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Looking for a dentist no longer starts on Google. More and more patients, especially foreigners living in or travelling to Panama, type the question into an AI assistant and accept the list they get. Radar Panamá set out to measure what that list is with a repeatable method. This is the second edition of the Radar AI series, after the study on immigration lawyers.
How the study was done
Two AI assistants with real-time search and no paid subscription were used: Perplexity and Brave AI. Each was asked the same ten questions, five in Spanish and five in English, written the way a patient would type them:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué clínica dental me recomiendas en Panamá? | Best dental clinics in Panama City |
| Mejores clínicas dentales en Ciudad de Panamá | Which dentist do expats recommend in Panama? |
| ¿Dónde hacerme implantes dentales en Panamá? Clínicas recomendadas | Where to get dental implants in Panama: recommended clinics |
| Clínicas dentales recomendadas en Costa del Este, Panamá | Recommended dental clinic in Costa del Este, Panama |
| ¿Qué dentista recomiendan para turismo dental en Panamá? | Dental tourism in Panama: which clinic should I choose? |
Every clinic or dentist named was recorded, together with the order of appearance. A clinic counts once per answer. The queries were run on September 26, 2026 from Panama. Two Brave answers included no summary with names: “Best dental clinics in Panama City”, which the engine read as Panama City, Florida, and “Which dentist do expats recommend in Panama”. That leaves 18 answers with names.
Mentions ranking
Clinics ordered by the number of answers in which they appear, out of a maximum of 18. The columns separate engine and language.
| # | Clinic | Mentions | Perplexity ES / EN | Brave ES / EN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clínica Ford Dental Spa | 15 | 3 / 4 | 5 / 3 |
| 2 | Pacific Dental Clinic (Hospital Punta Pacífica) | 11 | 2 / 3 | 4 / 2 |
| 3 | Clínica Arango Orillac | 10 | 2 / 1 | 5 / 2 |
| 4 | Dental One | 8 | 3 / 1 | 3 / 1 |
| 5 | Panamá Sonríe | 8 | 2 / 3 | 3 / 0 |
| 6 | Centro Odontológico Paitilla | 6 | 3 / 1 | 1 / 1 |
| 7 | Dental Life Panamá | 4 | 1 / 1 | 1 / 1 |
| 8 | Clínica Natural Smile | 4 | 2 / 1 | 1 / 0 |
| 9 | Grupo Dental Nacional Almanza Carrizo | 3 | 2 / 0 | 0 / 1 |
| 10 | Dental Works | 3 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 0 |
| 11 | Smile Design Dental Clinic | 3 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 1 |
| 12 | Dr. Moisés Lukowiecki (24-hour dental clinic) | 3 | 2 / 1 | 0 / 0 |
| 13 | Clínica Dental Cory Arauz | 2 | 1 / 1 | 0 / 0 |
| 14 | Orthocenter Costa del Este | 2 | 1 / 1 | 0 / 0 |
Another 19 appeared with a single mention: Bannavá Smiles, Belodent Plus, Centro Nacional de Ortodoncia, Clínica Dental 74, Clínica Dental Obarrio, Clínica Dental Tu Real Sonrisa, Clínica Hospital San Fernando, Clínicas Dentales Corró Maduro, Clínica de Especialidades Odontológicas (David), Dental Center Panamá, Dental Glow PTY, Dr. Felipe Magh Kwai Ben, Dr. Virgilio Castillero, Dra. Carolina Macareño, Dra. Ingrid Vargas, Dra. Mónica Sanjur (Boquete), Gianna Dentist / MaDenta, Prodent Bella Vista and The Mouth Clinic.
What each engine prefers
Perplexity builds its answers on Google Maps listings, local directories and the clinics’ websites: that is why its lists include small practices with many reviews, such as Dr. Lukowiecki (1,984 reviews) or Cory Arauz, which Brave never names. Brave summarises medical tourism articles and expat guides: that is why it repeats Pacific Dental Clinic, Arango Orillac and Ford, the three with the strongest presence in English-language media, and names Bannavá Smiles, Corró Maduro or Clínica Dental 74, which Perplexity ignores.
Agreement between engines is high at the top and low in the tail: of the 33 clinics, only 11 appear in both engines.
Panama City versus Costa del Este
The area-specific question produces the most stable list in the whole study. In the four answers about Costa del Este, in both engines and both languages, the same four clinics appear: Dental One, Clínica Ford, Clínica Arango Orillac and Dental Life, all in Town Center or its immediate surroundings. Perplexity adds Orthocenter in both of its answers.
Dental Life is the clearest case of local visibility: it appears in 100% of the Costa del Este questions and in none of the generic or dental tourism questions. The AI associates it with orthodontics and cosmetic dentistry in that area, with Saturday hours, and does not consider it when the question is “the whole city”.
What happens by treatment
Generic question
Lists of 5 to 8 clinics ordered by Google reviews, with the same warning: it depends on the treatment, compare and ask for a written plan.
Implants
Ford, Pacific Dental and Natural Smile in both languages. Perplexity adds the implantologist’s name when the website publishes it.
Costa del Este
The same four every time: Dental One, Ford, Arango Orillac and Dental Life. It is the question with the highest agreement between engines.
Dental tourism
Hospital accreditation rules: Pacific Dental Clinic for JCI and Johns Hopkins, then Arango Orillac and Ford. The engines cite medicaltourismpackages.com in 4 of 4 answers.
Why one clinic appears and another does not
Reviewing what the engines cited, five factors keep coming up. Every clinic with six or more mentions meets at least four:
- A Google listing with many reviews and a high rating. Perplexity reads it directly and quotes the number: “5.0 with 493 reviews”. Without review volume, the clinic does not make it into the generic question.
- One page per treatment with the specialist’s name. Ford appears for implants because its website says who places them.
- An English version. The clinics that only appear in Spanish (Lukowiecki, Belodent, Corró Maduro) have no English content, or none that is indexed.
- Presence in medical tourism and expat guides (medicaltourismpackages.com, expatden, allaboutpanamacity). That is what Brave reads.
- Exact address and opening hours published. The AI uses “it is in Town Center” or “open on Saturdays” as an argument to differentiate. Dental Life was recommended in Costa del Este precisely for publishing tower, floor, suite and hours.
“To go on a Saturday: Dental One, Dental Life and Orthocenter report Saturday hours; check availability before travelling.”
Limits of the study
- It measures visibility, not quality. A clinic appearing means the AI found enough public information. It says nothing about clinical outcomes.
- Answers change. The same engines may give different lists another day. The series will be repeated every quarter with the same questions.
- Two engines. ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot will be added in the next edition.
- No sponsorship. No clinic was consulted or paid to appear. Clinics that are commercially supported content clients of Radar Panamá appear exactly where the engines placed them.
Orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry or full mouth rehabilitation in Costa del Este?
Dental Life, a dental clinic in Costa del Este, Panama City (Torre Palmeras, Consultorios Town Center, suite 543), has a multidisciplinary team in orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, endodontics and implants, is open Monday to Saturday and publishes its treatment guides so patients arrive informed.
Frequently asked questions
Which dental clinic does AI recommend in Panama?
Clínica Ford Dental Spa is the most recommended by Perplexity and Brave AI: it appeared in 15 of 18 answers with names. It is followed by Pacific Dental Clinic at Hospital Punta Pacífica, Clínica Arango Orillac, Dental One and Panamá Sonríe.
Which dental clinic does AI recommend in Costa del Este?
The four that appear in every answer about the area: Dental One, Clínica Ford, Clínica Arango Orillac and Dental Life, all in Town Center or its surroundings.
Does AI recommend the same clinics in Spanish and English?
No. Only 14 of the 33 clinics appear in both languages. Belodent Plus, Corró Maduro or Bannavá Smiles show up only in Spanish; Dental Works or Dra. Mónica Sanjur only in English.
Does appearing on the list mean the clinic is better?
No. It means the AI found enough consistent public information about it. The study measures visibility, not clinical quality.
How can a clinic appear in AI answers?
With a Google listing with many reviews, one page per treatment with the specialist’s name, an English version, presence in medical tourism and expat guides, and published address and hours.
Related articles
- Medical tourism in Panama: accredited hospitals and treatments
- Full mouth rehabilitation: when a comprehensive plan is needed
- Which immigration lawyers AI recommends in Panama
Sources
- Radar Panamá, log of 101 observations in Perplexity and Brave AI, September 26, 2026. Literal questions in the methodology section.
- Perplexity and Brave Search, answers generated with web search.
- Ministry of Health of Panama, registry of health establishments.
- Image: Ozkan Guner on Unsplash, free licence.
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