SmileDirectClub

This service may start under the direction of an orthodontist, but from what I can ascertain, there are no follow-ups done by a trained professional to ensure the treatment is progressing safely and as intended. I have had several conversations with SmileDirectClub representatives asking that very question, and they continue to dance around the subject without providing a real answer. "Is the treatment monitored by an orthodontist or dentist" - they will not answer that question directly, instead you will receive answers to different questions like "what monitoring is in place", but never will they tell you if it is a doctor doing it or not. As a result, YOUR INSURANCE OR BENEFITS PROVIDER WILL LIKELY DENY YOUR CLAIM. In my case, my claim was accepted and then revoked after they found out it was SmileDirect. Don't let this happen to you. I found the SmileDirect staff to be misleading and unhelpful. Do yourself a favor and see a legitimate dental professional.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

When I first started SmileDirectClub everything was great. My aligners came on time they had a few issues but were easily fixed. They communicated with me through text and email to change aligners, etc. Fast forward to 6 weeks before my treatment plan was over NO texts or emails to change aligners. Threw me off my plan but not too much. Explained at the end that I wasn’t happy with how I finished my treatment plan and they told me to come in for a re-evaluation to continue treatment. Great, everything was still ok UNTIL I wait 3 weeks with no reply of when my new set will be sent to me. Called customer service, I was told they were on their way. The package comes and it’s the retainer. Mind you, the retainer wasn’t even the full mold of my mouth, only half! Called them to ask what’s going on since I don’t need a retainer because I’m continuing treatment and they tell me it was a mix-up and they sent the wrong one. Told me to wait 10 business days to receive the correct aligners. I wait 13 business days to call because again NO COMMUNICATION on when they are delivered. Told they are backed up and it should be sent in a few days. Nope! Called again 5 days after that and was told by one person they are backed up but then sent to another person that says they don’t have my order and have to submit it again! It’s been 5 weeks! Again they tell me 10 business days! I’m using the last aligner set from my treatment that ended almost 3 months ago! The aligners are cracked. If I don’t wear them my teeth will shift back and all of my progress will be for nothing. Again no communication on SDC part and just lies to keep you calm. At this point, they say anything to get you off the phone. Since all of this happened I wouldn’t recommend them at this point.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am at the end of my aligners and my teeth are definitely straighter. However, I have had two complaints about my top teeth (one not being totally straight and now a small gap between my front teeth). Both times I reached out the "Dental Team" has decided that my results are fine. I am not happy with my top teeth, and SmileDirectClub keeps telling me they are not an aligner issue. If you have any issues, they respond quickly but seem to not solve. I would not recommend this company and wish I went with a different one.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am at the end of my plan with SmileDirectClub. I had one of my incisors completely twisted to the side, have open bite effecting the left set of frontal teeth and some mild crowding of the two maxillary lateral incisors. After being on the plan for approximately 9 months, I have the crowding in the upper teeth (Maxillary Lateral Incisors) slight fixed. However, my other two issues are still not fully fixed. I still have an open bite affecting the left side of the frontal teeth and the lower incisor is still twisted and not straighten. I reached out to SmileDirectClub with this concern and I was told by their dental team that the remaining of the two issues can not be fixed with their protocols.

However, before I joined them, a SmileDirectClub associate at their Markham, Ontario location told me that all these issues will be fixed. Their 3D plan showing the results was not fully accurate. It seemed to be fixing more than the aligners actually did.

With this review, I just want to warn people who have severe cases to spend a little more money and go with the braces. SmileDirectClub might be a good option if you have minor crowding. However, if your case is complicated and you were told that it will be fixed on your first visit to a SmileDirectClub shop, you are being promised too much.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I started my journey with SmileDirect in December 2018. I visited one of the SmileDirect locations in Virginia and I had a great experience there. The reps seemed knowledgeable and were very friendly. I decided to get the aligners. They were shipped about two weeks later. My treatment was supposed to take only 6 months. My teeth were shifting fast and I was happy. However, in the 5th month, I noticed they were still not where they were supposed to be. At this time, I had moved to Texas so I went to one of the locations in Fort Worth, TX and had a re-evaluation. My re-evaluation was approved on May 28, 2019. At this time I was still using my aligners for the last week. I asked the rep to confirm they had my updated address and she said they had it.

A little over a month later, SmileDirect shipped my aligner but they were shipped to the old address. I contacted SDC and they said they will send replacements. This was on July 10. I was told it would take 10-14 days. I kept following up after two weeks and they kept telling me that they were expediting the process.

The replacements were mailed in the second week of August but they were mailed to the old address. AGAIN! I immediately contacted SDC, and the rep who spoke to me asked me if I could go to my previous address and get the shipping! My old address was in a totally different state. She said I will receive free retainers. It's not worth it for the big inconvenience and frustration they have caused me.

The second replacement was also supposed to take at most two weeks. It's been over a month and I haven't received my shipment.

SDC's service was really good at first but maybe they have received so many customers that they can't handle it. My experience with SDC has just been disappointing and I wish I had gone the traditional way.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

This company is the perfect example of the sayings "You get what you pay for" and "If it seems too good to be true, that's probably because it is." I will admit that a year ago, when I first started my treatment, I was very impressed with the process, customer service, and speed that I received my aligners. But, since then, it has been one disappointment after another. My original treatment was supposed to take 5 months. I have had braces before so my teeth didn't have far to move. At the end of the 5 months, my teeth were still not right, so I had to send more molds in. I should have realized that there was a reason that the 5-month estimate they gave me was so much less than the one I received when I inquired about using Invisalign! It's now a year later and I'm still in treatment, waiting for another 2 months of retainers after even the second set that I received did not fully align my teeth. This by itself would not be a huge deal...I still paid less than half of what I would have if I had gone with Invisalign. But the customer service now is just absolutely horrendous. I made my order for new aligners 8 weeks ago and I still haven't received it. It is only supposed to take 3-4 weeks. I continue to get the runaround from customer service. First, they made some excuses about verifying my new shipping address...Which by the way, I had already done twice. Now they are saying that they are behind in their manufacturing schedule and it's going to take two more weeks to get my aligners. So basically they haven't even made them yet. Nobody has reached out to me to let me know any of this. I had to keep emailing and calling to find this out. I'm super disappointed in the company as a whole. I thought they were better than this. Just save yourself the headache and go somewhere else. Even if you pay more, at least you won't be given bad expectations and excuses.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

What started as a great experience at the Wilton office of SmileDirect has turned out to be very frustrating. Before I rant, please note that the Wilton staff is excellent, so this is not a reflection on them but on the parent company.

After the initial 5-month treatment I went back to the Wilton, CT office and was told that I would need to continue treatment since my teeth weren't 100% straight. That was on August 2. For reasons which no one can explain, the new aligners were not ordered for over 3 weeks. It has now been almost 10 weeks since the revisit and 6 weeks since the order was placed - not the 4-5 weeks turnaround which is advertised.

I have now worn a set of 2-week aligners for 10+ weeks; the bottom broke in half a month ago so I have been wearing it in 2 pieces - and the top also has a large crack. I'm certain they are not doing the job and my teeth have already shifted. I have called several times and am repeatedly told that the aligners should arrive shortly. Last week I was assured they were "in production".

Today I decided to reach out via email instead of phone. I was assured that they would be shipped on October 20th - 2 weeks from now! What happened to "they're in production"? And since October 20th is a Sunday, that's hardly credible...

I am now concerned that the new aligners won't fit when they finally get here as I really can no longer wear the old ones. So while I was originally very happy with the progress of my teeth, it has been 2 steps forward and 10 steps back...Really SmileDirect? I know you charge less than the local dentist but I expected better than this.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am very upset. When I received my order, I was told this would take about 5.5 months, unfortunately, SmileDirect did not include enough liners to actually straighten my teeth. I called, they said they would be happy to provide me with additional aligners, I would need to come in for a new scan. This is a bit of a drag given the office is a 4-hour drive, one way from my house, but I wanted to complete the process. I received my new aligners, 4 weeks later. So my progress is stalled 4 weeks and I am wearing these aligners now for 6 weeks.

After sleeping in them for 6 weeks and soaking them in hydrogen peroxide during the day, they are a bit gross. I received the new aligners and everything is great for the first month but when I opened month 2, they are distorted. So are the following week. I call "customer service" and speak to several "customer service" representatives. They make me take photos of my teeth, even after explaining over and over and over and over to several reps, it's not me teeth, the aligners are deformed, manufactured incorrectly, I am at a serious loss of how to explain that they are defective and all I want is the aligners reprinted. It must take about 5 mins to reproduce these.

Finally I speak to someone that gets what I am saying and agrees to reprint the weeks I am asking for and send them in 2 weeks. I am happy with this and so appreciative of the fact that someone finally gets what I am saying. It is now 19 days later, no aligners. I have called and I need to verify everything from email, phone number, date of birth, my entire situation all over again just to speak to someone that can actually solve the problem.

I am so fed up that I would not recommend doing this. Go to the dentist, you can call them, you can go see them, they have actual knowledge about teeth! These are just young kids that don't know anything about dentistry, and definitely nothing about solving problems. They were actually telling me that I need to get another scan! 8 hour drive because they manufactured 2 weeks of aligners incorrectly! WHAT? A supervisor was supposed to call me back today, nothing. Absolutely nothing. This stock valuation is going to go into the negative numbers with this kind of problem solving. This is lip service not customer service, there is no problem solving, there is no listening, there is a script they must follow and if you are unwilling to spend hours repeating yourself they will respond to you. Don't do it. Go to your dentist.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Only get if you have enough patience because they take their time to manufacture and ship aligners, and if for some reason you have any problem with your aligners, good luck waiting for new aligners as it could take another month or 2, so basically if they say your treatment is for 6 months, keep that in mind it could be 10 months with all the delays.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Buyer beware. Great brand promise, huge disappointment in delivering on that promise. I'm on my third series with SmileDirectClub, with huge delays in production and responsiveness between each updated set of trays, and lack of real customer service. Despite a very simple treatment plan to close a gap in my two front teeth (had braces as a teenager). You can't ever speak to a qualified dental person. It's clear the company cares more about making the sale/customer acquisition than actually fulfilling on existing customers.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Visited the Smile shop mid-August 2019. For some reason, my order was placed 7 days after my visit. So August 27 my order was received for processing. I received an email about that in September. I have had no email update since September 26 when the aligners were "getting a haircut". I called customer service late October although they were very polite they could not provide an update as to when my order will be received. I'm paying for my order that I don't yet have and on top of that will not be home to receive them as I am now traveling for work

Soooooo disappointed.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend