{"id":47269,"date":"2023-12-14T18:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T01:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/?p=47269"},"modified":"2023-12-14T18:06:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T01:06:18","slug":"demise-smiledirectclub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/demise-smiledirectclub\/","title":{"rendered":"The Demise of SmileDirectClub"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-47384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-shop.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a SmileDirectClub storefront.\" width=\"400\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-shop.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-shop-300x201.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>So last Friday, (December 8, 2023) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/smiledirectclub-shutdown-bankruptcy-confuses-angers-customers-unfinished-treatments-bills-2023-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SmileDirectClub announced that it has closed shop<\/a>. If you are in the middle of treatment, they can&#8217;t help you and advise you to find a dentist to finish for you. Their lifetime guarantee is voided. If you&#8217;re on a payment plan, however, they expect you to continue making your payments. If you want a refund, you&#8217;ll need to get in line with all the other creditors, so good luck.<\/p>\n<p>(See Dr. Hall&#8217;s comments below.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-post-content\">\n<div class=\"post-left-column\"><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); \/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: small;\">We thank our advertisers who help fund this site.<\/span><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Square for mns blog - 2020 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4419877247826466\" data-ad-slot=\"6484616093\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-right-column\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-47382\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-logo-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"The SmileDirectClub logo, with blue lettering on a white background\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-logo-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-logo.jpg 657w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I believe the beginning of the end for SmileDirectClub happened in June 2023. A court in the District of Columbia ordered them to cease requiring complaining patients to sign <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.aaoinfo.org\/smiledirectclub-forced-to-release-consumers-nationwide-from-restrictive-nondisclosure-agreements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">non-disclosure-agreements<\/a> in exchange for receiving refunds. In a 2020 post I wrote about their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/smiledirectclub-squelching-negative-reviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">squelching of negative reviews<\/a> with this tactic. The order released some 17,000 complaining customers, freeing them to let people know about their negative experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Then in September 2023 they filed for bankruptcy. They were unable to find a buyer, so their only option was just to close up shop.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m reminded of Rachel Platten&#8217;s song, &#8220;Better Place,&#8221; where she sings, &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell the world . . . it&#8217;s a better place since you came along.&#8221; For SmileDirectClub I would paraphrase that to, &#8220;It&#8217;s a better place since you moved along.&#8221; In my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/smile-direct-club-bad-idea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first post about SmileDirectClub<\/a>, back in January 2020, I said I felt they were so unethical that I questioned how their operation could be legal. With all their shortcuts, they violated several principles of good dental care.<\/p>\n<p>But the demise of SmileDirectClub still leaves several other companies offering do-it-yourself orthodontics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Byte<\/li>\n<li>NewSmile<\/li>\n<li>AlignerCo<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Candid is another option, but I understand that they incorporate in-office care, so some of my same criticisms may not apply. But I would advise against seeking care from any of the three above companies.<\/p>\n<p>One parting comment: A major difference between your private practice dentist with his or her solo dental office, and commercial operations like SmileDirectClub, ClearChoice dental implants, corporate dental offices, etc. is the motivation of the provider. I believe that the overwhelming majority of dentists in private, solo practice chose dentistry as a field because they like to help people. Yes, of course, they want to make money, but that isn&#8217;t their primary source of satisfaction. But these other entities are almost entirely profit-driven. Yes, they want you to be happy, but not because of the warm fuzzies they feel when you are\u2014rather that will drive more patients and more profit. My interviews with many dentists who come to me for marketing help reveal to me that the vast majority want to be helpful to their patients because of the personal satisfaction they get from that. So, beware the profit-driven office.<br \/>\n&#8211; Dr. Hall<\/p>\n<p>Do you have a comment or anything else to add? We&#8217;d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below. Or click here to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/askdr.htm\">ask Dr. Hall a question.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: currentColor; width: 450px; height: 80px; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mynewsmile.com&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So last Friday, (December 8, 2023) SmileDirectClub announced that it has closed shop. If you are in the middle of treatment, they can&#8217;t help you and advise you to find a dentist to finish for you. Their lifetime guarantee is voided. If you&#8217;re on a payment plan, however, they expect you to continue making your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1431,1432,478,1254,1430,1212,1242],"class_list":["post-47269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-invisible-braces","tag-bankruptcy","tag-clearchoice","tag-corporate-dentistry","tag-do-it-yourself-braces","tag-do-it-yourself-orthodontics","tag-online-reviews","tag-smile-direct-club","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Demise of SmileDirectClub - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/demise-smiledirectclub\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Demise of SmileDirectClub - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So last Friday, (December 8, 2023) SmileDirectClub announced that it has closed shop. If you are in the middle of treatment, they can&#8217;t help you and advise you to find a dentist to finish for you. Their lifetime guarantee is voided. If you&#8217;re on a payment plan, however, they expect you to continue making your [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/demise-smiledirectclub\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cosmetic Dentistry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-15T01:04:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-15T01:06:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/smiledirectclub-shop.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David A. Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David A. Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Demise of SmileDirectClub - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mynewsmile.com\/blog\/demise-smiledirectclub\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Demise of SmileDirectClub - Cosmetic Dentistry Blog","og_description":"So last Friday, (December 8, 2023) SmileDirectClub announced that it has closed shop. If you are in the middle of treatment, they can&#8217;t help you and advise you to find a dentist to finish for you. Their lifetime guarantee is voided. 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