Banner Image: Smiledirect Club

If you’ve been thinking about potentially investing in a new smile, you’ve probably heard of Smiledirect Club. This supposedly simple, direct-to-consumer teledentistry teeth-straightening solution is the brand new thing in at-home orthodontic care. But is it all that it’s hyped up to be? Here’s everything you need to know about SmileDirect Club and whether or not it’s right for you. 

Where It All Got Started

SmileDirect Club may seem relatively new, but it’s actually been around since 2014. Founded by Alex Fenkell and Jordan Katzman, along with some help from their family members, SmileDirect Club is one of a line of ventures that the families have pursued (they also ran a license plate renewal service and have invested in similar direct-to-consumer healthcare providers, such as Lens Express and 1-800-Contacts). 

After its founding, the company grew quickly, raising $440 million from venture capital and private equity investors, before raising $1.29 billion in its initial public offering. But despite this, as of 2018, SmileDirect Club was still unprofitable, losing more than $74 million that year. 

How Does SmileDirect Club Work?

Okay, so how does it work? Is SmileDirect Club really as simple as the brand’s marketing makes it out to be?

The process starts with going online to smiledirectclub.com and taking a short assessment to see if you’re a good fit for the service. The assessment asks for information like whether or not you’ve worn braces or invisible aligners in the past, your biggest concerns with your smile, whether or not you have crowding and/or spacing, if you want to get your teeth scanned in person, and your zip code.

If you’re a viable candidate, then you start with either a scan or an impression kit. If you live near a SmileShop, then you can go in person and have a dental professional create a 3D image of your teeth. If not (or if you just don’t want to go in person), you can have SmileDirect Club ship you a home impression kit, which you’ll use to create impressions that you then ship back to the company. 

From there, SmileDirect Club creates a treatment plan for you based on your smile’s condition. Plans are based on whether you want to wear your SmileDirectClub aligners for 10 hours in the evening and overnight or if you want to wear them all day — for 22 hours. 

Once your treatment plan is confirmed, SmileDirect Club ships your first pair of aligners. As you go along in the process, you’ll have check-ins with the orthodontic team to gauge your progress and, if you have any issues, you have access to a 24/7 support team. You can communicate with your treatment team via an app, video chat, text chat, email or phone. 

Plus, once you’re finished with the process, your smile is guaranteed for life (with conditions — more on that in a moment). In other words, if your doctor says your aligners aren’t working out for whatever reason, your cost will be refunded, as it will if you decide you don’t like the process within the first month. Later, if you need a touch-up or a little extra adjusting, it’ll be free. 

Related: How To Whiten Your Teeth Without Damaging Them

How Long Does SmileDirect Club Take to Work?

If you grew up in the 1990s or 2000s, you probably remember friends or family members with braces, who seemingly had to wear those metal bindings and colored rubber bands for years and years at a time. But SmileDirect Club says you’ll start seeing results from your aligners within two months — so what gives?

According to the brand, their aligner technology allows you to straighten your smile in as few as four months. That’s it. Four months and you’re potentially done. SmartSculpt technology helps align every tooth individually, while regular virtual monitoring makes adjustments quick and accessible. 

Of course, after this process, SmileDirect does caution that it’s entirely possible for your teeth to shift back into place. To keep this from happening, they sell a retainer. 

But How Much Does it Cost?

Great question. For many adults who are looking into a teeth alignment plan, the cost was the primary factor that prevented them from having their teeth properly aligned as a kid. However, SmileDirect Club’s costs are pretty affordable on their own, and the brand does accept HSA, FSA and CareCredit, as well as certain insurance. 

You can pick from a monthly payment plan or a single-payment option. The single payment is $1,950, while the monthly payment plan is $250 upfront and then $89 per month for up to 24 months. The monthly plan does mean you end up paying about $400 more than you would if you were paying upfront, but the affordable monthly payment is definitely attractive. After all, you likely pay more than $89 per month for your cable package. 

If you choose to buy retainers after you’re finished with your initial alignment, those are just $99 each. 

What’s the Difference Between SmileDirect Club, Invisalign and Traditional Braces?

As you’ve probably already figured out, SmileDirect Club is purported to be much more affordable and faster than options like Invisalign and traditional braces. 

Invisalign essentially requires a middle man (an orthodontist) in order for you to get your aligner treatment. That’s where the cost comes in — that and monthly office visits to track your progress. Because SmileDirect Club sends your aligners directly to you and manages the progress tracking virtually, there’s no need for either of those fees, meaning your costs could be as much as four times less than what you’d pay for Invisalign. 

Beyond the cost, though, the actual physical design of Invisalign’s clear aligners is different from that of SmileDirect Club’s aligners. Invisalign aligners literally lock into place around your teeth via orthodontist-installed tooth attachments. While some may consider these attachments invasive, they do prevent your aligners from moving or shifting, which can not only be uncomfortable but also cause treatment issues.

Traditional braces can cost even more than Invisalign (SmileDirect Club approximates about an 800% markup). Additionally, the traditional braces process includes shiver-inducing dental procedures, like teeth shaving and gluing. Ick! 

Need More Dental Care?

SmileDirect Club has you covered there as well. Even if you don’t need your teeth straightened at the moment, the brand can also help with other dental care products and services, such as teeth whitening kits (free whitening is included in the cost of aligners, if you use them) and teeth sensitivity repair and protection. They even offer a cool Smile Spa device that cleans your toothbrush, keeping it safe from odor-causing bacteria via the power of ultrasonic and UV cleaning. The Smile Spa works on not only toothbrush heads but also your aligners and retainers. 

SmileDirect also sells your basic water picks, toothbrushes and even oral care travel kits. 

In other words, if it has to do with your teeth, your chances of finding it through SmileDirect Club are good. (Really — they even offer their own lip balm).

Related: The 7 Best Electric Toothbrushes & 5 Accessories [For Happy Teeth]

But What Do the “Real” People Say?

Okay, so all of the above is what SmileDirect Club says about itself, and while we hope that they’re telling the truth, we also know that brands aren’t exactly going to add anything unsightly to their marketing copy, and they’re definitely not going to include bad reviews on their website.

So what do the “real” and unbiased people say? We took a look.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The National Wellness and Public Health Network is an independent, reader-supported publication that aims to address common health concerns via the power of science, with doctor- and scientist-backed information and thorough research. So when this publication decided to review SmileDirect Club, we felt comfortable taking their word. 

What did they find? They gave SmileDirect Club an overall rating of 4 stars out of 5. They admitted that SmileDirect aligners are “an affordable alternative to traditional braces that can generate results in a fraction of the time.” They recognized the brand’s many satisfied customers and even acknowledged the benefits of the separate, premium teeth whitening system. 

So why does the brand miss that extra star?

According to some, the issues revolve around the occasional ill-fitting aligner, as well as poor customer service response times. The Network also makes it clear that SmileDirect is not suitable for those with severe orthodontic issues or those with more than a moderate misalignment; anyone with further issues needs a more hands-on approach to see straighter teeth. Additionally, in order to take advantage of that lifetime smile guarantee, you have to actually purchase retainers every single year for $99 each year. And, despite the promise of 24/7 access to a customer care team, that doesn’t actually seem to be the case for most users. 

The cons that the National Wellness and Public Health Network lists are similar to what an NBC News story reported in 2020 when the publication wrote on an influx of issues. Users said that misalignment from using SmileDirect’s products caused frequent head pain, neck strain, sore jaw muscles, nerve damage, broken teeth, tooth loss, migraines and incorrect biting — and they, too, couldn’t seem to get in contact with customer service or their assigned dental professional. Some customers reported that, after spending money on their SmileDirect Club membership, they then needed to pay for traditional orthodontic care on top of that, in order to fix the issues that the SmileDirect aligners caused. 

In fact, according to NBC, there were so many complaints that members of Congress asked the FDA and Federal Trade Commission to investigate SmileDirect Club. SmileDirect Club called the investigation “the latest in a series of anti-competitive publicity tactics.” 

NBC also discovered that, for SmileDirect Club customers who want a refund outside of their initial 30-day window due to unsatisfactory results, they’re required to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to get that money back, preventing them from publicly complaining about their treatment.

The New York Times published a similar story, with the headline, “This Company Says It Will Fix Your Smile. It May Shush You if It Doesn’t.” In it, it mentions how SmileDirect Club actually sued Lifehacker for publishing an article that detailed the risks of using its products; it also sued state dental boards that were making it more difficult for SmileDirect Club to operate. 

According to the brand’s chief legal officer at the time of the article’s publication, Susan Greenspon Rammelt, “when we believe that there is an organized campaign to damage our reputation amongst consumers, dentists and/or investors, we will defend ourselves and our mission to democratize access to care every chance we get.” 

When Business Insider published a review of SmileDirect Club’s services, the reviewing journalist admitted they had some concerns, especially given these types of complaints and reports. Still, they reported a good experience (although they noted that they needed very minor adjustments). 

Their final verdict: “Overall, I had a really great experience using SmileDirectClub. I’m happy with how my teeth turned out, and I’m actually excited to see myself smiling in pictures now. Granted, my changes were very minor, so I can only speak from the perspective of someone who didn’t undergo a major transformation, but I’m pleased with how quick and simple the process has been. I recommend looking into SmileDirectClub, but not before you check with your dentist to make sure you have the all-clear.”

So is SmileDirect Club Right for You? 

That’s honestly a tough call to make. While some of the above reports sound a little scary, it’s important to note that there are many, many more happy SmileDirect Club customers than there are unhappy SmileDirect Club customers. 

So, take your personal needs, risk aversion and dental history all into consideration. If you need minimal adjustments and you want a quick and easy process that doesn’t require going into a dental office or a lot of cash, SmileDirect Club might be your perfect fit. If, though, you have more serious issues and want hands-on attention, you may want to opt for a traditional orthodontist. 

You might also be interested in: Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening (What You Need To Know)