The Dental Collective
According to our open methodology, this clinic scored 62.2/100 for transparency, reputation, service accessibility, and digital visibility.
Overall rank: #8 of 26 ranked clinics · Last checked: 17 September 2026
62.2/100
Positions by Rating Profile
- Overall Transparency & Trust#862.2/100
- Best for Expats#1061.5/100
- Best for Dental Implants#1054.2/100
- Best for Emergency Dental Carenot ranked
- Best Price Transparency#648.9/100
- Best English-speaking Clinics#1066.8/100
- Best for Families / Children#763.5/100
- Sleep Dentistry (GA / deep sedation)not ranked
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) — Not verified
Summary
Multi-dentist practice in La Lucia/Durban North (second location on Chelsea Drive) offering cosmetic, implant, orthodontic and paediatric dentistry, led by founder Dr Nadia van Wyk alongside a prosthodontist and a specialist orthodontist.
Strengths
- Information Transparency: 20 of 20 points.
- No red flags identified in public sources.
Weaknesses
- Price Transparency: 2 of 15 verifiable points (missing: prices or price ranges published; cleaning price listed; filling price listed; crown price listed; consultation price listed; x-ray / imaging price listed)
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 [s2] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Dentist specializations listed Dr Derek Nelson is listed by the clinic as a prosthodontist and Dr John Dancaster as a specialist orthodontist. Dr Dancaster's specialist registration is confirmed on the HPCSA register (INDEPENDENT PRACTICE SPECIALIST — ORTHODONTICS); Dr Nelson's prosthodontist title is the clinic's own claim and is not carried by the register — see his entry under licensing. [s2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Real clinic photos [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Service list published [s3] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clear contact details [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | English website version [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Address and map published [s1] | 2/2 |
Price Transparency
2 / 15
Whether patients can estimate costs before visiting. Published price ranges count; exact prices are not required.
| ✗ | Prices or price ranges published Services described but no concrete prices or ranges shown anywhere on site. [s1] [s3] | 0/3 |
| ✗ | Cleaning price listed Oral Hygiene & Whitening page and services index have no prices for cleaning/scaling [dental-collective-deepen] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Filling price listed Services index (where 'General Dentistry - Fillings & Crowns' is anchored) carries no prices [dental-collective-deepen-5] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Crown price listed Same services index read; no crown price [dental-collective-deepen-6] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Implant price listed Real price ranges for single implants and All-on-Four published [dental-collective-deepen-7] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | Consultation price listed No consultation price or free-consult statement found [dental-collective-deepen-2] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | X-ray / imaging price listed No X-ray/imaging price found on any page read [dental-collective-deepen-8] | 0/2 |
Reputation & Reviews
14.5 / 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) Star histogram read live on 2026-09-06: 39 five-star, 0 four-star, 0 three-star, 0 two-star, 1 one-star. The buckets sum to 40, matching the 40 in the place-page header exactly, and the weighted mean 4.900 reproduces the published 4.9. [gmp1] | 5/6 |
| ◐ | Google review volume Read live on 2026-09-06 from the place-page header; the star histogram sums to the same figure. [gmp1] | 1/3 |
| ◐ | Review recency Newest Google review is dated 2026-06-02 (listing read 2026-09-26). [dental-collective-gbp-2026-09-26] | 1.5/3 |
| ✓ | Clinic responds to reviews The owner replied to all three reviews Google renders, including the critical one. Sample: the 3 reviews Google Maps renders on the place page, in its own relevance order; a newest-first list was not available. [gmp1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No recurring complaints One critical review in the visible sample (3 months old: the reviewer says the drill malfunctioned and was dropped on the floor during a filling). A single grievance over a 40-review base whose histogram is 39/0/0/0/1 is not a repeated theme, and the owner answered it. Sample: the 3 reviews Google Maps renders on the place page, in its own relevance order; a newest-first list was not available. [gmp1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | No suspicious review patterns Histogram shape, spread of wording and dates, and reviewer-account variety show no sign of manipulation. Sample: the 3 reviews Google Maps renders on the place page, in its own relevance order; a newest-first list was not available. [gmp1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Active Facebook presence The practice's own Facebook page in Durban North, found by a direct search; its posts name the clinic's dentists [dental-collective-deepen-19] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | TripAdvisor presence No TripAdvisor listing; the clinic's own website has no TripAdvisor link [dental-collective-deepen-14] [dental-collective-deepen-15] | 0/0.5 |
| ✗ | Other review platforms Not among WhatClinic's Durban dentists; no TripAdvisor listing either [dental-collective-deepen-16] [dental-collective-deepen-17] [dental-collective-deepen-18] | 0/0.5 |
Medical Infrastructure
7.5 / 15
The range of publicly documented equipment and services. This measures documented availability, not clinical quality.
| ? | On-site X-ray | 0/2 |
| ✓ | CBCT (3D imaging) 3D imaging documented on the implants page [dental-collective-deepen-10] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Implantology [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Orthodontics Invisalign & metal braces, plus a named specialist orthodontist. [s3] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | Oral surgery Full 19-item main navigation read; no extraction/oral-surgery/wisdom-tooth item [dental-collective-deepen-3] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Pediatric dentistry "specialised paediatric services prioritise comfort and ease". [s3] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✗ | Emergency care Same full navigation; no emergency service listed [dental-collective-deepen-9] | 0/1.5 |
| ? | Works with international patients | 0/2 |
Communication & Service
7 / 10
How easy it is to contact the clinic, get answers, and book - especially for international patients.
| ✓ | WhatsApp / LINE available WhatsApp numbers published per dentist on the contact page [dental-collective-deepen-11] | 2/2 |
| ? | Response speed | 0/1.5 |
| ✓ | English spoken [s1] | 2.5/2.5 |
| ✓ | Pre-visit consultation possible Dedicated online booking CTA plus per-dentist WhatsApp for direct inquiries [dental-collective-deepen-12] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Clear service explanations [s3] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | Convenient opening hours GBP hours are weekdays only, closing by 4:30 PM [dental-collective-deepen-4] | 0/1.5 |
AI & Search Visibility
5 / 10
Whether the clinic is discoverable when patients search - including via AI assistants. Checked with fixed queries: "best dentist South Africa", "English speaking dentist South Africa", "dental implants South Africa", "emergency dentist South Africa", "South Africa dental clinic for expats".
| ✗ | Mentioned for: best dentist South Africa Not visible among top results for the five canonical Durban queries run 2026-09-04. [sqa] | 0/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: English speaking dentist South Africa Not visible among top results for the five canonical Durban queries run 2026-09-04. [sqb] | 0/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: dental implants South Africa Not visible among top results for the five canonical Durban queries run 2026-09-04. [sqc] | 0/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: emergency dentist South Africa Not visible among top results for the five canonical Durban queries run 2026-09-04. [sqd] | 0/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: South Africa dental clinic for expats Not visible among top results for the five canonical Durban queries run 2026-09-04. [sqe] | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Structured data on website Organization/WebSite JSON-LD present [dental-collective-deepen-13] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Google indexing quality own domain dentalcollective.co.za takes the #1 result plus 4 more dedicated pages (about-us, homepage, composite-veneers, oral-hygiene), ahead of an unrelated Durban dental lab and a differently-branded "Durban Dental Care" Facebook page (web search 2026-09-07) [giq1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Dedicated service pages Twelve or more individual service pages with distinct content [s3] | 1.5/1.5 |
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. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nadia van Wyk [s2] [reg1] [dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0091901] | Founder; General Dentist, Aesthetic & Digital Dentistry | DP 0091901 | Registration number with the HPCSA, South Africa’s statutory council for health professions; registration active on its public iRegister (checked 30 September 2026). |
| Derek Nelson [s2] [reg2] [dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0025330] | Prosthodontist per the clinic (title not carried by the HPCSA register — see note); restorative and rehabilitative care | DP 0025330 | Registration number with the HPCSA, South Africa’s statutory council for health professions; registration active on its public iRegister (checked 30 September 2026). |
| John Tainton Dancaster [s2] [reg3] [dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0038903] | Specialist Orthodontist | DP 0038903 | Registration number with the HPCSA, South Africa’s statutory council for health professions; active on its public iRegister as a specialist in orthodontics (checked 30 September 2026). |
| Monique Mulder [s2] | Special interest in paediatric dentistry and aesthetic treatments (per clinic) | not verified | — |
Dentists are named; their licence numbers have not been checked against public sources yet — unverified, no penalty.
Red Flags
No red flags identified in the public sources we reviewed.
Data We Could Not Verify
- Medical Infrastructure: On-site X-ray
- Medical Infrastructure: Works with international patients
- Communication & Service: Response speed
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://dentalcollective.co.za/ |
|---|---|
| Phone | 076 865 0040 |
| https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561438588517 | |
| Google Maps | Map listing |
| Address | 4 Nollsworth Crescent, Nollsworth Park, Armstrong Avenue, La Lucia, Durban, 4051, South Africa |
Contact details are provided for identification only and may change; verify with the clinic directly.
Sources
| ID | Source | What it supports | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| s1 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/ | Clinic name, addresses, phone, English version, real photos, address | 2026-09-04 |
| s2 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/about-us/#team | Dentist names and specializations | 2026-09-04 |
| s3 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/ | Sitemap confirms separate URLs for paediatrics-sedation, advanced-cosmetic-dentistry, facial-aesthetics, veneers, composite-veneers, implants, invisalign, metal-braces, botox, sculptra, teeth-whitening and oral-hygiene | 2026-09-17 |
| reg1 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister entry for Nadia van Wyk, Durban Metro 4051, ACTIVE | 2026-09-04 |
| reg2 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister entry for Derek Nelson, Nollsworth Park 4019, ACTIVE | 2026-09-04 |
| reg3 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister entry for John Tainton Dancaster, Durban 4051, ACTIVE, Specialist Orthodontics | 2026-09-04 |
| gmp1 | https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Dental+Collective/@-29.737033… | Live Google Maps place page: rating, review count, star histogram, review dates, owner replies, pin coordinates | 2026-09-06 |
| sqa | search:best dentist Durban | AI/search visibility scout — canonical query run 2026-09-04, not visible | 2026-09-04 |
| sqb | search:English speaking dentist Durban | AI/search visibility scout — canonical query run 2026-09-04, not visible | 2026-09-04 |
| sqc | search:dental implants Durban | AI/search visibility scout — canonical query run 2026-09-04, not visible | 2026-09-04 |
| sqd | search:emergency dentist Durban | AI/search visibility scout — canonical query run 2026-09-04, not visible | 2026-09-04 |
| sqe | search:Durban dental clinic for expats | AI/search visibility scout — canonical query run 2026-09-04, not visible | 2026-09-04 |
| giq1 | search:"The Dental Collective" Durban | own domain dentalcollective.co.za takes the #1 result plus 4 more dedicated pages (about-us, homepage, composite-veneers, oral-hygiene), ahead of an unrelated Durban dental lab and a differently-branded "Durban Dental Care" Facebook page | 2026-09-07 |
| dental-collective-deepen | https://dentalcollective.co.za/oral-hygiene/ | Dedicated Oral Hygiene & Whitening page read; no price for cleaning/scaling anywhere on it | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-2 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/implants/ | Implants page invites patients to 'Book Implant Consultation' and says 'We will provide a personalised quote during your consultation' but states no consultation fee or that it is free | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-3 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/contact-us/ | Full site nav (Cosmetic Services, General Dentistry-Fillings & Crowns, Advanced Cosmetic Dentistry, Veneers, Implants, Teeth Whitening, Paediatrics & Sedation, Orthodontics, Invisalign, Metal Braces, Facial Aesthetics, Botox, Sculptra, Oral Hygiene & Whitening, Root Canal) has no extraction/oral surgery entry | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-4 | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=14801679670776787912&hl=en | Google Business Profile hours: Monday-Thursday 8 AM-4:30 PM, Friday 8 AM-3 PM, Saturday and Sunday closed; the site itself publishes no hours | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-5 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/ | Services index page read in full; no price figures anywhere, including under the General Dentistry - Fillings & Crowns and Root Canal sections | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-6 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/ | Services index page read in full; no price figures for crowns | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-7 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/implants/ | Implants FAQ: 'Single Implant: from around R20,000-R40,000 per implant. All-On-Four treatment: Ranges from R120,000-R200,000 per arch.' | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-8 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/implants/ | Implants page mentions '3D imaging' as a technology used but publishes no price for it | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-9 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/contact-us/ | 'emergency' does not appear in the 19-item main navigation or on the services index/implants/oral-hygiene pages read | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-10 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/implants/ | 'Cutting-Edge Technology: From 3D imaging to digital treatment planning, we use advanced tools to achieve precise, natural-looking results.' | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-11 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/contact-us/ | Contact page lists, e.g., 'Dr [name] ... Whatsapp: 076 865 0040' and 'Whatsapp: 076 740 1046' for named dentists | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-12 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/implants/ | Implants page has a 'Book Implant Consultation' call-to-action, and the contact page lists direct WhatsApp numbers for each dentist for pre-visit questions | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-deepen-13 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/our-services/ | Page carries schema.org JSON-LD @graph with @type WebPage, WebSite and Organization | 2026-09-17 |
| dental-collective-gbp-2026-09-26 | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=14801679670776787912&hl=en | Google listing read on 2026-09-26: rating 4.9 from 40 reviews; star histogram 1★ 1 / 2★ 0 / 3★ 0 / 4★ 0 / 5★ 39; newest review dated 2026-06-02; 5 of the 5 newest reviews carry an owner reply, latest dated 2026-06-02. | 2026-09-26 |
| dental-collective-deepen-14 | https://www.tripadvisor.com/TypeAheadJson?action=API&query=The%20De… | TripAdvisor autocomplete for the clinic's name: 12 results, none a Durban dental practice | 2026-09-29 |
| dental-collective-deepen-15 | https://dentalcollective.co.za/ | Clinic's homepage, read 2026-09-29 (223 KB), has no link to a TripAdvisor page | 2026-09-29 |
| dental-collective-deepen-16 | https://www.whatclinic.com/dentists/south-africa/durban | WhatClinic's Durban directory (2 pages, 17 listings), read 2026-09-29: this clinic is not among them | 2026-09-29 |
| dental-collective-deepen-17 | https://www.tripadvisor.com/TypeAheadJson?action=API&query=The%20De… | TripAdvisor autocomplete returns no matching Durban dental listing | 2026-09-29 |
| dental-collective-deepen-18 | https://www.whatclinic.com/sitemap.xml | WhatClinic's index of all its clinic profiles, read 2026-09-29: none of its 193 dentist profiles in South Africa carries this clinic's name; the Durban profiles missing from the directory pages were opened and none is at this clinic's address | 2026-09-29 |
| dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0038903 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister record for registration number DP 0038903: John Dancaster, Durban 4051; registration status ACTIVE; current practice category: independent practice specialist orthodontics. | 2026-09-30 |
| dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0091901 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister record for registration number DP 0091901: Nadia van Wyk, Durban Metro 4051; registration status ACTIVE; current practice category: independent practice general practitioner. | 2026-09-30 |
| dental-collective-hpcsa-dp0025330 | https://hpcsaonline.custhelp.com/app/iregister_details/reg_number/D… | HPCSA iRegister record for registration number DP 0025330: Derek Nelson, Nollsworth Park 4019; registration status ACTIVE; current practice category: independent practice general practitioner. | 2026-09-30 |
| dental-collective-deepen-19 | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561438588517 | Page "The Dental Collective" (Dentist & Dental Office, Durban North, 241 followers): posts name orthodontist Dr John Dancaster and prosthodontist Dr Derek Nelson, both listed on the clinic's website; posts in September 2026 | 2026-09-30 |
Change History
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | The clinic's site carries no Facebook link. A direct Facebook search found its own page in Durban North, whose posts name the clinic's dentists. Recorded presence on Facebook. |
| 2026-09-29 | Checked TripAdvisor's own search and WhatClinic's Durban directory: no listing on either platform. The clinic's website carries no TripAdvisor link. |
| 2026-09-29 | Corrected 2026-09-29: review recency within a year (newest review dated 2026-06-02). |
| 2026-09-17 | Re-read on 2026-09-17: the clinic's website (services index, implants, oral-hygiene, teeth-whitening pages and contact-us) and its Google listing. Recorded: real implant price ranges (single implant R20,000-R40,000; All-on-Four R120,000-R200,000), 3D imaging for implant planning, per-dentist WhatsApp numbers, a booking call-to-action alongside those WhatsApp lines, weekday-only Google Business Profile hours, Organization structured data and a dozen dedicated treatment pages. No extraction/oral-surgery or emergency service is documented, and cleaning, filling, crown, consultation and X-ray prices are not published (only the implant price is). Still unverified: Facebook and TripAdvisor presence, other review platforms, plain X-ray equipment specifically, and work with international patients. |
| 2026-09-06 | Checked by hand in a browser: Google Maps place page read live for rating, review count, star histogram, review recency, owner replies, complaint and manipulation reading and pin coordinates; clinic Facebook pages opened where needed; the five canonical visibility queries re-run as browser SERPs. |
| 2026-09-04 | Adversarial verification: Dr Monique Mulder is named on the clinic team page cited as s2 but had been left out of licensing.doctors — added, with an unconfirmed HPCSA candidate (DP 0114120). Dr Derek Nelson's "Prosthodontist" title was cited partly to the HPCSA register; the register was re-read in full today and carries no specialist prosthodontics registration for DP 0025330, so the title is now sourced to the clinic alone and the discrepancy recorded. The clinic's referral periodontists (Dr Bradley Bredekamp, Dr Bongi Mahlangu) were checked and do hold specialist Oral Medicine and Periodontics registrations, but are referred-to specialists rather than practice staff and are deliberately not listed. |
| 2026-09-04 | Initial data collection for the South Africa Dental Transparency & Trust Index (Durban): verified via dentalcollective.co.za and the HPCSA iRegister (getDataFromRnow endpoint). Google Maps rating/review count/geo not available (no browser access) — left for a manual browser check. |
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.