Sydenham Dental Centre
According to our open methodology, this clinic scored 68.3/100 for transparency, reputation, service accessibility, and digital visibility.
Overall rank: #12 of 21 ranked clinics · Last checked: 24 September 2026
68.3/100
Positions by Rating Profile
- Overall Transparency & Trust#1268.3/100
- Best for Expats#1066.3/100
- Best for Dental Implants#1361.8/100
- Best for Emergency Dental Care#1364.9/100
- Best Price Transparency#1056/100
- Best English-speaking Clinics#770.2/100
- Best for Families / Children#1167.2/100
- 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
Sydenham, Christchurch practice positioned as affordable/WINZ-friendly, with named dentists including Dr Chamil Samaranayaka and Liying Jin; publishes an interest-free-payment-plan intro offer rather than a general fee schedule.
Strengths
- Information Transparency: 20 of 20 points.
- AI & Search Visibility: 8 of 10 points.
- No red flags identified in public sources.
Weaknesses
- Price Transparency: 4 of 15 verifiable points (missing: prices or price ranges published; cleaning price listed; filling price listed; crown price listed; implant 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 Meet the Team page names Dr Chamil Samaranayaka and Liying Jin (BDS, University of Otago 2014), among others. [s2] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Dentist specializations listed The team page prints a qualification beside each clinician: Dr Chamil Samaranayaka “Principal Dentist BDS (Otago), MBChB (Otago)”, Liying Jin and Leigh Stevenson “Dentist BDS (Otago)”, with the two oral health therapists named as such. [s2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Real clinic photos The team page publishes an individual photograph for each named clinician (two slots still read “Photo of staff coming soon!”); the images are captioned with the person’s name and role, not stock. [s2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Service list published Dental Services and Treatments nav includes cosmetic dentistry and dental implants sub-pages. [s1] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clear contact details [s1] [gmp1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | English website version [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Address and map published [s1] [gmp1] | 2/2 |
Price Transparency
4 / 15
Whether patients can estimate costs before visiting. Published price ranges count; exact prices are not required.
| ✗ | Prices or price ranges published Homepage advertises a “$49 New patient check-up with 2 X-Rays” intro offer and “interest free payment plans”, but this is a single bundled new-patient price, not a permanent list or range covering ≥3 distinct services. [s1] | 0/3 |
| ✗ | Cleaning price listed Dental Hygienist page has no price [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Filling price listed No dedicated fillings page or price found on the site [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-2] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Crown price listed Crowns and Caps page has no price [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-3] | 0/2 |
| ✗ | Implant price listed Dental Implants page has no price [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-4] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Consultation price listed “$49 New patient check-up with 2 X-Rays”. [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | X-ray / imaging price listed Bundled into the $49 new-patient check-up (2 X-Rays included); no separate x-ray-only price found. [s1] | 2/2 |
Reputation & Reviews
14 / 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) Google place page read in a browser on 2026-09-10: 4.1 across 204 reviews; star histogram 1★ 39 / 2★ 8 / 3★ 3 / 4★ 2 / 5★ 152 = 204, whose weighted mean is 4.08. (The automated record used in the earlier passes returned only the rating for this listing.) [gmp1] [gmp2] | 3/6 |
| ◐ | Google review volume 204 reviews, counted on the clinic’s own Google place record. The compact Maps response had returned the rating without any review count, which is why this was recorded as unknown until the place record itself was opened. [gmp2] | 2.5/3 |
| ✓ | Review recency The newest star-rated review rendered on the clinic’s Google place page on 2026-09-10 is one month old; the eight reviews shown span one to six months. [gmp2] | 3/3 |
| ✓ | Clinic responds to reviews Read on the clinic's own Google listing on 2026-09-11: the practice has answered 5 of the 5 reviews shown there (204 published in total), most recently on 2026-08-26. One reply reads: "Thank you for your feedback. We’re pleased to hear that you found our reception and staff lovely. We’re sorry to hear that you felt dismissed durin...". [gmp2] [gm-replies] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | No recurring complaints Three readable reviews describe the same pattern: being told fillings were needed that patients believe were unnecessary [gm-replies] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | No suspicious review patterns No manipulation signals found [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-6] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Active Facebook presence The clinic’s own site links facebook.com/sydenhamdentalcentre (plus instagram.com/sydenhamdental and a LinkedIn company page). [s1] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | TripAdvisor presence No TripAdvisor listing found; site and GBP do not link one [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-5] [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-12] | 0/0.5 |
| ✓ | Other review platforms Listed on WhatClinic [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-11] | 0.5/0.5 |
Medical Infrastructure
9 / 15
The range of publicly documented equipment and services. This measures documented availability, not clinical quality.
| ✓ | On-site X-ray [s1] | 2/2 |
| ? | CBCT (3D imaging) | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Implantology Dedicated dental-implants service sub-page. [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✗ | Orthodontics Full 33-page site read; no orthodontic/braces/aligner treatment offered [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-7] | 0/2 |
| ✓ | Oral surgery Homepage: “We have IV Sedation available for nervous patients and for surgical wisdom tooth extraction.” [s1] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Pediatric dentistry An oral health therapist on the clinic's team provides dental care for children aged 18 and under [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-8] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Emergency care Homepage meta description: “Same day emergency treatment during surgery hours.” [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ? | Works with international patients | 0/2 |
Communication & Service
6.5 / 10
How easy it is to contact the clinic, get answers, and book - especially for international patients.
| ✗ | WhatsApp / LINE available Contact page fully read; phone and a contact form only [s3] | 0/2 |
| ? | Response speed | 0/1.5 |
| ✓ | English spoken [s1] | 2.5/2.5 |
| ✓ | Pre-visit consultation possible Dedicated online appointment-request form [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-9] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Clear service explanations Service pages explain what each procedure involves, not just its name [sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-10] | 1/1 |
| ✓ | Convenient opening hours Contact page hours: Monday–Friday 8:30am–5:00pm and Saturday 8:30am–4:30pm — weekend opening on the clinic’s own channel. [s3] | 1.5/1.5 |
AI & Search Visibility
8 / 10
Whether the clinic is discoverable when patients search - including via AI assistants. Checked with fixed queries: "best dentist New Zealand", "English speaking dentist New Zealand", "dental implants New Zealand", "emergency dentist New Zealand", "New Zealand dental clinic for expats".
| ✓ | Mentioned for: best dentist New Zealand Refuted the first pass’s negative: explorechristchurch.nz’s “Best Dentists Christchurch” page (rank 6 in this SERP) lists the clinic as #4 with a description and its exact address and phone (“Sydenham Dental Centre, 58 Wordsworth Street, Sydenham … 03 366 7429”). Page opened and read today. [av1] | 1/1 |
| ✓ | Mentioned for: English speaking dentist New Zealand Ranked #3 (own domain, /dentist/liying-jin) for “English speaking dentist Christchurch”. [av2] | 1/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: dental implants New Zealand [av3] | 0/1 |
| ✗ | Mentioned for: emergency dentist New Zealand [av4] | 0/1 |
| ✓ | Mentioned for: New Zealand dental clinic for expats Ranked #9 (own domain, /dental-services-and-treatments) for “Christchurch dental clinic for expats”. [av5] | 1/1 |
| ✓ | Structured data on website Organization schema present sitewide [s1] | 1.5/1.5 |
| ✓ | Google indexing quality [av2] | 2/2 |
| ✓ | Dedicated service pages [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.
- #1Wellington Dentists50.4 of 100View report →
- #2Greenhithe Dental Boutique19.1 of 100View report →
- #2Christchurch Boutique Dental53.8 of 100View report →
Measured by Ansmeter, 8 October 2026 – 9 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 Chamil Samaranayaka [reg0] | Principal dentist (BDS, University of Otago; MBChB, University of Otago) | not verified |
| Liying Jin [reg0] | Dentist (BDS, University of Otago) | not verified |
| Leigh Stevenson [reg0] | Dentist (BDS, University of Otago) | not verified |
| Joanne Lee [reg0] | Oral health therapist | not verified |
| Farida Mohammad-Aslam [reg0] | Oral health therapist | 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: CBCT (3D imaging)
- 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://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/ |
|---|---|
| Phone | +64 3 366 7429 |
| https://www.facebook.com/sydenhamdentalcentre | |
| Google Maps | Map listing |
| Address | 58 Wordsworth Street, Sydenham, Christchurch 8023, New Zealand |
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.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/ | JSON-LD types found across all 33 sitemap pages include Organization and Corporation, alongside WebSite/WebPage/AboutPage/ContactPage page-type schema | 2026-09-24 |
| s2 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/meet-the-team | Named team page | 2026-09-10 |
| gmp1 | https://www.google.com/search?tbm=map&hl=en&gl=nz&q=Sydenham%20Dent… | Google Maps automated lookup: rating, geo, address, phone | 2026-09-10 |
| reg0 | https://dcnz.org.nz/practitioners | DCNZ statutory register (reCAPTCHA-gated) and HealthCERT scope (our registry research) | 2026-09-10 |
| av1 | search:best dentist Christchurch New Zealand | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-10 |
| av2 | search:English speaking dentist Christchurch | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-10 |
| av3 | search:dental implants Christchurch | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-10 |
| av4 | search:emergency dentist Christchurch | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-10 |
| av5 | search:Christchurch dental clinic for expats | (the five canonical city queries) | 2026-09-10 |
| s3 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/contact-sydenham-dental-centre | Contact page lists phone 03 366 7429 and payment options; no WhatsApp/LINE | 2026-09-24 |
| gmp2 | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4244079002428834183 | Google Maps place page read again automatically on 2026-09-10 (two-step /maps?cid= → /maps/preview/place): name, address, phone, rating, review count, star histogram, review dates and owner responses | 2026-09-10 |
| gm-replies | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4244079002428834183&hl=en | 2026-04-01: "Please stop filling teeth that don't need to be filled!"; 2026-01-20: "They told me I needed 5 fillings and a wisdom tooth remo[val]..."; 2025-05-02: "...they convinced me that I needed 3 fillings" (owner reply: only one filling was in fact done) | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dental-services-and-treatmen… | Dental Hygienist page read in full: describes the service, no price; none of the 33 sitemap pages (incl. /affordable-dentist-christchurch, /christchurch-dentists-with-payment-plans, /dental-services-and-treatments/full-dental-examination) prices this service; the only figures are check-up specials ($49 new patients, $35 students) and discounts | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-2 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/amalgam-free-fillings | Amalgam Free Fillings blog page and full services list read; no price for fillings; none of the 33 sitemap pages (incl. /affordable-dentist-christchurch, /christchurch-dentists-with-payment-plans, /dental-services-and-treatments/full-dental-examination) prices this service; the only figures are check-up specials ($49 new patients, $35 students) and discounts | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-3 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dental-services-and-treatmen… | Crowns and Caps page read in full: no price or price range; none of the 33 sitemap pages (incl. /affordable-dentist-christchurch, /christchurch-dentists-with-payment-plans, /dental-services-and-treatments/full-dental-examination) prices this service; the only figures are check-up specials ($49 new patients, $35 students) and discounts | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-4 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dental-services-and-treatmen… | Dental Implants page read in full: describes the procedure, no price or price range, no CBCT/3D mention; none of the 33 sitemap pages (incl. /affordable-dentist-christchurch, /christchurch-dentists-with-payment-plans, /dental-services-and-treatments/full-dental-examination) prices this service; the only figures are check-up specials ($49 new patients, $35 students) and discounts | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-5 | https://www.tripadvisor.com/TypeAheadJson?action=API&query=Sydenham… | TripAdvisor's own typeahead search for "Sydenham Dental Centre" returns only unrelated global "dental"-named attractions/hotels (museums, hotels), no NZ clinic match | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-7 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dental-services-and-treatments | All 33 sitemap pages read; services cover veneers, crowns, dentures, cosmetic dentistry, exams, root canal, whitening, wisdom teeth, implants, hygiene -- no orthodontics/braces/aligner | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-8 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dentist/joanne-lee | Team profile: "My qualifications also allow me to ... provide dental care for children aged18 and under" | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-9 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/make-a-booking | "Make an Appointment... please call us on 03 366 7429 or fill out the form below" with a preferred-date field and Send Message button | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-10 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/dental-services-and-treatmen… | "Root canal treatment is a procedure used to save and repair a badly diseased, damaged or dead tooth. During this treatment, we will remove the nerve..." | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-11 | https://www.whatclinic.com/dentists/new-zealand/christchurch/sydenh… | WhatClinic profile "Sydenham Dental Centre", 58 Wordsworth St, Sydenham, Christchurch -- matches the clinic's address; listed in WhatClinic's Christchurch catalogue (8 clinics) with ServiceScore "Good from 5 interactions" | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-6 | https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4244079002428834183&hl=en | 74.8% 5-star (154 of 206, not 100%); review dates spread across 2025-2026; accounts include established Local Guides (40, 27, 8 reviews) | 2026-09-24 |
| sydenham-dental-centre-christchurch-deepen-12 | https://www.sydenhamdentalcentre.co.nz/ | Site's own social links (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) read in full; no TripAdvisor link | 2026-09-24 |
Change History
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-24 | Corrected: other review-platform presence re-assessed on 2026-09-24 -- confirmed by the clinic's WhatClinic profile; a Healthpoint directory entry is not a review platform and no longer counts. |
| 2026-09-24 | Re-read on 2026-09-24: the clinic's full website (all 33 pages, including root canal, crowns, implants, hygienist, booking and contact pages) and its Google listing (newest, lowest and default review views), plus Healthpoint and TripAdvisor. Recorded: dental care for children aged 18 and under documented on a team profile; no orthodontic treatment in the service list; an online appointment-request form; procedures explained in plain language; no WhatsApp/LINE; structured business data on the site; a Healthpoint directory listing; no TripAdvisor listing. Three reviews describe the same pattern of fillings patients felt were unnecessary; otherwise no signs of manipulated reviews. Cleaning, filling, crown and implant prices are recorded as not published: none of the dedicated service pages carries a figure. |
| 2026-09-11 | Rechecked whether this practice answers its Google reviews by reading the reviews on its own Google listing on 2026-09-11: confirmed, 5 of the 5 reviews read carry a dated reply from the practice, the newest dated 2026-08-26. |
| 2026-09-10 | Checked by hand in a browser: the Google place record that returned nothing to the automated route was opened in a browser (204 reviews, full histogram, review dates and owner responses); the team page resolved the two staff the site names only by first name — both are dental assistants, not dentists — and supplied every clinician’s degree. |
| 2026-09-10 | The verification pass adversarial verification: every cited URL re-opened, clinic /about, /team, /fees, /services and /contact pages read, Google place record read again automatically (rating, review count, star histogram, review dates, owner responses), AI-visibility citations re-checked against the AI-visibility record and the listicles it ranks. |
| 2026-09-10 | Initial data collection: clinic website (home, team), automated Google Maps lookup, DCNZ/HealthCERT registry conclusion applied, AI-visibility record canonical queries. |
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.