I recently saw an advertisement for Smile Care Club on Facebook. It seemed like the people are really happy with the results they received, though they could be just paid actors. It is cheaper than Invisalign so I was wondering if it is as good a deal as I am hoping?
Drake
Dear Drake,
I’m glad you wrote. This company was founded in 2013 as an inexpensive alternative to Invisalign. Like Invisalign, they use clear aligners to straighten your teeth. It is cheaper than Invisalign. For some people, it works out. When it does, you can save a lot of money. However, there is a lot that can go wrong with their method.
Before Invislaign treatment, you have an examination to make certain your gums are healthy. If you have gum disease and have orthodontics done, it will exacerbate the condition and you risk losing your teeth. The way Smile Care Club is so much less expensive is they eliminate regular visits with the dentist. You will send in a picture and a dentist will look at it and “determine” whether or not you have gum disease. I have little confidence that they can tell this from an image.
Two other issues that require a dentist are overcrowding and possible problems. One of the major reasons people need orthodontics, to begin with, is overcrowding. That can mean you will need some teeth extracted or shaved to make room for the teeth to move into their correct position. How Smile Care Club handles this is by sending you to a dentist to whom they pay a straight fee. This dentist will not be invested in you or your case. Shaving teeth takes some skill and if it is not done right you will end up with a weird-looking smile. You want a dentist who cares about how your smile ends up.
If your teeth don’t cooperate, which happens more than you would think, a dentist can restructure the treatment. With Smile Care Club, you won’t even really know that it is not going according to plan because no one is regularly examining you.
As for the people praising them, that would be the people where it worked out, which does happen. However, Smile Care Club has a reputation for squelching negative reviews by only offering a refund if they do not say anything negative about the company.
In my opinion, while you could save money with Smile Care Club, you want to be careful because you could end up with a disaster.
This blog is brought to you Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.