogram buckets read whole from their accessibility labels, and the eight most-relevant reviews with their star values, dates, text and owner replies; the sibling Overview URL https://www.google.com/maps/place/x/@53.2823653,-9.0406172,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0xa1ce3b85847630b1:0x280ff868ed9a08eb!8m2!3d53.2823653!4d-9.0406172?hl=en gives the listing name, address, telephone, website, business category, the published opening week and the lead owner photograph. The listing opens as «Galway Dental Group», category Dental clinic, at 10A Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, H91 AK64, telephone +353 91 724 040, website galwaydentalgroup.ie — the identifiers the card itself carries, so the place identifier resolves to this practice and not to a neighbour. | 2026-09-08 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-deepen | https://www.whatclinic.com/dentists/ireland/county-galway/galway | WhatClinic: its Galway city dentist listing (2 pages, 20 clinics), checked against its profile sitemaps (614 dentist profiles in Ireland, 20 of them in Galway city; the 4 not shown in the listing opened) and the profile addresses built from the clinic's name (not found), have no profile for Galway Dental Group and none at 10A Sean Mulvoy Road; a former profile address, galway/galway-dental-group, now redirects to the Galway listing (checked 2026-10-01) | 2026-10-01 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-deepen-2 | https://www.trustpilot.com/review/galwaydentalgroup.ie | Trustpilot, read 2026-10-05: no company page for galwaydentalgroup.ie, the practice's website (page not found) | 2026-10-05 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-presence | https://www.tripadvisor.com/TypeAheadJson?action=API&query=Galway%2… | TripAdvisor's own search for "Galway Dental Group", run 2026-10-02, returns 12 results, none of them this clinic (e.g. Galway's Latin Quarter, Galway; Galway Tour Company, Galway; Galway Cathedral, Galway) | 2026-10-02 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-presence-2 | https://www.tripadvisor.com/TypeAheadJson?action=API&query=Galway%2… | TripAdvisor's own search for "Galway Dental", run 2026-10-02, returns 12 results, none of them this clinic (e.g. Galway's Latin Quarter, Galway; Galway Tour Company, Galway; Galway Cathedral, Galway) | 2026-10-02 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-presence-3 | https://www.galwaydentalgroup.ie/ | Clinic's website (home and contact pages) read 2026-10-02: no link to TripAdvisor | 2026-10-02 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-g6 | https://www.doctify.com/ie/practice/galway-dental-group | Doctify, read 2026-10-05 through its own practice search: the entry "Galway Dental Group" is on Doctify's "unclaimed" plan, with no reviews, no logo and no photos - a listing Doctify created itself, not one the practice keeps; the practice's home page, read the same day, does not link to Doctify | 2026-10-05 |
| galway-dental-group-galway-deepen-3 | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=2886799015714359531&hl=en | Google listing "Galway Dental Group" (Dental clinic), read 2026-10-02 in three review orders (newest, lowest-rated, most relevant first): 4.8 from 142 reviews (1★ 5 / 2★ 2 / 3★ 1 / 4★ 0 / 5★ 134); 14 distinct reviews read, dated 2024-04-12 to 2026-08-22 | 2026-10-05 |
Change History
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-05 | Read 14 of the clinic's Google reviews on 2026-10-02: no owner replies seen. |
| 2026-10-05 | Presence on review platforms checked on 2026-10-05: only an unclaimed Doctify entry with no reviews; no profile on WhatClinic or Trustpilot. |
| 2026-10-02 | Other review platforms changed to not established: Doctify does have a profile for the practice (its earlier check had read search pages, not profiles), with no reviews and no sign the practice keeps it (checked 2026-10-02). |
| 2026-10-02 | Presence on review platforms checked 2026-10-02: no TripAdvisor listing. |
| 2026-10-01 | Other review platforms re-checked on 2026-10-01: no profile on WhatClinic, Trustpilot or Doctify; onOtherPlatforms set to false. |
| 2026-09-29 | Corrected 2026-09-29: clinic responds to reviews now unverified: only 8 reviews were checked for owner replies. |
| 2026-09-10 | Name-verification pass 2026-09-10: Dr. Idoia Fuentes confirmed via own-site Team page (short form of the registered name). |
| 2026-09-08 | Checked by hand in a browser: the clinic’s Google Maps place page was opened in a real browser and read on both its Reviews and Overview tabs. Recorded from it: the rating re-verified against the star histogram, the review count, the histogram itself (134/0/1/2/5 = 142, weighted mean 4.803), review recency, the owner-reply state, the complaint reading and the manipulation reading from the eight most-relevant reviews, the lead owner photograph and the full published opening week. Fields this pass did not measure are untouched. |
| 2026-09-07 | Adversarial verification: the Google listing does carry a rating — 4.8 over 142 reviews — where the initial data collection recorded none; offersEmergency re-sourced from a search-position pseudo-source to the clinic’s own Emergency Treatment page (added as s6). All nine named dentists checked against a full download of the three Dental Council registers: Amorim (also on the Register of Orthodontists), Cronin and Ye found, Fuentes’ main-register number added, and Tai, Parekh and Vasant recorded as licenseNotFound. |
| 2026-09-07 | Initial data collection: clinic website (home, team, pricing, hygiene, sedation clinic), Dental Council of Ireland Register of Dentists and Register of Orthodontists (three of nine named dentists checked and found), Google Maps automated lookup, AI-visibility pass canonical-query file. |
A question or a correction?
Have a question, a suggestion, or a correction to this page? Get in touch — we read every message. Verified data corrections are reviewed against sources and applied with a public change-history entry.