re: OT dentists: Invisalign vs Smile Direct Club? *update page 3*

I think my teeth are moving, my bite has remained the same my whole life.

Does SDC provide a retainer for night time after you're done with the program?

I heard they put a lawsuit on anyone who posts anything negative about their company.

And they spend a fortune trying to reduce/remove negative reviews.

Also, you pretty much sign your life away when you start, so there is nothing you can do if you don’t like the outcome.

Yea, I think I'm definitely going to go with Invisalign after everyone's comments and more research I was able to do. SMC just seems too risky and incomplete.

I have had a different experience from others on the pain I guess, it is u comfortable for a day or two when you switch trays, but I wouldn't call it painful. It is a pain in the arse to take them out to eat and drink, but at least you can take them out unlike braces.
Also, I'm curious to know how SDC works. Part of the initial visit after the trays were made was the tech attaching little cement spots on a bunch of my teeth for the trays to grab onto and move things around. Guess SDC doesn't use those anchor points??

I haven’t seen anything about that with them so I guess not.

So what is the cost, roughly speaking?

Honestly i’d just go with regular braces, you can get ceramic on top so it isn’t as noticeable.. that’s actually what i did when i decided to get braces in my 30s.. I didn’t do Invisalign because you have to put in and remove the trays, whereas regular braces just stay put.. plus regular braces work faster in most cases; in my case, i wore them for one year, vs the 1.5 to 2 yrs I would have had to wear Invisalign.. whatever you decide, when you’re done, make sure they place a lingual permanent retainer, or else you’ll wind up like 95% of people who slack off wearing their retainers overnight your teeth will shift and you’ll have to do the whole thing over again.

I have no experience with Smile Club.

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Also, you pretty much sign your life away when you start, so there is nothing you can do if you don’t like the outcome.

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Not true! I have a patient that is a lawyer that signed up for SDC. He had a lot of problems with the trays not fitting and generally did not like how it was progressing. He got all of his money back.

I’m not reading this whole thread so if this has already been covered, ignore me.

I’m a general dentist and do a fair bit of adult, short term ortho.

I understand the appeal to save money. And, SDC will work fine for very minor corrections if you know how to take your own impression. However, their model is money based only. I know it seems backwards, since they’re cheaper. They’re going to have a lower fee and make it up in volume.

I have to be careful here, SDC is sending threatening letters to dentists bashing them on social media.

SDC is diagnosing improperly, providing inadequate care, and they are currently untouchable. The amount of pending lawsuits will drop soon, but it will be a drop in the bucket since you probably waive your rights to use them. Doctors and dentists have a moral code and while not all docs have the best ethics, this company is blatant.

Every state dental board is fighting them for practicing dentistry without a license to practice in their state. Unless things have changed. This was big news a few years ago but they’re still around, so...

Anyway, as a dentist who does clear aligner therapy and is a preferred Invisalign provider, i often have to redo my impressions a few times because any distortion will ruin your whole case. Get an intraoral scan and hope whoever is scanning you knows how to properly scan someone.

Now that Invisalign’s patent is expired, costs of clear aligner therapy has come down a lot since we can use the same plastic and attachment shapes. In my office, I have a 3D printer and make them in house in less timemy fee ranges from $2,295-$3,695.


Good luck.