Editorial policy
The Maloney Review publishes clinical analysis of dental tourism, treatment options, and clinical standards for an audience of patients making real healthcare decisions. Because this publication deals with health, the editorial standards that apply to it are stricter than those that apply to general consumer media.
This page documents those standards. It is not a summary — it is the binding policy against which every piece of content on this site is produced.
Who writes and reviews the content
All content published on this site is written or reviewed by Dr. Rita Maloney, BDSc (Hons), DClinDent, MRACDS, specialist endodontist, AHPRA registered.
Dr. Maloney has practiced for 23 years and performed approximately 14,000 root canal treatments. Her credentials and AHPRA registration details are on the author page.
No content is published on this site that has not been reviewed against clinical evidence by Dr. Maloney personally. Guest contributors are not currently accepted.
How sources are selected
External sources are limited to a defined allowlist. The rationale is stated here once: patient health decisions should not be influenced by content that derives from commercially motivated sources. The allowlist exists to enforce that principle structurally, not case-by-case.
Approved external sources:
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (aihw.gov.au)
- Australian Government health portals (.gov.au health domains)
- New Zealand Ministry of Health (health.govt.nz)
- World Health Organization (who.int)
- PubMed / NCBI (peer-reviewed clinical literature)
- Cochrane Library (systematic reviews and meta-analyses)
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (ahpra.gov.au)
- Wikipedia (for definitional and contextual links only — not for clinical claims)
- Wayback Machine (for archival citations)
Manufacturer white papers, industry association publications, and clinic-sponsored research are not cited as independent clinical evidence.
When a clinical claim cannot be sourced from the allowlist, the claim is not published, or it is published as clinical opinion with that status made explicit.
Evidence grading
Clinical claims are graded implicitly in the text by source type:
- A citation to a Cochrane systematic review or a large RCT is the strongest available evidence.
- A citation to a smaller observational study or case series is weaker — and the text will say so.
- A statement attributed to Dr. Maloney’s clinical experience without an external citation is clinical opinion, not peer-reviewed evidence. It will be framed as such.
This publication does not use formalised grading systems (GRADE, Oxford CEBM) in the text because they produce notation that most readers are not trained to interpret. Instead, evidence quality is described in plain language adjacent to each claim.
The “Last medically reviewed” date
Every clinical article carries a “Last medically reviewed” date in its byline, distinct from the “Last updated” date.
- Last updated reflects any content change, including prose edits, link corrections, and formatting.
- Last medically reviewed reflects that Dr. Maloney has reviewed the clinical accuracy of the content against current evidence and confirmed it is still correct.
Clinical articles are re-reviewed on at least an annual cycle, or sooner if new evidence emerges that is relevant to the clinical claims in the piece.
When a piece is re-reviewed and the clinical content is confirmed without change, the “Last medically reviewed” date is updated. When substantive clinical content is revised, the nature of the change is noted at the bottom of the article.
Correction policy
Factual errors are corrected promptly. The correction is noted in the article text with the correction date and a plain-language description of what was changed and why.
This publication does not delete corrections or rewrite history. The correction note remains in the article permanently.
To report a factual error, contact the publication via the details on the About page.
Commercial independence
Dr. Maloney holds no commercial relationships with any clinic, marketplace, manufacturer, dental industry body, or facilitator that is reviewed or could plausibly be reviewed by this publication.
She does not receive payment, equity, travel, accommodation, equipment, or any other consideration from any entity reviewed or referenced on this site.
Dr. Maloney provides independent clinical commentary in a professional capacity to dental organisations including SmileJet and Picasso Dental Clinic. Those relationships are advisory and do not involve editorial control over this publication. Neither organisation has reviewed, approved, or influenced any content published here. SmileJet and Picasso Dental Clinic are not reviewed on this site as a direct consequence of those relationships — if either clinic is ever reviewed, the relationship will be disclosed in the opening paragraph of that review.
No pharmaceutical company, dental device manufacturer, or dental tourism facilitator funds this publication or has any influence over its editorial decisions.
Standing disclosures are documented at /disclosures/.
What this publication does not do
- It does not recommend specific clinics as definitively safe. Clinic reviews document what Dr. Maloney was able to assess against named criteria; they cannot document what she could not assess.
- It does not provide individual dental advice. Nothing on this site is a substitute for an in-person specialist consultation.
- It does not update in real time. Clinical guidelines change. Costs change. Clinic ownership and accreditation status change. The “Last medically reviewed” date is the best available indicator of whether the content reflects the current state of evidence.
This policy was written by Dr. Rita Maloney and was last updated 5 May 2026.