SmileDirectClub

In the beginning of my treatment, everything was going great. I was on a 4-month plan to realign both upper and lower teeth. Somewhere around month 2 and 1/2, the trays did not fit correctly on my upper teeth.

After contacting customer support, I was advised to send in the aligners that seemed to not be fitting correctly. Then they said the doctor would review the aligners and determine if something went wrong on their part. If not, I was to keep wearing the aligners and finish my treatment. Customer service said I would have to pay to ship them in and this whole process may take 3-4 weeks. In the meantime, I should wear the next set of aligners while this is all going on. I asked them why shouldn't I just wear the next set and skip all of the shipping back and forth of an aligner tray that would be obsolete? They agreed, and the matter was closed.

Every aligner tray after that, including the ones that created this issue, did not fit correctly at all. In fact, I began to wonder if I had the correct ones or was going backward in alignment. Nevertheless, I pressed on through the end of treatment. I even ordered retainers. Still, nothing fit correctly for the upper teeth. I double checked my 3D “new smile” that they had created on their website to see if I was somehow missing something, and sure enough, my upper teeth look nothing like the computer rendition.

Any type of response to an email I sent in about this? Nope. A small refund? Nope. An offer to take new impressions and somehow try to fix this? Nope.

I'm saddened and shocked this would be the outcome. Yes, my teeth WERE correctly adjusting. No, they are nowhere near what SmileDirectClub had shown me in their 3D "new smile" computer prediction. I think 1 or 2 more months of correct aligners would absolutely fix this issue. I'm out quite a bit of money and am extremely disappointed.

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

I received four months of impressions. After my four months were up (beginning October 2017), I noticed my teeth were still very crooked. I contacted them and they said they will need photos of my teeth to see if I qualified for a readjustment, in which, they said I did, and it would be at no cost. The next step would be to purchase a retake kit. I submitted a total of five (FIVE) retake kits because each one they stated my impressions were not good enough. The last impressions they received back in the beginning of December 2017 they said it will be four weeks until I get my new aligners.

Here we are the end of February, no aligners. I contacted them at the end of January and I was told "you'll get it the week of February 12th." No aligners. I contacted them February 14th and said I haven't received any shipping from you guys and was told "oh don't worry, I'll make sure you get it by the end of the week. Nothing! I contacted them again on February 22nd and was told that they confirmed ("CONFIRMED" was the term used!) with THEIR SUPERVISOR that "you'll get your aligners tomorrow." February 23rd, NOTHING. I contacted them again, "Oh we don't have anything on tracking for your aligners and will give you a follow up in 48 hours."

So here we are February 26th and nothing still. I had been wearing the same aligners since October. They broke a few weeks ago, and my teeth have been shifting. Fortunately, I saved all my communications with them in case I have a case against them. They are the most unprofessional company, and they don't have their stuff together. If you are looking into them for work, check out ALL of their reviews.

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

Not only do my teeth not look like the 3D treatment plan, I ordered my retainers on 6/26, received someone else's on 8/8 and with 12 phone calls and complaints, I still do not have my expedited retainers, and it's 8/30. Customer service is horrendous, and they have no case notes to refer to. I would never recommend SmileDirect and filed a complaint with the BBB. In addition, I have scheduled an appointment with a local Orthodontist to help with the alignment of my teeth. This has been the most frustrating experience I've ever had.

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

Okay, so everything went smooth. I got my aligners in the mail, I open them up, I looked at them, and I knew there's no way they're going to fit my mouth. Yep, they don't fit at all. Not even close; I don't even think they are mine. And they send you a whole buttload of them to begin with, so you're stuck with all these aligners and you can't do anything with them.

So I emailed them four times, called their office twice, and sent two messages on their website. No response at all...nothing. It has been three weeks and I haven't heard one thing from them. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, lazy people. So, think about it before you do it.

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

I started my initial 7-month treatment last year and had no issues. Due to one tooth not moving enough, I requested a reevaluation and received aligners for an additional three months.

I had no issues until the last month. It appeared from the last 3D picture of my treatment plan that my teeth were being moved quite a bit in the last month versus the prior months. For the first time, I began having pain due to two teeth hitting on top of each other when I bit down - the upper left and lower left central incisors.

I finished treatment with Smile Direct Club (SDC) and my teeth are straight, but the same teeth are still causing pain. I have been wearing my retainer 22 hours a day, but I still have this pain when I am not wearing the retainers.

I contacted SDC and was told to ask my dentist to perform an occlusal equilibration procedure. When I visited my dentist, she indicated that this procedure would not help and SDC screwed up my bite. She was unwilling to assist in this situation and told me that this section of teeth on the front, the left side of my mouth were now hitting each other directly and this was the cause of my pain. She told me that SDC would need to fix this issue.

I sent pictures to SDC and they told me "your Doctor has determined that no further movement can occur on your teeth with SDC protocols," and that I should continue wearing my retainer.

Since their latest response, I have sent follow-up notes to their Dental Team asking for them to help resolve this matter and have not received any response. I have told them that the last month of aligners appears to have gone too far (straight teeth are great, but not when it causes pain when you bite down) and requested additional aligners to reverse this month. Since I followed the plan put in place by SDC, provided the requested information throughout my treatment to SDC, and pinpointed that the issue is primarily focused on two teeth, and when the issue started, I expect a response that was more help than "keep wearing your retainers."

Within this 2018 blog from the SDC website (https://blog.smiledirectclub.com/doctors-behind-your-smile/) I found the following quotes from their Lead Dentist:

“An individual who is requesting treatment by using SmileDirectClub’s aligners is receiving the same level of care from a treating dentist or orthodontist as an individual visiting a traditional orthodontist or dentist for treatment. The teledentistry platform allows for more convenient access and flexibility for individuals who may not have access to local care,” says Jeffrey Sulitzer, DMD, Lead Dentist at SmileDirectClub.

“We define quality as the intersection of customer satisfaction and the Standards of Care. Our affiliated network will always do their absolute best to make customers happy with the results of their smile. We utilize the Standards of Care established by the dental professional community,” says Dr. Sulitzer.

I find it hard to believe that a dentist or orthodontist would simply stop responding to your communications and tell you to go somewhere else to resolve the issue they created. These quotes from their website simply do not reflect the level of service and standard of care that I have received.

I would caution anyone considering SDC to consider that if any problems occur, they are unlikely to assist you in a meaningful way. Also, due to the friction between SDC and dentists/orthodontists, you may be caught in a situation where no one is willing to help you.

One individual that had a similar experience indicated that they decided to file their own teeth. When I started with SDC, I was not expecting to be completing my treatment as my own DIY project.

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

I don't live near an office to go in and get the impressions done, so I tried the at-home impression kit they send you. They only send a one size tray that was way too big for my mouth. I tried it twice and there was no way I was going to be able to get good impressions. Compared to the pictures they give you for what a good impression should look like, mine looked pretty good and were still not good enough. There were no double impressions, yet they keep saying there was and wanting me to order another retake. They just want you to keep ordering retake kits at $50 a pop and no refund available unless they deem you an unfit candidate. Apparently, as long as you keep handing over $50 on retake kits, they'll never just admit you are not a good candidate. I'm already out $50 on one retake kit and know this isn't going to work for me so I'm not going to spend more money to try again.

Bottom line is, only try the DirectClub if you can go into the office and speak with them directly. The at-home impression kit is a joke, and I am so upset that I lost $50 that they won't refund. I tried this because I need my teeth fixed or my dentist said my teeth will eventually snap off from being too slanted. I cannot afford invisible aligners, and even the SmileDirect club was going to be a stretch. Now paying them $50 to get nowhere is setting me back even farther. I tried to ask questions about whether I would be a good candidate and if I should even try, but they wouldn't tell me anything beforehand.

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

I think I’m saving money by cutting out the middle man, dealing purely with online resources. No. I’m saving money by dealing with a sub-par product.

After completion of the plan, my teeth didn’t move as indicated. I was told that the digital plan was an exaggeration...fine, let’s get more aligned to continue to move the teeth to where they need to go. Nope, they can't do that either.

I’ve gone to my dentist who at this point has confirmed my bite to be unstable (aesthetically I’ll crafted too - spaces everywhere). Teeth pushed beyond proper tissue tolerance, front teeth touching and taking the stress that molars should...he’s had patients who lost teeth using SmileDirectClub.

Now I have to pay to fix my bite, spending triple than if I had just done Invisalign to begin with.

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

I would not recommend this anyone. Definitely shop around. The whole treatment process is a bunch of crap. The trays are garbage, if you need a replacement they dont send it...or will make you wait and add 2 months to your treatment. When I was finished with my 5th month my teeth were still crooked. I had to get new trays, so I had to go and get more pictures taken of my teeth...have been waiting over 2 months. I finally called them and the order was never placed. And they have no answer for when they will be ready. Horrible customer service. I deeply regret ever getting these. If I would do it all over again I would get them from a professional Orthodontist, not some uneducated millennial that I wouldn't trust with a water gun let alone taking pictures of my teeth. STAY AWAY from SmileDirectClub!

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

I wish I had never gone through with this. I had braces years ago, and one tooth that was left turned funny that is crowded and uncomfortable. When my orthodontist for years quoted me $490 to replace my old retainer, it seemed really steep, but then I started seeing ads for SmileDirectClub. I wish I had stayed away.

All the ads that I saw, AND from conversations/messages with their sales staff on Facebook, portrayed it as $80-some a month. That this would be a much less expensive option because I had such a “minor” problem, so my treatment would only be a couple months and not cost much. Total bait and switch. Problems with every single set of retainers. Extremely painful to put in (again, I had metal braces back in the day, so fully knew what to expect, but this was something else). The edges literally CUT INTO my tongue, cheek, and gums each time. They give you one Emory board with the kit that doesn’t remotely fly to help fix this.

I wore my retainers diligently just the same and voiced my complaints but my teeth are exactly the same as before, and MORE CROWDED, and now I’m going to be out literally over $2000, over something their sales staff portrayed as being a few months at most.

Now my tooth crowding issue is even worse (yes I’m still wearing the retainer), they never did address all the pain I had through “treatment,” I have cavities I didn’t have before starting, and my crowded tooth pain has morphed into awful and frequent migraines.

This is one of the biggest regrets I’ve had in my life, and you CANNOT CANCEL. I tried during my treatment. Repeatedly. They do not let you cancel. Period.

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

I began my treatment in January 2016 and was told my treatment would take three months. Almost three YEARS later I am still dealing with them. My teeth required very little correction. I just have a gap in between my front two teeth. My first 3 months there was a slight change, but there was still a notable gap, and my side teeth are now not aligned so they grate together. I contacted SmileDirectClub and they set me up with another 2-month refinement plan. This time there was no change at all. I contacted SmileDirectClub and was approved for a refinement plan again. They lost my impressions twice, and determined that two sets of impressions were unusable even though somehow my first set was received perfectly with no problems.

Because they typically take a month to get back to you, time passed and I didn't hear anything. At this point my last set of aligners are completely broken, I have had to book an appointment to go to a Smile shop because of months of issues with impressions. When I contacted SmileDirectClub for replacement aligners until my refinement ones arrive, I was told it wasn't possible.

I asked to talk to a manager to report the terrible service; I was told one will call me. Nobody ever called me. I contacted them again and again and was told I'd be contacted - nobody ever did. I have noticed a significant decline in the quality of service as they have grown.

Furthermore, I have a friend who went in for treatment with a dentist with roughly the same level of work that I needed. Their treatment was done in 4 months and they only paid $1000 more than me. This friend started treatment more than a year after I did, and finished over a year ago. I have so many regrets about wanting to be thrifty on this. Just go to a dentist and save yourself the headache.

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

I wasted $2k and one year. I used their aligners and after six months I didn't get the future smile whatever they showed in 3D scan and I went for re-evaluation. I gave my 3D scan and waited for the new aligners but I didn't get the aligners. I contacted the customer service several times, but they had the same answers, you will receive the aligner. Now my teeth are in the same shape that I had a year ago. One of the account managers contacted me and he was rude. I wasted my money, time, and over a painful year when I wore their aligners. Do not spend your money and time, it's not worth it.

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