SDC has left me in the dark about my dental condition. 3 full treatments plans and have gone nowhere except down, tried everything and gave them every opportunity to correct it.
Now finally having submitted these complaints I feel like Smile Direct Club will finally hear my concerns, the unfulfilled promises that they fed me. The $1,800 they took from someone with NO money and someone who needed real orthodontic care. 12+ months from square one and all I have to say is.... SDC FUCK YOU! If you are considering Smile Direct Club I have one suggestion.... Only do it if you have the smallest, most inconsequential misalignment with your teeth, otherwise you will be worse off and will have spent your time on it. Smile Direct Club does NOT care about your actual bite or dental anatomy whatsoever. They will, like they did to me, MOVE YOUR TEETH IN UNSAFE WAYS TO MAKE THEM 'STRAIGHT.'
It's hard to believe, but with all the marketing and opinions out there, please for the love of god trust me, it isn't worth it. What they quoted as 5 months has just now quoted for 18 by Invisalign, which is offered with additional add-ons and rubber bands to aid in the process. It is not comparable. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Smile Direct Club, you pray on people balling on a budget, you need to get fucked and stop accepting every single person that walks through the doors. If you (reader) were helped by SDC I'm glad for you, you are the minority here, I do implore you to get your bite looked at by a doctor, there could be some possible rude awakenings.
PEACE AND BYE FOREVER, NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO SPEND $5,500 WITH INVISALIGN - NOW I WILL HAVE A SMILE TO LOVE.
EDIT: I was offered a full refund 7 hours later - faster than I could have possibly imagined.
I'm thinking about starting a smile direct club plan, or another company. Before I started though, I was hoping to get reviews and opinions of past or current users.
If you've had a good or bad experience, if you recommend a different company, before and after pics?
I've heard about some cases where the aligners caused the users teeth to rot. Is that rumor true? How often does it occur?
Smile Direct Club is not only a scam, but the cause of so many dental issues that will leave you with pain, anxiety, and bills. Throughout a 4 month plan which was going to supposedly fix my teeth, which only required minor adjustments, I experienced an unbearable amount of pain and the anxiety of having loose teeth and being told repeatedly that this was perfectly fine. It wasn’t. When I visited a real dentist 3 months into my 4 month treatment, she ordered me to stop use immediately. I went to her for a shooting pain in my bottom front teeth. Upon looking at my bite, she discovered that my back teeth no longer touched or even came close to each other. She explained that Smile Direct only focuses on the front 6 teeth so that vanity wise, they do the job. However, she explained that the front teeth are not built to handle the pressure that the back teeth are. Heavy anterior occlusion it was called. And if I didn’t stop immediately, my front teeth would inevitably chip from the pressure. Additionally, the so called check ins were nothing more than photos uploaded online, and even though I noted pain and discomfort, I received no advice, and was just told that I was fine. Although the customer service will be extremely friendly to you, it is so evident that they are not dental experts, and can only give you what is written on their script. Do not use smile direct club. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. All you will get from Smile Direct Club is pain and medical bills. Additionally, since you may not notice the problems right away, you will not get a refund which is ridiculous. I am now in more debt from dental visits, as well as the fact that I cannot get a refund. Go to a legitimate dental professional if you want to fix your smile.
Just wondering what the consensus is on this style of teeth alignment and its effect on the bite and the palate etc.
TLDR; SDC has a short squeeze potiential & solid fundamentals as they learn how to manage their product around a high growth business model putting consumers 1st.
Overall, this company hits my 4 big checks
- Founders are still operating the business with conviction
- They have a clear mission & vision to improve the world with strong conviction
- The company's focus is product obsession
- The company can last longer than 2.5 years running at a loss & is recession resistant (this would be better if it would benefit in a recession).
Financial Health
The company consistantly has 68-75% gross margin. They have 3x current assets to current liabilities and can run for 4 years given 2020's burn rate. This is impressive considering that COVID-19 fucked the world. The company reached profitability 1 qtr earlier than expected & did it during a global pandemic. The company also has 25% liabilities to assets.
Compared to ALGN there is a lot of upside. ALGN has 1.3 B in sales & is trading at 19.5x sales. SDC is 670 M in sales & is at ~8.5x sales. With a 31.8% short float with an average cost of < $11. A squeeze is in the making come earnings on Feb 22nd.
**Bull Case **
SDC can increase club members through using teeth whitening & multichannel (destist, retail, smile shops, mobile app, & web) to get corrective straighteners. International expansion & improving capture in the U.S. will turn the company to profitability.
On top of that the company plans on expanding into other products lines such as teeth whitening & hardcore orthodontics applications.
Bear Case
The company's products do not work as advertised. The customer satisfaction ratings are over inflated due to strict NDA's for refunds. The results are worse than expected & FDA plus state regulatory agencies will require dental professionals ruining the teledentist model in person as a result. This is a fad that will die.
NYT Article It Has A Few Valid Points But It's Mainly FUD - published Q1 2020 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/technology/smiledirectclub-smile-nda.amp.html
Valid Point: SDC is a general solution that occasionally screws up edges cases where the consumer has problems beyond the products abilities. This is a defining attribute to their business model & as a result the company requires NDA's for refunds.
Bear Case Flaws
There are roughly ~780,000 known successful cases and 2,900 k
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi everyone, I have a permanent retainer fixed to the back of my front lower teeth and I’m wondering if I can get clear aligners without taking it off. My front lower teeth are perfectly straight, but my lower molars have shifted significantly since I got my braces off. (100% my fault for not wearing my retainers). My front upper teeth have also significantly shifted. I’m just wondering if it is possible to do this treatment (or any other clear aligners) with the retainer on.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tkz_/smile-direct-club-choose
This commercial is disgusting. "Choose heart" as it shows the parents dancing while, what I assume is, their fat daughter shakes her ass. Very very disrespectful.
I’m not hating on the girl, but I hear this damn commercial playing in the background at least 30 times per day.
I lose it at the end when mom asks “Do you love it?”
Back in college, about 4 years ago, I was seriously tempted to get Smile Direct Club due to the price point they offered ($1,800 total?!) and me being a broke college student who had always been extremely self-conscious of my snaggle teeth and crowding. I had ordered the at-home kit and sent in the molds of my teeth that made me cringe with self-consciousness. Weeks later they sent me my “new smile plan.” I remember staring at it, loving the image of my teeth, all neatly in a row, no snaggles...
YEAH RIGHT. I am now halfway through my Invisalign journey, and I am happy to say that I held out and did not fall for that rip-off. I just stumbled across the saved tab on my computer with my SDC smile plan. It was only 6 months long, and ONLY shifted my worst snaggle tooth! They claimed they would fix my teeth in 12 trays. My ortho said I will start with 40, then possibly do another year of refinements. Looking back, I am so grateful I did my research and found this sub with an ortho who said that people are coming in to get nightmares fixed after falling for Smile Direct Club. Bottom line: I am very happy that my teeth, the only set I’ll have for the rest of my life, are not in the hands of a knock-off company looking to make a buck.
I’m unemployed and therefore don’t have dental insurance. Is there a cheap alternative to Invisalign? I’m looking for something I can wear while I sleep (like a retainer)
I gave it serious consideration. I sent in my impressions and got my "Smile Plan" back from them (all for free). I didn't like the original plan they sent me. I told them what I didn't like about it and asked for a new one. I didn't like that one either. I talked to my dentist about it and he strongly recommended that I go through with traditional Invisalign instead and told me some horror stories about SDC. I'm so glad that I listened to him and went to see an orthodontist in my area. I feel so much more comfortable having an office to go to and have appointments where they check my progress. Unlike SDC that only cares if the teeth are straight, the ortho actually cares about your bite and your overall oral health along with how straight your teeth are. Just wondering how many others have a story that is similar to mine that decided to go with Invisalign.
All the ingredients of a successful growth stock, pivoting to the teledentistry with large short 25 % of float short. We like Smile Direct Club $SDC and a positive earnings beat Thursday afternoon could add to the changing sentiment and make shorts think twice. Dentists selling Invisalign at twice the price are threatened by $SDC direct to consumer model.
Hello, don't know how to work reddit. just got it to ask a question. Does anyone know what postal service smile direct club uses? ups,usps, or fedex?? i need to know whether to send it to my P.O. box or home address. thank you
Originally chose Smile Direct Club to fix moderate crowding with my lateral incisors. Original plan was 24 trays but I needed refinements which set me back another 12 trays. Smile Direct Club could not fix mild overjet or rotate my canines. I went to the orthodontist for a consultation signed up for invisalign and the treatment plan is 16 trays and I'll be needing attachments. I wish I would've used the $1800 from SDC towards permanent retainers and just went with invisalign first.
I call dibs!!!
I'm wondering how much this service costs per month? Start up fees, hidden fees etc...
I did my research and thought SDC was a better option than my dentist was offering. Now that I'm two weeks in I'm discovering a ton of horror stories and I'm getting anxious that I messed up. If you've had a good experience, please share!
Hey guys!
I was on the six month plan and it was going along smoothly. The beginning was so horrible with how the aligners were pushing into my gums (which I learnt to bend the edge of the aligners back so that it doesn't hurt) and the fear that all my teeth were going to fall out.
In the end it was okay. My teeth were at a nice stage and I was into the night time retainers to were to sleep. What i didn't know was that I had to wear the night one retainers for another six months for 24 hours like before so that my teeth gets used to staying in that state. I was told by my orthodontist who is obviously disappointed by me using smile direct club.
My teeth have reverted back a bit to my original state as they have been moving back as I was only wearing my nightime retainers when I was sleeping. I asked the customer service representative of smile direct club how and when to use the nighttime retainers (he was fully aware of my six month plan and such) and I did what he said. So now my teeth aren't fully great. I did try to get another set of retainers as the one they have me weren't fitting (my top teeth I couldn't put the retainer in) but they never helped me out, which is why I went to a orthodontist to make me one.
So basically the moral of the story is if you are on your six month 24 hour plan, then I highly suggest you wear your nightime retainers for a further 24 hours for six months so that your teeth do not go back.
*In the future I may use aligners again but from Invisalign as the retainer my orthodontist provided me with is comfy and not as jagged as the smile direct club ones.
Dr. Karras graduated from Marquette University with a certificate and Master of Science in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. She also graduated with the highest distinction and in the top 3 of her dental school class at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research on the efficacy of the Invisalign system and its attachment types has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJODO).
"It is my great pleasure to help all of my patients achieve confidence in their smile that they deserve.
Many patients ask how Uniform Teeth, http://uniformteeth.com/, is a safer and healthier alternative to traditional braces or direct-to-consumer (DTC) teeth aligner kits for their kids and teens, and I am here to answer all of your questions.
Ask me anything about clear aligner technology, straightening your teeth, and overall dental health for teens and young adults!
UPDATE: I have signed off for the night but, thank you so much for participating. Please keep your questions coming and I will check back in tomorrow!"
Proof: https://imgur.com/be1iZma
TERRIBLE customer service! I would never recommend Smile Direct to anyone who is looking for a reputable organization. I started my journey with them in June 2019. My plan should have finished by the end of January 2020, however, when I got to my Month 5 Week 2 pack the retainer was completely missing. I called September 2019 and spoke to a representative who placed my new order and instructed me to keep wearing the same aligner until the correct one was received. When I asked how long it would take, she replied 2-3 weeks. 4 weeks later, no aligner. I called back again and spoke to another representative and the aligners had not even made the production line. They offered me a $100 credit and a free retainer. November comes around and again… no aligner. I called back completely frustrated. This time, the representative told me my aligner would ship no later than November 11, and offered me the same compensation, $100 credit, and a free retainer. By the time I finally received the shipment, my treatment had been delayed by 9 weeks. One year later… I am still waiting for the nighttime retainers to show up. I delayed another call to them because, I thought I was being reasonable considering the whole covid-19 pandemic. When I called them today, the retainers were never removed from hold, because the replacement aligners were in the que to be processed. According to Smile Direct, they cannot have multiple orders in their que, and no one ever released my order. I asked for additional compensation for the delay, and they insisted that there was nothing they could do to help me, other than send the nighttime retainer.
In my opinion, Smile Direct does not have a sufficient business model in place. Lacking in the production line and lacking proactive customer service skills that would help keep their customers happy. Additionally, they denied elevating my complaint to their management. I would NEVER recommend their services to anyone!
Smile direct club offers a solution for expensive dental devices, but the main reason I am writing this is because they are a massive advertiser on Tik Tok. Imagine the millions of kids who might see all these perfect teeth influencers and then get a Smile Direct Club Ad. Smile Direct Club also does not require in-person attendance therefore, if anything, they have also gotten stronger as a business. They report earnings next month and have recently announced a partnership. Calls are super cheap right now. 11/20 $11 calls
After the explosive earnings report performance on ALGN, I think SDC could yield similar results. Even ALGN has 20% in them, SDC earningS are 11/10 so there is definitely still time to hop in. In addition, like ALGN, analysts are severely giving low price targets for SDC earnings. it also has a healthy amount of volume and the IV just went down.
What’re y’all thoughts, this is not a DD.
SDC 11/13 13c
SDC is a recent 2019 IPO of $19-22 that has reported a total of two earnings both of which are trash but like other IPO’s they are still trying to find their footing. You know what that means? No one knows what this company is going to do after earnings considering the minuscule amount of earnings data that exists.
They got smashed by the Rona like everyone else combined with some bad news about people suing them and legality issues but who cares right, not like we are long term investors.
Also, did I mention 53% of the float are shorted so Squeeze potential (Ahem Wayfair), is highly likely if earnings beat,
So will their earnings beat? I have no idea tbh but I do know they have deals with insurance companies now and will be giving good guidance meaning more sales and more $$$.
What happened over the last few weeks? SDC rallied up to $8 resistance and couldn’t break it, finally broke yesterday verifying a cup and handle formation.
When it pops its gonna pop damn big, risk 1x to make 10x, I’m in.
TLDR: If you want to play the run-up and sell before earnings for a quick 200% 5/22 10.5c 10 bagger potential 5/22 12c 5/22 12.5c
Edit: I’m out with 600% gains!
TLDR; SDC has a short squeeze potiential & solid fundamentals as they learn how to manage their product around a high growth business model putting consumers 1st.
Overall, this company hits my 4 big checks
- Founders are still operating the business with conviction
- They have a clear mission & vision to improve the world with strong conviction
- The company's focus is product obsession
- The company can last longer than 2.5 years running at a loss & is recession resistant (this would be better if it would benefit in a recession).
Financial Health The company consistantly has 68-75% gross margin. They have 3x current assets to current liabilities and can run for 4 years given 2020's burn rate. This is impressive considering that COVID-19 fucked the world. The company reached profitability 1 qtr earlier than expected & did it during a global pandemic. The company also has 25% liabilities to assets.
Compared to ALGN there is a lot of upside. ALGN has 1.3 B in sales & is trading at 19.5x sales. SDC is 670 M in sales & is at ~8.5x sales. With a 32.5% short float with an average cost of < $11. A squeeze is in the making come earnings on Feb 22nd.
**Bull Case ** SDC can increase club members through using teeth whitening & multichannel (destist, retail, smile shops, mobile app, & web) to get corrective straighteners. International expansion & improving capture in the U.S. will turn the company to profitability.
On top of that the company plans on expanding into other products lines such as teeth whitening & hardcore orthodontics applications.
Bear Case 🐻
The company's products do not work as advertised. The customer satisfaction ratings are over inflated due to strict NDA's for refunds. The results are worse than expected & FDA plus state regulatory agencies will require dental professionals ruining the teledentist model in person as a result. This is a fad that will die.
NYT Article It Has A Few Valid Points But It's Mainly FUD - published Q1 2020 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/technology/smiledirectclub-smile-nda.amp.html
Valid Point: SDC is a general solution that occasionally screws up edges cases where the consumer has problems beyond the products abilities. This is a defining attribute to their business model & as a result the company requires NDA's for refunds.
Bear Case Flaws 🌈 🐻 🏳️🌈
There are roughly ~780,000 known successful cas
... keep reading on reddit ➡